Portrait Of Dolly Parton

Why We Can’t Let The Left Make Dolly Their Socialist Mascot

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CNN had to apologize to the family of the late country music icon Dolly Parton after accidentally using a photo of a Las Vegas tribute artist in a report on her death.
&#8220;We regret the error and apologize to the Parton family,&#8221; the network told <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/27/media/cnn-apologizes-to-dolly-partons-family-for-using-photo-of-las-vegas-impersonator-in-coverage-of-icons-death/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">the New York Post</a> on Thursday.
The photo featured Parton impersonator Kelly Vohnn, and aired during &#8220;Laura Coates Live,&#8221; hours after the country legend&#8217;s death had been confirmed by her family.
<div id="attachment_1167035" style="width: 470px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1167035" class="wp-image-1167035 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2252308842-460x576.jpg" alt="" width="460" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2252308842-460x576.jpg 460w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2252308842-239x300.jpg 239w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2252308842-768x963.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2252308842.jpg 817w" sizes=" (max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px" />Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Focus Features</div>
Vohnn learned of the mistake shortly after the photo aired, telling The Post that her phone began blowing up with people telling her that they&#8217;d just seen her on CNN: &#8220;I started getting all these texts in from friends saying that I was on CNN, and I couldn’t believe it &#8230; I was already heartbroken at losing Dolly because of how much she has given to me as a woman and an artist.&#8221;
&#8220;But then to see these images of me on screen was just weird. Somebody at CNN really messed up and didn’t do their research,&#8221; Vohnn added. &#8220;I felt so sorry and apologetic for Dolly, because over her career there are so many wonderful images and moments that they could have chosen from — and CNN just picked something not appropriate. To be clear, I have never represented myself as being Dolly ever in my life. I have always been known as a tribute act for her and many other stars. It was quite embarrassing, to be honest.&#8221;
Vohnn told The Post that she had considered reaching out to CNN herself to address the mistake, but that she&#8217;d been so upset by the news of the icon&#8217;s passing that she hadn&#8217;t done so: &#8220;I thought about calling CNN, but was really consumed by the grief of losing Dolly [and] I just wanted to be at home with my thoughts, raising a glass of wine to that brilliant woman.&#8221;
Parton passed away after a brief battle with cancer, leaving behind a legacy of music and philanthropy that touched millions around the world. She was 80 years old.

SEE IT: CNN Used Photo Of Vegas Impersonator In On-Air Dolly Parton Tribute

CNN Used Photo Of Vegas Impersonator In On-Air Dolly Parton Tribute

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Legendary songstress Dolly Parton turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom three times — from two different presidents.
Parton, who passed away on Tuesday after a brief battle with an unspecified type of cancer, had the award offered to her twice during President Donald Trump&#8217;s first term and a third time during former President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration. All three times, she respectfully declined the honor.
After Biden offered her the award, the country legend explained why she turned down the honor during a 2021 appearance on &#8220;The TODAY Show,&#8221; telling hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager that she&#8217;d ultimately been offered three times.
&#8220;To be honest — in all fairness — I got offered the Freedom Award from the Trump administration,&#8221; Parton revealed. &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t accept it because my husband was ill. Then they asked me again about it, and I wouldn&#8217;t travel because of the COVID.&#8221;
&#8220;So now I feel like if I take it I&#8217;ll be doing politics, so I don&#8217;t — I&#8217;m not sure,&#8221; Parton added. &#8220;I don&#8217;t work for those awards. It&#8217;d be nice, but I&#8217;m not sure that I — you know — that I even deserve it, but it&#8217;s a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it.&#8221;
Kotb pushed back, saying she believed &#8220;everybody thinks you might deserve it.&#8221;
Parton always <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2026/08/26/dolly-parton-awards-presidential-medal-of-freedom/91471344007/">eschewed politics</a>, saying that she certainly had her opinions but chose to keep them to herself because she valued both her privacy and her fans.
&#8220;First of all, I have as many Republican fans as I do Democrats. I don&#8217;t want to offend anybody, I have a right to myself,&#8221; she said.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom was not the only honor she turned down. Also in 2021, Tennessee lawmakers were considering a bill to have a statue of her placed on the Capitol grounds — and she reached out to them, asking that the bill be removed from consideration.
&#8220;[I don&#8217;t] think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time,&#8221; Parton said. &#8220;I hope, though, that somewhere down the road several years from now or perhaps after I&#8217;m gone if you still feel I deserve it, then I&#8217;m certain I will stand proud in our great State Capitol as a grateful Tennessean.&#8221;
She also asked to have her name removed from the 2022 list of nominees to the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame, saying that she had not &#8220;earned&#8221; the right to be added. The organization declined to remove her, however, and she was inducted anyway.
&#8220;I feel honored that all the people that voted for me did,&#8221; Parton told <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/dolly-parton-rock-roll-hall-fame-interview-1235066988/">Billboard</a> after she was inducted. &#8220;I never meant to cause trouble or stir up any controversy.&#8221;
Trump honored the late singer by having the flags lowered to half-staff for a week following her passing.
&#8220;There has never been anyone like her, and never will,&#8221; Trump said.

