Lainey Wilson Would Be ‘Shocked’ If Asked to Return to ‘Yellowstone’

Lainey Wilson doesn’t expect to make a return for Yellowstone’s final season.

“I’ll be honest with you. I’d be shocked,” Wilson, 31, told Entertainment Tonight on Sunday, April 7, at the 2024 CMT Music Awards. “And I think how [series creator] Taylor Sheridan writes his stories, and he just has a beautiful way of bringing things back and letting things go — I’ll be shocked. So, we’ll see what happens.”

Wilson won Female Video of the Year for her song “Watermelon Moonshine” at Sunday’s award ceremony. Earlier this month, the singer, who played musician Abby for four episodes during season 5 of the hit Paramount series, exclusively told Us Weekly that she was “humbled” after winning the Grammy for Best Country Album in February.

“It’s a blessing to get such a positive response from the fans and my industry peers,” Wilson told Us at the time. “I’ve been working towards this for over a decade, so I’m excited to build on this energy for my upcoming tour and connect with fans all over the world. It doesn’t necessarily mean less stress, but it’s validating, to say the least.”

Wilson’s Grammy win marked a culmination of her recent triumphs, which included winning Entertainer of the Year at the 2023 Country Music Association Awards and Album of the Year (for Bell Bottom Country) at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards. However, she emphasized to Us that her motivation in the music industry goes beyond accolades.

“I’m so grateful and incredibly humbled by the success of Bell Bottom Country,” she noted. “I love to write, I love to perform, and I love to connect with people. That’s what fills my cup.”

In April 2023, Wilson told Us Weekly at the 2023 CMT Music Awards that she would never give up her passion of music for acting after joining the Yellowstone cast.

“I will never not make songwriting my priority because the songwriting is what has given me all the rest of these opportunities,” she told Us at the time.

The country superstar made her debut on the show’s season 5 premiere episode, titled “One Hundred Years Is Nothing,” and went on to develop a romance with Ian Bohen’s character, Ryan.

Her role on Yellowstone came to fruition after she became friends with Sheridan, 53, in 2018.

“He had put a few of my songs in the show and then invited me out to Vegas to play a horse riding competition, and that’s where I got to meet him,” Wilson explained to Us. “[We] became buddies and, you know, I knew the friendship would lead to something. I didn’t know it necessarily meant me being in the show.”

She continued: “He called me last February and he said, ‘I want to create a character specifically for you, and I want you to wear your bell bottoms. I want you to sing your own songs and be yourself but go by a musician named Abby.’”