Lainey Wilson opens up about dark side of fame: ‘It was wild’

Lainey Wilson just discussed how she had to face the dark side of fame once she shot to stardom, revealing she once felt she was "spiraling out of control" as anxiety and depression took hold of her at the height of her success.

The Yellowstone star, who has become one of country music’s brightest breakout names in recent years, shared her deeply personal experience in her new Netflix documentary Lainey Wilson: Keepin’ Country Cool, and her word are quite relatable.

"A couple of years ago it was wild," she admitted. "Everything I’d ever dreamed about kinda happened all at once."

The Watermelon Moonshine singer continued, "When opportunities come at you, and you didn’t have any for so long, you wanna just take ’em all.”

"I guess a little bit of that was probably fear that they weren’t always gonna be there,” Lainey added.

But behind the sold-out shows and career-defining moments, the star was struggling and far beyond okay.

"I think I was not feeling like myself for a couple of years," she revealed. "I had reached a point where I was just like, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same.’"

"I was extremely anxious, and the anxiousness caused depression," the Heart Like a Truck hitmaker confessed, adding, "And the depression caused more anxiousness, because I was like, ‘Why in the world am I depressed during this time of my life? This is everything I’ve ever wanted.’"

The emotional toll became impossible to ignore. "I had several breakdowns, I guess you could say," Lainey continued, "I thought I was not gonna come back from that either."

"It was a solid panic attack for, like, multiple days. I had played shows and everything while I was having the panic attack. It was terrifying,” she admitted.

Describing the experience as a "chemical imbalance," Lainey added: "I was spiraling out of control. And then it’s the fear of thinking that you’re always gonna be stuck in that mindset. It causes more anxiety. It’s just, like, a vicious cycle."

In the midst of that tough time, Lainey turned to someone she deeply admires, Reba McEntire, for guidance. "I said, ‘This is a loaded question, but what do you do when you feel like you can’t go any further?’" she recalled.

Reba’s response proved transformative. "She said, ‘I do it for somebody else.’ And that right there has put so much in perspective for me."

That simple shift in mindset has helped Lainey Wilson reconnect with her purpose. Now, when she steps on stage, it’s no longer just about the pressure to succeed, it’s about the people in front of her. "I get on that stage and I do it for other people.”