Dolly Parton Refused Medal Of Freedom Three Times From Two Presidents

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Legendary country star Dolly Parton died on Tuesday, but she made a prediction more than four decades earlier about which one of her famous &#8220;Dolly-isms&#8221; might show up on her tombstone.
In 1982, while filming &#8220;The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,&#8221; Parton coined a phrase that she would repeat on numerous occasions — so often, in fact, that she told <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/05/michael-hogan-d?srsltid=AfmBOorbIpVOaVLPIik29oUfXvLs2UDQaGIuGpzDWRvgO4xNcGwIi5GL">Vanity Fair</a> 26 years later that she expected to see it on her headstone one day.
The phrase in question? &#8220;It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.&#8221;
Parton made no secret over the years that she&#8217;d modeled her signature look after the town tramp — declaring during a number of interviews that she&#8217;d grown up in awe of this confident woman with &#8220;peroxide-blonde hair&#8221; who wore tight clothes and red lipstick. Her mother had told her at the time that the woman was &#8220;trash,&#8221; a &#8220;tramp&#8221; — but Parton said she&#8217;d known immediately that was what she wanted to be when she grew up.
&#8220;I kind of patterned myself after what they called the town tramp in my hometown, when I was little,&#8221; Parton explained to CBS anchor Julie Chen on &#8220;The Early Show&#8221; in 2006. &#8220;She left a big impression on me, and I would talk about how beautiful she was and different ones would say, ‘Oh, she’s just trash.’ And I thought, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up. I’m gonna be trash!’ And that is how I look.&#8221;
Parton also said her flashy outward look was an attempt to match her flashy personality.
But as flashy as she was, Parton never took herself too seriously — and routinely delivered self-deprecating quips about her flamboyant style and multiple cosmetic procedures.
&#8220;It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world,&#8221; she said more than once — and she told The Guardian in 2011, &#8220;If something is bagging, sagging or dragging, I’ll tuck it, suck it or pluck it &#8230; It’s like what I always say: I may look fake but I’m real where it counts.&#8221;
When asked how she still looked so young, she quipped, &#8220;Well, good lighting, good doctors and good makeup.&#8221;
The country music icon was 80 years old.

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The ‘Dollyism’ That Parton Joked Would Appear On Her Tombstone

SEE IT: The 'Dolly-ism' That Parton Said Would Show Up On Her Tombstone

Music Industry

Nashville

Country music is having a moment. For the first time in history, all five of the top songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart are in the country genre.
Ella Langley’s meteoric hit “Choosin’ Texas,” the biggest single of 2026 so far, is still hanging onto the #1 spot as of Monday. It’s followed by Morgan Wallen’s new single, “Been by Now” at #2. In the third spot is Taylor Swift’s “I Knew It, I Knew You,” which she penned for “Toy Story 5.” In the fourth position is a duet between Langley and Wallen, “I Can’t Love You Anymore.” Rounding out the top five is “Boston” by Stella Lefty. 
Langley’s other single, “Be Her,” is in the #9 spot. Non-country songs in the top 10 include Tame Impala and Jennie’s “Dracula” at #6, Olivia Dean’s “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” at #7, Ariana Grande’s “Hate That I Made You Love Me” at #8 and Dean’s “Man I Need” is at #10.
“Choosin’ Texas” made history already by surpassing Whitney Houston&#8217;s &#8220;I Will Always Love You&#8221; and Mariah Carey&#8217;s &#8220;We Belong Together&#8221; as the longest-running non-holiday #1 one songs by female solo artists without male-billed acts, as Variety <a href="https://variety.com/2026/music/news/ella-langley-choosin-texas-ties-whitney-houston-mariah-carey-records-1236816760/">reported</a>. 
Now, many wonder whether Grammy voters will finally recognize country after snubbing the genre for years. Last year, zero country artists received nominations for major categories including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.
The snub was a surprise for fans and industry experts, especially as country music continues to have massive commercial dominance. After voters rejected country&#8217;s dominance, big stars such as Miranda Lambert, George Strait, and Morgan Wallen skipped the Grammys earlier this year.
&#8220;I really hope it doesn&#8217;t turn into that type of dialogue based around politics Right or Left, because it really is not that; it&#8217;s really about what the voters choose to vote for any given year, and it is cyclical,&#8221; Grammy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. <a href="https://tasteofcountry.com/grammys-responds-country-snub/">said</a> earlier this year of country getting shafted.

