ABC/Lou RoccoIf you’ve followed Lauren Alaina’s career at all, you know the energetic 23-year-old is rarely at a loss for words. But when Reba McEntire called over the weekend to tell her she’s the Academy of Country Music’s New Female Vocalist of the Year, the words simply wouldn’t come.
“While I’m sitting there getting ready on the bus,” Lauren recalls, “[my manager] Trisha’s phone rings, which I mean I’m just getting ready, not paying any attention. She’s talking on the phone and she says, ‘Okay, here she is. Lauren, there’s a call for you.’”
“She puts it on speaker, and I’m like, ‘Hello.’ And it sounds like Reba! She says, ‘Tell me where you are,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m in Kentucky. Who is this?’ She said, ‘It’s Reba McEntire calling to tell you you’ve won the ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year.”
Since that moment, the “Doin’ Fine” hitmaker says she still hasn’t regained her composure.
“I can’t still even form words,” Lauren admits. “Honest to God, it’s the most speechless I’ve ever been. Like, I was on the phone with Reba McEntire and could not formulate words. Like I was really feeling dumb, but I sobbed. I’ve cried ever since.”
“It’s the biggest deal ever,” she says of winning the ACM, “and it’s just an accomplishment because my peers voted for it and the people that I respect in this industry voted for it. It’s like a different level of confirmation or something.”
Lauren could also grab another trophy at the ACMs. She’s up for Vocal Event for “What Ifs,” her chart-topping duet with Kane Brown. The American Idol runner-up also hit #1 last year with her single, “Road Less Traveled.”
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