What happened to Gretchen Wilson?
After skyrocketing to fame, her small-town girl life suddenly turned into a high octane lifestyle that the country singer, later on, confessed she wasn’t ready for. In an interview with The Boot, Gretchen Wilson said that she had spent her whole life waiting for her big moment. But as much as she thought that she was prepared for it, the truth was she wasn’t. Everything happened so fast – she signed a major record deal, and she was lined to be the next Shania Twain.
And for the next twelve years, she spent her life on the road with nonstop tours and no time to be alone. She also shared that there was one trip that they crossed the International Date Line three times in just a span of one-and-a-half weeks that she didn’t know what day it was. And there came the burnout. Wilson felt that she was worn out not just vocally but also physically and that she needed time off for herself.
After releasing two albums – an original songs compilation Right on Time and rock covers album Under the Covers, and her very first Christmas album Christmas in My Heart in 2013, she took a much-needed time off. According to Wilson, she knew how fortunate she was at the time because there weren’t many artists like her who could afford to take a break for that long. At the same time, she also realized that that time allowed her not only to think, recuperate, get creative again but also gave her time to catch up with her daughter. As a single mom who was always on tour, she did miss a lot of things in her daughter’s life.
And so, for around two to three years, she enjoyed her life and allowed herself to heal from all the exhaustion.