Ella Langley

Country Music Takes All Top 5 Billboard Spots For First Time Ever

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Music

A couple of months ago, we delivered the obituary for rock music — a genre that was never going to survive the post-Obama cultural shifts in America, which punish experimentation and risk-taking, as well as anything important to white people, while rewarding manufactured solo acts that are easier to market on social media and much easier to manage and control. 
There&#8217;s no doubt that the death of rock is a very bad sign — you might even call it a &#8220;leading indicator&#8221; of cultural decay in this country. Of course, some people — some conservatives, especially — might argue that rock music itself was a driver of cultural decay. And in some cases they might be right. 
But generally speaking, rock was — still is, where you can find it — a truly great art form, in my view. And more than that, it is an American art form. Rock was both a product of American culture and a producer of American culture. 
Each decade going back to the 50s saw a new stage in the evolution of the genre, reflecting changes and shifts in the culture at large — whether it was the prog rock, heavy metal, and arena rock of the 70s, or the new wave and hair metal of the 80s, or the alt rock and grunge of the 90s, and so on. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/matt-walsh-show-ep-1814"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-995295 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Walsh-Banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Walsh-Banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Walsh-Banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Walsh-Banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
You can go back and listen to the rock music of a particular decade, and come away with a better understanding of the cultural mood of that time. Our current decade is arguably the first in 70 years without its own unique rock sound. That is not a good thing, I would quite emphatically argue. 
It’s yet another symptom of an exhausted, decadent culture with no new ideas and nothing left to say. 
That said, there are some subgenres of rock that, while not often producing huge mainstream hits, still churn out great music nonetheless. 
Folk rock is one of those subgenres. I say that really just as a way to wedge in a mention of Glen Hansard, one of the great folk rock and singer-songwriter musicians of our time, who just sadly died in a motorcycle accident on Wednesday. 
He starred in a movie called “Once” back in 2007 that, if you consider it a musical (and I do), is one of the only musicals I ever personally enjoyed. He was a great artist. If you aren’t familiar with him, you should go look him up.
In any case, while rock has fallen on hard times — along with a number of other once-thriving musical genres — it’s not all bad news. 
There is another traditional American genre that&#8217;s somehow thriving right now. And it’s worth thinking about how it has managed to succeed in an environment that has all but destroyed so many other genres. 
This is the counterbalancing narrative to the decline of rock. And it is, dare I say, a cause for some optimism: As rock has faded, country music is dominating the charts. This is a resurgence that&#8217;s been building for several years now. You can make the case that country music is now the strongest it&#8217;s ever been — certainly in terms of its popularity relative to other genres.
Ella Langley&#8217;s &#8220;Choosin&#8217; Texas&#8221; has now spent 15 weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That&#8217;s a record for a female solo act, excluding holiday releases. The previous recordholders were &#8220;We Belong Together&#8221; by Mariah Carey and &#8220;I Will Always Love You&#8221; by Whitney Houston — although the latter was actually written by Dolly Parton, whose original version is superior in my opinion. 
Each song spent 14 weeks at the top spot. Ella Langley’s surprising triumph has been a cause of consternation for some people on social media, who are clearly not thrilled to see a down-home country girl from Alabama take this particular crown. And it’s caused heartburn for some critics who fashion themselves country music purists and have decided that Langley is not authentic enough or something. 
