Lauren Alaina won her first ACM Award for New Female Vocalist of the Year, but the American Idol alum says the honor really belongs to everyone who is part of her career.
“You know, this is a really rewarding moment for everyone on my team, because we have been fighting for so long and I just feel like we all won this award,” an emotional Alaina explains. “I guess we’ve been at this for seven years. And it’s just a big accomplishment to be able to start over and build it brick by brick, and for it to be recognized by the people that we trust and respect to know music is the next level of love and achievement.”
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Alaina admits she is still adjusting to the fact that she is an ACM Award winner.
“I can’t still even form words,” Alaina says. “Honest-to-God, it’s the most speechless I’ve ever been. I was on the phone with Reba McEntire and could not formulate words. I was really feeling dumb, but I sobbed. I’ve cried ever since. It’s the biggest deal ever, and it’s just an accomplishment because my peers voted for it and the people that I respect in this industry voted for it. It’s like a different level of confirmation or something.”
Alaina had her first No. 1 hit with “Road Less Traveled” last year, and also had a chart-topping single with Kane Brown, with “What Ifs.” The 23-year-old is currently on the road with Cole Swindell, on his Reason to Drink Tour, and will then hit the road with Jason Aldean on his High Noon Neon Tour, where she is eager to show her new tour boss how much she’s grown in the last few years.
“Luke [Bryan] was my first tour,” says Alaina. “It was the Luke and Jason Aldean [My Kinda Party] Tour. This is my second time back out with him. That was my first tour. I got to learn so much on that tour – I had no idea what I was doing, just totally making it up every single day.”
“Obviously he has so many people at his shows, so that’s a really good opportunity for me,” Alaina adds. “I’m also really excited because I want to show him how much I’ve grown. I don’t know that he’s seen me onstage since then. I want to be able to thank him for that growth because he set that up for me, teed that up for me to be able to grow and learn how to be on the road and how to be on stage. I’m excited. It’s going to be a really big summer and I’m just really proud. I hope he brings that cute baby to every show.”
The 2018 ACM Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 15, at 8:00 PM ET on CBS.
Photo Credit: Instagram/LaurenAlaina
