Lainey Wilson fulfilled a “childhood dream” when she met fellow Louisiana-born country star Tim McGraw, who gave her a full-circle gift backstage. The two artists teamed up on a surprise collaboration during the Country Music Association’s CMA Fest over the weekend in Nashville, Tennessee.

Wilson shared a look at the moment she met the 2026 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee on Instagram on Tuesday (June 9). “We’re going to meet Tim McGraw,” Wilson said as she walked on stage during sound check. “This is my childhood dream right here. He don’t understand how much of an influence he is to me. I made up dance routines to every song he ever had, and I might show him.”

“I finally found out about your letter!” McGraw said when he met Wilson. The Whirlwind superstar wrote McGraw a letter when she was 18 years old. That letter appeared on display in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, when the Lainey Wilson: Tough as Nails exhibit opened in July 2025. Wilson read the letter aloud in a Netflix documentary that premiered this spring, Lainey Wilson: Keepin’ Country Cool.

“‘Dear Mr. Tim McGraw,’” Wilson read, occasionally pausing with a laugh. “‘My name is Lainey Wilson from Franklin Parish, Baskin, Louisiana. I am 18 years old and have just entered my first semester at Louisiana Delta Community College of Monroe to pursue a nursing degree. I have been writing songs since I was 9 years old. When you listen to my CD, I want you to know that this is a sample of what I write. I have many others and they are just as good.’ Oh, humble! ‘Please consider meeting with me and my family. Singing, writing and performing are the most important things in my life. All I need is the opportunity, and I can do the rest. Sincerely, Lainey Wilson.’”

McGraw didn’t receive the letter when Wilson wrote it more than 15 years ago; however, he made up for it when the pair met at Nissan Stadium on Saturday (June 6).

“I was embarrassed, first off, that I never saw it,” McGraw told Wilson backstage. “So, I wrote you a letter back, and I wrote it as though I had gotten the letter. You know, so I wrote it like, had I gotten it then, this is what I would’ve said. And [songwriter] Tom Douglas also wrote a song about the letter, so I’ll send that to you. If you like it, you like it, and if you don’t, you don’t. But the whole letter is just what I like to have think that I would have said that I’d gotten your letter.”

Wilson replied, “you’re gonna make me cry.”

McGraw and Wilson performed their own sets during the star-studded show on the CMA Fest main stage. They also joined forces for a surprise collaboration, singing McGraw’s ‘90s hit, “I Like It, I Love It.”

CMA Fest kicked off on Thursday (June 4) and ran through Sunday (June 8). The longest-running country festival in the world features hundreds of artists on several free stages set up throughout downtown Nashville, plus nightly shows on the mains stage at Nissan Stadium. Artists on the main stage this year included Bailey Zimmerman, Blake Shelton, Carly Pearce, Cody Johnson, Deana Carter, Ella Langley, Gretchen Wilson, HARDY, Jason Aldean, Jordan Davis, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, The Red Clay Strays, Riley Green, Russell Dickerson, Shaboozey, Tucker Wetmore and Zach Top, and more. Riley Green and Lara Spencer will host the televised special, which will air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on Thursday, June 25. The show will be available to stream the following day on Hulu.

Bill Ellis