But in fact, she’s quite authentic, and the song, whether you happen to enjoy it or not, is, in many ways, a classic old-school country song. We’ll discuss more about the particular song in a moment and why it&#8217;s successful, but suffice it to say, it&#8217;s not an outlier. As <a href="https://www.billboard.com/lists/ella-langley-choosin-texas-hot-100-number-one-15-weeks/">Billboard</a> reports:
<blockquote>Country hits claim the top four for a second time in the Hot 100’s history, two weeks after the genre first achieved the feat. &#8230; Below “Choosin’ Texas,” Taylor Swift’s “I Knew It, I Knew You” is No. 2 for a fifth consecutive week, after it spent its first two weeks on the Hot 100 at No. 1 in June; Stella Lefty’s first top 10, “Boston,” surges 6-3 for a new high; and Langley and Morgan Wallen’s “I Can’t Love You Anymore” rebounds three spots to its No. 4 best. Two weeks earlier, “Choosin’ Texas,” “I Knew It, I Knew You” and “I Can’t Love You Anymore” were in the same spots, joined by Langley’s “Be Her” at No. 3. In eight other weeks — all in the past three years — country titles took the top three, starting on the Aug. 5, 2023-dated Hot 100, via Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town,” Wallen’s “Last Night” and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car.” Of the nine weeks all-time with country songs at either Nos. 1-3 or Nos. 1-4 on the Hot 100, this week marks the fifth in a row dating to the first week in July.</blockquote>
There are other metrics we could talk about, including the fact that country has been the fastest-growing U.S. genre in on-demand streaming since 2023. The longest-running No. 1 songs in the last three years on streaming services have all been country songs. 
I do have to acknowledge that a lot of modern country music is also terrible. I&#8217;m not going to pretend that every country music song is worthwhile, while all Latin, hip-hop, and R&amp;B is a waste of time. That wouldn’t be true on either score. There are plenty of cliché, boilerplate country songs that sound like they were made primarily to serve as the soundtrack for an Applebee’s commercial. 
There are plenty of country songs that have infused so many pop and even hip-hop elements that they barely qualify as country songs at all. But, even so, many of the popular country songs in recent years have been faithful in tone, theme, and sound to traditional country music — including Ella Langley, Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers, Lainey Wilson, and others. 
This is not just a story of country music achieving widespread success by stripping itself of every defining feature and becoming a soulless, corporate product indistinguishable from AI slop. There is some of that happening, certainly. But we’re also witnessing a genuine resurgence of the genre at its core.
This is significant in part because, historically, country has been dominated by rural Americans, especially in the South and West, where it originated. What we&#8217;re seeing now is a major victory for Southern culture, which, as we all know, has been vilified and beaten down in mainstream discourse for some time now — certainly, since Obama&#8217;s presidency. 
Country music in the South grew out of the folk ballads from Scottish, Irish, and English immigrants. They were Celtic ballads that transformed into something distinctively American, which gave voice to the unique American experience. One of the first country songs that could be called a mainstream hit — maybe the first ever — was called the “Wreck of the Old 97,” released in 1924, about a train derailment in Virginia. 
So this was a genre that was, in many respects, invented to tell the American story, especially its tragic elements. And in the West, country music had its origins in the lifestyles of ranchers and cattle drivers on the frontier. The songs had relevance to specific parts of the country in ways a lot of music executives didn&#8217;t realize at first.
But in the 1990s, when the music industry turned on the SoundScan system, they immediately realized how popular country music was in these particular areas of the country. Rural radio was the stronghold for country music, even though there were several artists with wide crossover appeal, including Shania Twain and Garth Brooks.  
As of 1997, there were more than 2,400 radio stations devoted solely to country music broadcasting throughout the United States, accounting for more than a quarter of all commercial radio stations in the country.   
