To all appearances, Gretchen Wilson went overnight from talented obscurity to phenomenon. Her meteoric rise, the kind experienced by only a handful of artists in the past few decades, was that rare instance where talent and moment meet to form a cultural tidal wave.
Gretchen’s ability to tailor songs as gorgeously rough-edged as she is, has given her the kind of “I am what I sing” originality few women in music history–Loretta, Janis, Dolly and Cher chief among them–have ever been able to achieve.
After over 20 years in the music business, Gretchen’s star is shining brighter than ever. In May, she won FOX Television’s top-rated show “The Masked Singer.” Week after week, her character Pearl stumped the panel and viewers alike, performing diverse songs from Whitney Houston, Dolly, Gloria Estefan, The Outfield, Blue Oyster Cult, and more.
Just before “The Masked Singer” concluded its spring run, Gretchen was announced as the tour manager for the highly-anticipated CBS Television show THE ROAD, executive produced by Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) and Blake Shelton and starring Keith Urban. Each week, she will school the competing musicians in life on the road and mentor them about their song choices and performances. The show begins airing September 2025.
Her first single, “Redneck Woman,” spent six weeks at #1. Her debut album, Here For The Party, sold more than five million copies… and spawned three more top 5 hits including, “Homewrecker,” “When I Think About Cheatin’,” and the title track, “Here For The Party.”
Her second CD, All Jacked Up, saw four more hit songs like “California Girls,” “I Don’t Feel Like Loving You Today,” “Politically Uncorrect” (featuring Merle Haggard) and the title cut, and rode enthusiastic reviews to platinum status, and her third record, One of the Boys, solidified her position as one of contemporary music’s most original and multi-faceted female artists.
Since her debut, she has been featured on 60 Minutes, Dateline NBC, 20/20 Primetime, CNN’s People In The News, and she has appeared on virtually every morning, noon and late-night television show on the air.
She has won across-the-board awards, including ACMs, CMAs, AMAs, Billboards, and is a GRAMMY winner and nine-time nominee. Her first book, the autobiographical “Redneck Woman: Stories from My Life,” landed her on the prestigious New York Times Bestseller List.
Gretchen was one of the millions of Americans who didn’t finish high school, but the dedicated mother earned her GED at age 34 to show her daughter just how important an education is. 
Following much soul-searching, prayer and consultation, Gretchen left her original label home in July 2009 and launched her own label, Redneck Records, She has released six albums on the label and received a GRAMMY nomination for her “I’d Love To Be Your Last” single.
After taking some time off the road and releasing music, Gretchen joined her Muzik Mafia Brothers Big & Rich and Cowboy Troy for the 20th Anniversary Celebration Tour last year. She hit the road on her own headline tour early this year for dates that will criss-cross the U.S. and abroad. The 20th anniversary of “Redneck Woman” and the Here For The Party album landed her on the high-profile CMA Fest television special last summer and saw her present “Female Artist of the Year” on the ACM Awards live on Amazon Prime –20 years after taking home the same award.
As the scope of her life continues to grow, the young woman from the tough background looks to find her ultimate place in the larger scheme of things. “I think sometimes this is a stepping-stone and there’s something greater still for me to do,” she says. “I’m not sure what, yet, but a lot of it I think comes from this overwhelming sense that my grandma knew something I didn’t know. I know what her purpose was now. She never really found her ‘peace’ on this earth, but she is my saving Grace!” And as the latest chapter in her life is still being written, this label head modern mom has come a long way in both her personal and artistic life. “It has been an adventure. I have grown so much spiritually, emotionally and professionally over the past few years,” she says. “I am older, wiser and more in the moment now than I used to be.”