We need the footage of this, like, yesterday. Most Lainey Wilson fans know that one of her very first gigs as a teenager back in her hometown of Baskin, Louisiana was being a Hannah Montana impersonator. From 8th to 12th grade, Lainey hauled all of her gear, and wig, of course, to birthday parties all over Louisiana.
Yesterday, the “Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special” aired on Disney+, and Miley Cyrus walked fans down memory lane, and it was full of nostalgia, but honestly, I found it a little lackluster for several reasons, but I digress… it was fun to see Miley back in the blonde wig, and on the red carpet at the premiere, Lainey also reminisced on that time during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
They talked about how long it’s been since the show first aired, and Lainey joked that she didn’t want to “do the math”:
“First of all, I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. Let’s not do the math. Let’s not do the math.”
The show was obviously life changing for her in a very unique way, she talked about how she even got into the Hannah Montana impersonating business, saying it was her 8th grade teacher who first asked if anyone would put on a wig and come to her daughter’s birthday party.
Lainey volunteered, she said it spread “like wildfire,” and the rest, as they say, is history. Lainey explained that she took it as far as she could, buying the karaoke track of “Best of Both Worlds,” and she also had a whole portable sound system, and of course, a blonde wig:
“My 8th grade teacher at the time, she was like, can anybody just put on a Hannah Montana wig and come be Hannah for my little girl’s birthday? Well, I took it a step too far and I bought the karaoke track and I put on my first Hannah Montana show, and it spread like wildfire.
I would do three or four birthday parties a weekend, I had the portable sound system, I had the wig, I did it for five years.”
But Lainey joked that when she got to tell Miley that she had also been Hannah Montana, she said she didn’t have the “Malibu mansion” or the “Hannah Montana” budget:
“8th grade to 12th grade. And I did get a chance to tell Miley, I was like, ‘We were both Hannah Montana. My Hannah looked a lot different than yours. No Malibu mansions, but Hannah was a big part of my life.'”
She might not have back then, but she sure does now, so it all worked out…
And for as many times as I’ve heard Lainey talk about her Hannah Montana days, I’ve never seen any footage from any of these parties, and I think that needs to change because I have to see Lainey doing her best “Hannah Montana”:
@entertainmenttonight Lainey Wilson was booked and busy impersonating ‘Hannah Montana’ all through high school! 🎤 #laineywilson #hannahmontana ♬ original sound – Entertainment Tonight
Lainey previously honored Miley Cyrus at the her Disney Legend event with a rendition of “The Best Of Both Worlds,” and she called Miley “an inspiration”:
“Just watching her on stage last night and how she just, you can tell everything that is coming out of her mouth, she means it. She’s real and she’s lived a lot of life in a short amount of time.
And that right there is hard on anybody. She was an inspiration then and she’s still an inspiration to me now… I mean, and she don’t even realize actually how much that she taught me.”
She also revealed that before she turned 16, she had to have her parents drive her around to the different events (though it sounds like they might not have even known she did that). Before she had her own driver’s license, and if she couldn’t get her parents or someone to take her, Lainey would just drive herself without a license:
“I mean, from eighth grade to 12th grade, I impersonated Hannah Montana. I mean, I had the wig, the portable sound system. You all, I would do three or four parties a weekend… It taught me that this ain’t going to be easy. So even when I moved to Nashville in 2011, I had been touring since the eighth grade.
Sorry, mom and daddy, but there were times when I was 14, 15, I was driving around without a license to get to the birthday party. You know what I’m saying? People made fun of me… That’s another reason why I’d come back home and I’d write a song.
If I had not been Hannah Montana and not been hurt by some of the things that people said to me or behind my back or whatever, I don’t know if I would’ve been inspired to write as much music.”
Obviously, it’s not a great idea to drive around without a license, especially when you’re 14 or 15 years old, but I have so much respect for Lainey and her hustle to make all of this happen for herself form such a young age, not letting a single thing stop her.