Around the same time, country music accounted for roughly 20% of all record sales. Meanwhile, in February 1996 — as country music was surging in small towns across America — New York City&#8217;s biggest country music station — WYNY 103.5 FM — stopped playing country music full-time. They moved over to dance music. In the biggest radio market in the United States, there was no full-time country music station on FM radio. So country was, indeed, a phenomenon in the South and West in particular. And now it&#8217;s coming back.
The song &#8220;Choosin’ Texas,&#8221; in particular, is a solid vehicle to spearhead, or at least participate in, this comeback. I&#8217;m not going to pretend that it&#8217;s some historic, extraordinary achievement in songwriting or anything like that. It isn’t an artistic masterpiece necessarily. But it is a genuine country song, and a good one, that is now objectively one of the biggest hits of this century. 
It&#8217;s also not some insufferable girlboss anthem. If anything, it&#8217;s an anti-girlboss anthem. And it&#8217;s not a braindead pop song pretending to be country, wearing the style of country music like a skinsuit.  In case you&#8217;ve somehow never heard this song, here it is: 
Watch:
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It’s about a woman who&#8217;s pining for a man who&#8217;s choosing someone else. It&#8217;s a song that feels less like a lot of modern pop country and more like a spiritual successor to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” Which, given that “Jolene” is one of the greatest songs of all time, is not bad company to be in. 
A song like “Jolene” resonates across generations because it&#8217;s about feelings and troubles that people connect with. It’s about someone who is pleading, desperate, and heartbroken. That’s a human experience. 
A lot of modern pop and hip hop music — and plenty of the worst and most fraudulent country music — by comparison, consists of the artist bragging about themselves. It’s false and fake and doesn’t speak to anything deeper in the human soul, which may be one of the reasons why the public is tiring of those genres. 
When I praised the Ella Langley song on X, a few people responded that her song is also degenerate nonsense because it’s about a woman drinking away her sorrows. And sure, that&#8217;s part of it. I&#8217;m not trying to make the case that this song should be some kind of Bible for how to live your life. 
But, first of all, like it or not, drinking away your troubles has been a regular theme of country music for 70 years at least. And second, again, pining for something, and feeling heartbroken because you can’t have it, is human. It’s real. And those are the aspects of the human condition that music is supposed to illuminate and give voice to. In short, it’s a song about yearning, about longing.
All that to say, if the concept of “yearning,” or longing, is making a small, limited, isolated comeback, by way of country music — that would be good news. It would suggest that people are becoming more aspirational, as opposed to being demanding and insufferable. 
People want to live in a part of the country that has a viable future. Living around death and decay and incompetence is extremely demoralizing. And it contradicts a natural human impulse, which is to strive for something better than you currently have. 
Call it &#8220;yearning&#8221; or &#8220;desire&#8221; or whatever you want, but there&#8217;s an unmistakable drive in most people to improve their circumstances for themselves and future generations. If you live in a state like California or Illinois, then in all likelihood, you don&#8217;t see how things can get any better, because every year they&#8217;re getting worse.
People who are optimistic and forward-thinking, on the other hand, are getting out of town. And unsurprisingly, in other aspects of their life, they&#8217;re seeking out content that isn&#8217;t intended to demoralize them or glorify murder and depravity. 
That explains why the most conservative and most traditionally American regions of the country are dominating the rest of it. And it explains why there&#8217;s a newfound demand for wholesome, original, upbeat content, rather than the degenerate drivel we&#8217;ve been subjected to for decades. 
Is it the most important victory that conservatives could possibly win? No. Are there many other things we need to fight for, instead of conducting hearings where nothing is ever accomplished? Absolutely. 
But all the same, it&#8217;s a very important start. It&#8217;s a very welcome sign. And for once, as tempting as it may be to indulge in gloom and doomerism, we should celebrate that.

