Lainey Wilson Reacts To Her “Desperate” Letter To Tim McGraw From When She Was 18
on Aug 22, 2025
The Letter She Wrote McGraw Is Now On Display At The Country Music Hall Of Fame
“We were desperate,” said 33-year-old Lainey Wilson while reading a letter she wrote to Tim McGraw when she was 18.
This letter is presently on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville as part of its exhibition dedicated to the “Somewhere Over Laredo” singer, dubbed “Lainey Wilson: Tough as Nails.”
This exhibition includes many of her now-iconic bellbottom outfits and other mementos from her life and country music career.
There are also some letters and diary entries on display, with a special letter she wrote to McGraw, a fellow Louisianan, included.
Drawing on their shared connection to Louisiana, with the two growing up in neighboring parishes several decades apart, it was Lainey’s hope to convince McGraw to sponsor her start as a singer.
Walking through the exhibit for the first time, this letter caught Lainey’s attention, and she revealed, “I still have never met Tim McGraw.”
Lainey’s Letter To “Mr. Tim McGraw”
Starting with “Dear Mr. Tim McGraw,” Lainey’s letter from 15 years ago had her laughing with light embarrassment as she toured her exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Noting she had just started her first semester at Louisiana Delta Community College to study nursing, Lainey’s letter then makes mention of her true passion: music.
“I have been writing songs since I was nine years old,” she wrote, noting her mentor, a music producer named Jerry Cupit, had said she was “what Nashville calls the ‘total package.’”
Written in 2010, she goes on to say that Cupit was suffering from a rare bone disease and had been unable to help her find sponsors to support her pursuit of working in country music.
Ultimately, Cupit passed away four years after Lainey’s letter was written, but she told McGraw, “[Cupit] encouraged me to … write, sing, play, and perform and grow vocally, and I have done just that.”
Expressing that she and her family felt they can “trust someone like” McGraw since he’s from her hometown, she sent her portfolio with the letter, which included a CD.
“When you listen to my CD, I want you to know that this is just a sample of what I write,” she said. “I have many others, and they are just as good.”
She went on to to request that McGraw meet with her and her family, adding, “We could use some in site [sic] on the choices that we need to make in order to propel my career the smartest way possible.”
Concluding her letter, she said, “Singing, writing, and performing are the most important things in my life. All I need is the opportunity, I can do the rest.”
Watch Lainey visit the Country Music Hall of Fane and react to the letter she wrote Tim McGraw when she was 18, here:
@countrymusichof The Museum's newest exhibition, "Lainey Wilson: Tough as Nails," is now open. Watch @Lainey Wilson as she takes her first look at the exhibit. Reserve tickets at the link in bio. #laineywilson #countrymusichalloffame #musicmuseum #visitmusiccity #thingstodoinnashville ♬ original sound – Country Music HOF & Museum
Lainey’s Teenage Diary Shows Her Early Dedication To Music
Her letter to Tim McGraw may not have led to the result she desired, but she forged her own path to becoming one of the most successful contemporary country acts.
Still, that letter indicates her drive, and it’s one of several examples of that early passion that are on display for attendees of the exhibition on Lainey at the County Music Hall of Fame.
One item on display can be viewed on the website for the exhibition, and it’s her journal.
An entry from May 15, 2009, stated:
“My dream is to become a country singer/songwriter. I know I can do it. I just have to have faith. I passed a church yesterday and a sign read, ‘Living by faith.’”
Then, just a few days later, she wrote on May 17, 2009, that she was going to be singing at a festival called Crawfest.
The next day, she wrote in her diary:
“Yesterday went great! What could be better than doing what I love and making a little bit of money. Maybe one day, singing could be my career. That would be my dream.”
Read a few other diary entries, here:
The “Lainey Wilson: Tough as Nails” exhibit opened at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in July, and will run through June 2026.
For more information, visit the Country Music Hall of Fame website.
