# Whirlwind (Lainey Wilson album)

Whirlwind is the fifth studio album by American country singer Lainey Wilson. It was released on August 23, 2024, by BBR Music Group. The lead single from the album is "Hang Tight Honey".

## Background

Wilson co-wrote all 14 of the tracks on Whirlwind. Due to her busy schedule, Wilson said she focused on "quality over quantity" with respect to writing songs for Whirlwind, a different approach compared to her past projects. She wrote several songs with The Heart Wranglers, a songwriting collective consisting of herself, Trannie Anderson, and Dallas Wilson, as well as new collaborators such as Jon Decious. The album features a collaboration with Miranda Lambert on "Good Horses", which the two co-wrote with Luke Dick at Lambert's farm in May 2023, and previewed it with a joint performance in Las Vegas ahead of its release.
The album's title and release date were announced on May 9, 2024, with the tracklisting following in June. Her third studio album for BBR Music Group, Wilson once again recruited Jay Joyce to helm production, though this time the singer enlisted her touring band to play on the record instead of utilizing studio musicians. In conjunction with the album announcement, Wilson appeared on the cover of Billboard, premiered the trailer for her Hulu-exclusive documentary, Lainey Wilson: Bell Bottom Country, and shared news that she would be opening the Bell Bottoms Up bar in Nashville.
"Hang Tight Honey" was released on May 20, 2024, as the album's lead single. "Country's Cool Again", "4x4xU" and "Good Horses" were issued ahead of the album as promotional singles. "4x4xU" was announced alongside the album's release as its second single to country radio, impacting on September 3, 2024. It was the most-added song at the format upon impact, receiving 65 first-week adds.
Wilson embarked on her headlining Country's Cool Again Tour on May 31, 2024, in support of the album. She also performed several tracks from the album on NPR's Tiny Desk series on August 27, 2024.

## Commercial performance

Whirlwind debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 and number three on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, with first-week totals of 48,000 equivalent units, marking Wilson's first top 10 showing on the former chart and best charting week to date in terms of units.

## Personnel

Musicians
* Lainey Wilson – lead vocals
* Rob McNelley – electric guitar (all tracks), acoustic guitar (track 9)
* Jay Joyce – Hammond B3 organ (tracks 1, 2, 4–8, 10, 13), claps (1, 3), Omnichord synthesizer (1), programming (2–14), percussion (2–5, 7, 14), keyboards (2–5), backing vocals (2, 5, 7, 11); djembe drums, Farfisa organ (2); electric guitar (3–14), acoustic guitar (3, 6, 7), timpani (3, 7), drums (6), synth bass (14)
* Aslan Freeman – acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 3, 5–7, 9, 11, 13, 14), electric guitar (2, 4, 8, 10, 12, 13)
* Tommy Scifres – bass (tracks 1–13)
* Fred Eltringham – drums (tracks 1–13)
* Matt Nolan – drums (1, 3–9, 11, 13), percussion (2, 10), djembe drums (10, 12)
* Kevin Nolan – electric guitar (tracls 1, 6–9, 11, 13), Rhodes piano (2, 10), piano (3–5, 11), mandolin (3, 6), acoustic guitar (3, 12), claps (3), synth bass (12)
* Wyatt McCubbin – backing vocals (tracks 1, 14)
* Trannie Anderson – backing vocals (tracks 2–13)
* Bryan Sutton – acoustic guitar (tracks 2–4)
* Jason Hall – backing vocals (tracks 2, 5, 7)
* Steve Fishell – pedal steel guitar (tracks 2, 6)
* Dallas Wilson – backing vocals (tracks 2, 12)
* Bobby Louden – backing vocals (track 2)
* Monroe the Dog – sound effects (track 2)
* Miranda Lambert – vocals (track 3)
Technical
* Jay Joyce – production, mixing
* Andrew Mendelson – mastering (tracks 1, 3–14)
* Pete Lyman – mastering (tracks 2, 7)
* Jason Hall – mixing (tracks 2, 4–14), engineering (all tracks)
* Jimmy Mansfield – engineering
* Bobby Louden – engineering (tracks 1, 3–14), engineering assistance (2)
* Court Blankenship – production assistance (track 2)

## Accolades

Year-end lists :
| Publication | Rank | List |
| Billboard | 2 | The 10 Best Country Albums of 2024 |
| Rolling Stone | 8 | The 30 Best Country Albums of 2024 |
| Taste of Country | 5 | The 10 Best Country Albums of 2024 |