Lainey in love.
Lainey Wilson has had a whirlwind last several years, so her recent fifth studio album Whirlwind was very appropriately named, indeed.
The Louisiana native has made a name for herself through many years of hard work, and she’s been dating her boyfriend Devlin “Duck” Hodges for a while now too, who is a former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback.
Hodges was a four-year starter at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama before being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Steelers in 2019. He was named the starter during the 2019 season when Mason Rudolph went down with an injury, going 3-3 as a starting quarterback before being waived by the Steelers and signed to the practice squad prior to the 2020 season.
This album in particular features love songs that Lainey wrote about Duck, which is a side of her we’ve never seen before… and “4X4XU” in particular is about their love story.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Lainey said she was able to write it in 30 minutes, which is much faster than she normally writes, because it just “felt right”:
“I’m very proud of that song, and we actually wrote that song in 30 minutes, which is crazy for me because I don’t write songs in 30 minutes. Normally it takes me six hours, and then we might come back to it again the next day. But that one just fell out of the sky, and it just felt right and it flowed.”
She added that she wanted to give fans a peak into her personal life, saying it was intentionally “flirty” but deep at the same time:
“Thinking back to my life and life on the road and making sure that I’m keeping these things that make me feel like I’ve got my feet on the ground for me right now, that is my relationship and I’m in a happy, healthy one. One of our favorite things to do is ride around, and it’s the simple things in life.
It’s about keeping your people close and the ones that remind you who you are and what you stand for, and remind you to stick to your guns and stay true to yourself. Those things make me feel at home.
So when we were sitting down to write the song, I was like, of course, let’s be cute with it, and let’s be flirty and have little wink moments, but let’s dig a little bit deeper. Let’s let this person know just how important they really are in your life and how important those simple moments can be.”
She added that Duck actually enjoys the industry events and that more unique part of her career, and is good friends with Luke Combs and Hardy, so she doesn’t ever have to convince him to go:
“It is a very fun experience, and he keeps it fun too. He’s just the kind of person that don’t take life too serious.
And the truth is, all of my artist friends, everybody from Luke Combs to Hardy and you name it, they’re more excited to see him than they are to see me. I’m fine with it. At least I don’t have to convince them to like him!”
If you’ve ever had a friend with a boyfriend that you’re not so fond of, then you know that this is a big accomplishment in and of itself, but especially considering Lainey’s life and how hard it probably was to find someone like him who really treats her right and respects her and her many impressive accomplishments.
In the interview, they also talked about Lainey’s return to Yellowstone, which I’ve been waiting for because the finale is this Sunday night, which she will be featured in and has been previously spotted filming a big concert in Fort Worth, so I’m excited to finally see that and maybe a little bit about her character, Abby’s, future relationship with cowboy Ryan (who works on the Dutton Ranch).
“4X4XU”
