Tim McGraw Responds to Lainey Wilson’s Letter Nearly 20 Years Later

Lainey Wilson had a full circle moment at CMA Fest this year when she met one of the most influential artists of her early years — Tim McGraw.

Lainey Wilson Finally Meets Tim McGraw

Fans at the annual country festival were treated to a surprise when Wilson joined McGraw on stage during his set at Nissan Stadium. The two sang a duet version of his 1995 hit "I Like It I Love It." It's a song that was released when Wilson was just 3 years old.

She documented their meeting during rehearsals in a video on social media.

Shoot Your Shot: Lainey Wilson Wrote a Letter to Tim McGraw as a Teenager

"This is my childhood dream right here," she tells the camera. "Like, he don't understand how much of an influence he is to me."

"I made up dance routines to every song he ever had, and I might show him," she adds.

The video shows the two of them sharing a hug and chatting about their Louisiana roots. Wilson grew up in Baskin while McGraw spent his early early about 30 minutes down the road in Delhi.

Lainey Wilson Wrote a Letter to Tim McGraw When She Was a Teen

Long before Wilson was the country hitmaker that she is today, she was an artist trying to make it in this world. As a teenager, she wrote a letter to McGraw asking for his help getting her foot in the door.

"All I need is the opportunity and I can do the rest," she wrote in the letter — which she shared in her Netflix documentary Keepin' Country Cool.

As the two got to talking about the letter backstage at CMA Fest, she told him that she probably gave it to "an aunt" of his and it sounds like it never made it to the country veteran.

That is, until last year.

Tim McGraw Surprises Lainey Wilson With a Response to Her Letter

Wilson got the surprise of a lifetime when McGraw gave her a response letter nearly 20 years after she wrote to him.

"I recently — well, last year — found out about your letter," he tells her backstage. "I was embarrassed, first off, that I never saw it. I wish I would have seen it."

"So, I wrote you a letter back, and I wrote it as though I had gotten the letter," he tells her. "So I wrote it like, had I gotten the letter back then this is what I would have said."

But that wasn't all.

He also revealed that he got together with Tom Douglas to write a song inspired by Wilson's letter, which he said he would send to her.

Does this mean a collaboration between the artists could be in the works? Only time will tell.