Country Music Is Absolutely Dominating. Here’s Why.

Jolene

rock music

Driving down Tennessee roads with rolling green fields, a big blue sky, and beautiful 19th-century homes, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my interview with Lakelin Lemmings, but I couldn’t wait to find out. Three years ago, the rising star signed a publishing deal with Quartz Hill Records at 17 and a label deal at 19. Just days before the release of her debut album, the Gen Z singer spoke with me about her music, passion for God, goals of motherhood, and mission to &#8220;remain country.&#8221;
Lakelin arrived at the recording studio in a boot-cut denim jumpsuit and red paisley scarf around her neck, and I knew right away this girl wasn’t someone who takes herself too seriously. When I told her that we share the same birth year and I couldn’t wait to hear from a woman who’s dealing with the same issues as other Gen Z girls our age, she smiled. With Lakelin&#8217;s <a href="https://open.spotify.com/prerelease/1UnCpJJNyTv1D8nlKVlgiI">first album</a> coming out on Friday, she is excited.
“I&#8217;m feeling like all the hard work and stuff is about to pay off, and that hopefully everybody loves it as much as I do,” Lakelin said. “I think one of the earliest songs in the album I wrote was when I was freshly 16 and the last one when I turned 19. It&#8217;s finally gonna be introduced into the world.”
Many of the songs in the album tackle the topics of young love, relationships, and heartbreak. As someone who loves “How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days” and any good rom-com, Lakelin said she sometimes pulled inspiration from shows she watched, but she has also dealt with a series of her own relationship struggles.
Like other young women her age, Lakelin has had her share of situationships — a <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/202403/are-you-in-a-situationship/amp?utm_source=chatgpt.com">term</a> Gen Z uses to describe a romantic relationship without commitment labels. Lakelin&#8217;s song “What Are We Doing” is trying to figure out just that. In “Get Around Boy,” the song lists the places Lakelin hopes to travel to and describes a young man who stays behind in Tennessee as she chases her dreams. Eventually, Lakelin did travel to nearly all the places she mentions, and now says she has a boy “in the back of my mind.”
As the title “19 &amp; Single” suggests, the song touches on the pressure to get married with lyrics like, “I’m all for a Friday night with the girls / &#8216;Cause 19 and single ain’t the end of the world.” Lakelin said she feels pressure when friends get engaged, married, and start having babies. With earnest hopes for marriage and motherhood, Lakelin said she has made sacrifices to be where she is, but still wants to perform her music and pursue her dreams.
Not all of Lakelin&#8217;s lyrics were inspired by what you’d expect. After singing along in the car to Lakelin’s <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DbHG1muBl1G/?hl=en">“He Ain’t Coming Back,”</a> I had to get the scoop behind this earworm. Another smile.
“Yeah, so everybody thinks that, you know, ‘He Ain&#8217;t Coming Back’ is about some boy that did me wrong and something like that,” Lakelin said. “But the story of it is actually — I was finishing up writing the album and we needed an up-tempo song.” 
Just days before it was time to record the album, Lakelin texted her two favorite co-writers to tell them the emergency: They had to come up with one more track. They convened on a Friday, but the co-writers had to cancel another appointment to make the timing work. 
“We get there, and we’re writing, and we hadn&#8217;t really gotten a title or anything yet, and — a knock on the door. It&#8217;s the guy that they were supposed to write with,” Lakelin said.
After the co-writers explained the rescheduling and the man’s confusion passed, he left. But the situation was “just really awkward,” Lakelin said.
“My co-writer, after he leaves, is like, ‘Man, I hope he comes back,’ and I just look at him, and I go, ‘Oh, he ain&#8217;t coming back.’ And a light bulb and a flip switched, and we were like, ‘We&#8217;re writing that.’”
Throughout Lakelin’s journey, her faith in God has been central. There have been difficult moments, Lakelin said, but she believes “God’s called me to country music.” Lakelin describes herself as a Christian who writes country music, not as a Christian country artist.
“I feel like there&#8217;s a need in country music for somebody that loves country music and can talk about those types of things, but also is rooted in her faith and is genuinely someone who&#8217;s only after God&#8217;s will,” Lakelin said, noting that Christian country singers often sing traditional Christian songs that feel less “country.”
“I love Christian music, and I&#8217;m sure I&#8217;ll dabble in it,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And I have a little bit to keep the faith life of mine, but I&#8217;m always going to remain country.”
As someone who stays with her family whenever she’s not on the road, Lakelin loves seeing her two little sisters — aged one and three — who know her as “Lae Lae.” Lakelin said she’s like their second mother, with a large age gap between them and the three oldest siblings. Lemmings was the middle child for years with her now 23-year-old sister, whom she would compete with in singing, and a 17-year-old brother. However, after the first daughter left the nest, Lemmings said her parents wanted more kids, dreaming of having a family of eight.
Lakelin’s family couldn&#8217;t be more supportive of her burgeoning music career. Since she was little, Lakelin has performed in competitions, and her extended family still recalls when she was performing at their barbecue singing competition. Lakelin said she does wonder what they think watching her grow from small performances to standing on grand stages. 
How does she stay grounded in some sort of routine with a life that is always moving from writing and recording sessions to performances and tours? She named only two things: her coffee in the morning and her Bible in the evening. 
“After a long week or a long day in the music world, I like to just go home and have a cup of coffee, read my Bible, maybe tan a little bit, and just spend time with family and friends,” she said.
Lakelin has a message to other girls who are dreamers with a desire from God but see too many roadblocks.
“If you&#8217;re gonna be a dreamer, you got to be a doer. And I think that if you have a dream, then chase it,” Lakelin said. “If it&#8217;s God&#8217;s will and his plan, then it&#8217;s going to work out just the way it&#8217;s supposed to. It&#8217;s going to be hard at times to trust that and trust in Him, but you just got to keep the faith.”
***
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

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The Country Star Bringing Faith To Center Stage

interview

Tennessee

Upstream

Bruce Springsteen thinks the best way to love your country is to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/bruce-springsteen-reignites-trump-feud-says-critical-patriotism-defines-patriot">slam it from one concert stage to the next.</a>
Aaron Lewis would rather sing about the values that make America great: Faith. Resilience. Pride in the country. And gratitude that seems to elude The Boss on the latter’s 2026 No Kings tour.
Lewis, the Staind lead singer who segued into country stardom with the 2011 EP “Town Line,” pours out his patriotism on his new album, “Give My Country Back.” And yes, the title track is as fiery as expected. Lewis shreds Americans eager to fundamentally transform the freest country in the world.
<blockquote>
Now we’re standing on the shoulders of the ones that went before 
Proud of what they did to make it all worth dying for 
Yeah, you bite the hand that feeds you 
And it ought to be a crime 
You wave a flag from somewhere else while you’re burning mine
</blockquote>
Lewis, 54, tells The Daily Wire his sixth solo album extols a value that’s in short supply today: accountability.
“You don’t have to look very far in either direction to see hundreds of examples of there being no accountability left in this world,” Lewis says. That, and a lack of gratitude for the country’s many blessings, can’t help but stick in the singer’s craw.
“I’m very lucky. I’ve been able to travel all over the world with the job I’ve had for 30 years … this is the most amazing country on the face of the planet without a close second,” Lewis says.
“If you’re 50 years old and older, it’s now your responsibility for your grandkids and children to receive from you a better country than you received from your grandparents and your parents,” he adds. “We’re the only country where it works that way.”
“Give My Country Back” finds Lewis weighing in on issues of gratitude and love of country, steeped in his textured vocals and an old-school country spirit. You can smell the leather and grit on his honky tonk tracks.
You won’t miss his message, but he says the delivery method for most of his material isn’t meant to push anyone away.
“I’m never trying to hit anybody over the head with it &#8230; nobody wants to get screamed in their face,” he says. “When you start that, they stop listening.” And he shares his deeply held opinions for a reason.
That said, the title track is getting a live reaction akin to his biggest hits, think “Am I the Only One” and “Country Boy.”
“I usually know pretty quickly that I did something right,” he says of the live audience feedback.
He describes other new tracks, like “Bad Thing To Be Good At,” as an example of an older, wiser musician “owning all of my s***.”
The new album, produced by Sol Philcox-Littlefield, finds Lewis collaborating on many of the tracks. It’s a different writing process from the one he embraces with Staind music, and it’s one that took some time to process.
“It’s just a different culture in the country world,” he says. “It honestly felt good at first … it took all the onus and weight off my shoulders.”
The singer co-wrote five of the album’s 10 tracks, working with veteran collaborators like Jeffrey Steele, Bobby Pinson, Travis Meadows, and Casey Beathard.
The difference is in the level of satisfaction he finds when he harnesses a personal outlook, which isn’t quite the same here – “it almost feels like I’m cheating,” he quips. He might return to a more personal approach for his next country release.
Lewis maintains a dual strategy for his career. He has fall tour dates planned with Staind while currently bringing “Give My Country Back” to concert venues nationwide. He still draws a clear distinction between projects.
“I’ve never pulled any punches whatsoever … I’ve really just said whatever the f*** was on my mind,” he says, an approach that applies to his solo music.
With Staind, he follows a different course.
“I don’t say anything during the entire [live] Staind show, and at the end I say, ‘goodnight,’” he says. “I do all of my talking … all of my opinions or thoughts or whatever it may be, only when it’s my name on it. I have put in quite a bit of effort to ensure that there is a separation.”
Call Lewis the “anti-Boss.” And, since the interview wasn’t for a Staind project or tour, he weighed in on Springsteen’s hard-Left pivot.
“He has been a member of the elite class for so long,” Lewis said of the New Jersey rocker, whom he dubs “disconnected” from the working class. Springsteen has taken heat in recent years for his sky-high concert ticket prices, something he has defended rather than addressed, all while he keeps railing against President Trump on stage and off.
“Everything he stands for is bulls***.  It’s all just anti-American bulls***. I don’t have any tolerance for it,” Lewis says.
The Rutland, Vermont native has straddled two major genres over the past 15 or so years, and he’s not against stretching some more.
He envisions another side of his musical life, a trippy, electronica sound that has caught his attention. He’s already mastered two genres. Why not another?
He says he’d like to duck away with a collaborator well versed in that style and “just see what comes out of it.”
***
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. He&#8217;s also the host of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hollywood-in-toto-podcast-w-christian-toto/id1186449155">The Hollywood in Toto Podcast</a>. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en">@HollywoodInToto</a>.

Aaron Lewis In Concert – Detroit, MI

Country Music’s All-American Anti-Springsteen

Aaron Lewis

Bruce Springsteen

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wed Friday afternoon at Madison Square Garden, putting to bed weeks of rumors with star-studded nuptials in the heart of New York City.
The singer and Kansas City Chiefs star tied the knot in front of 1,000 guests, according to People Magazine. The &#8220;Blank Space&#8221; singer and three-time Super Bowl champion were married by comedian Adam Sandler, with whom Kelce bonded while filming the former&#8217;s movie &#8220;Happy Gilmore 2.&#8221; Following the ceremony, the jumbotrons outside the venue displayed the message: &#8220;JUST&amp;T MARRIED!&#8221;
For weeks leading up to the ceremony, rumors swirled about the lavish affair, pictures of which have yet to be released. Swift&#8217;s team <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/save-the-date-rumors-swirl-around-taylor-swifts-highly-anticipated-wedding">filed permits</a> to close the streets around the arena in the days prior to the ceremony, during which time photos showed truckloads of food and decorations being unloaded into the iconic arena.
&#8220;The bride and groom’s wedding ceremony looks have been created by Christian Dior Haute Couture,&#8221; Swift&#8217;s team said in a statement. &#8220;Their shoes were custom made by Christian Louboutin and the bride wore Cartier jewelry.&#8221;
The statement also confirmed that &#8220;Taylor &amp; Travis did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen.&#8221; Swift&#8217;s brother, Austin, served as the singer&#8217;s &#8220;Man of Honor,&#8221; while Jason Kelce — formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles — served as his brother&#8217;s best man.
Swift and Kelce announced their engagement last summer via a joint Instagram post captioned “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” The pair met after Kelce attended Swift’s Eras Tour concert in Kansas City in 2023 and tried to give her a personalized friendship bracelet — the singer&#8217;s hallmark — with his phone number, but wasn’t able to reach her. Kelce later recalled the story on a podcast, which led to the celebrities getting together.
Madison Square Garden was transformed for Friday&#8217;s ceremony, with sources close to the situation telling People they had &#8220;never seen&#8221; the venue &#8220;look so different.&#8221; The wedding decor reportedly included a castle, and Swift was reported to have performed at the ceremony. Swift and Kelce reportedly donated $26 million to charity to mark the occasion of their nuptials. Recipients included Feeding America, the ASPCA, and Dolly Parton&#8217;s Imagination Library.
Swift and Kelce hosted a welcome reception at the Garden on Thursday night for A-list guests, most of whom returned for the main event on Friday. Celebrities spotted entering the Garden or reported to attend included actors Bradley Cooper, Dakota Johnson, and Lena Dunham; late-night host Jimmy Fallon; model Karlie Kloss and her husband, Josh Kushner; and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.
The crowd also included a host of country music stars, including Kelsea Ballerini, Miranda Lambert, The Chicks, and Brad Paisley.
Notably absent from the ceremony were &#8220;Gossip Girl&#8221; star Blake Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds. It&#8217;s unclear what caused a rift between Lively and Swift, longtime close friends, though it seems downstream of Lively&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hollywoods-biggest-legal-feud-collapses-after-millions-wasted-on-lawyers?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Hollywood%E2%80%99s+Biggest+Legal+Feud+Collapses+After+%E2%80%98Millions%E2%80%99+Wasted+On+Lawyers">contentious legal battle</a> with &#8220;It Ends With Us&#8221; co-star and director Justin Baldoni.
&#8220;It wasn’t one big thing, it was everything adding up,&#8221; a source close to Swift <a href="https://pagesix.com/2026/07/03/entertainment/blake-lively-and-ryan-reynolds-shut-out-of-taylor-swift-travis-kelce-msg-wedding/">told Page Six</a> about the rift. &#8220;By the time Taylor was making decisions about the wedding and who she wanted there, she realized she just didn’t want that kind of energy around something so important and it really was a turning point for her.”

New York Knicks v Cleveland Cavaliers – Game Three

Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce Tie The Knot In Star-Studded NYC Ceremony

Blake Lively

Jason Kelce

Madison Square Garden

New York City

Taylor Swift

Travis Kelce

Wedding

Country music&#8217;s biggest stars packed Nashville&#8217;s Nissan Stadium on Saturday night to celebrate Alan Jackson as he performed the final concert of his legendary career.
The 67-year-old singer-songwriter put on his last set alongside George Strait, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Jon Pardi, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Riley Green, Cody Johnson, Lee Ann Womack, and other artists who gathered to honor Jackson. The event was filmed for an NBC concert special celebrating Jackson ahead of his retirement. 
Jackson performed many of his well-known hits, including singles “Gone Country,” “Livin’ on Love,” “Summertime Blues” and “Midnight in Montgomery.” He also played “Little Bitty,” “Country Boy,” “Good Time,” and his post-9/11 anthem, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Fireworks lit up the sky during “Chattahoochee,” according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alan-jackson-final-concert-george-strait-72ebb2f87fdca2c2ae8a7308278c9b9b">Associated Press</a>.
Jackson addressed the crowd, saying the experience was “overwhelming” before joking that he wouldn&#8217;t spend much time on “last show stuff” because he’s “not dead.”
Jackson announced last year that he would retire from touring, telling fans during a concert in Milwaukee that it would be his &#8220;last roadshow.&#8221; 
“It’s been a long, sweet ride; it started 40 years ago this September. My wife and I drove to Nashville with an old U-Haul trailer and chased this dream,&#8221; Jackson said. &#8220;It’s been a crazy ride. I lived the American Dream, for sure. So blessed. Thank you all so much for all your support of my music and attending my shows.” 
The announcement came four years after Jackson revealed that he had been diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological disorder.
“I’ve been reluctant to talk about this publicly and to my fans, but it’s been a while, and it’s starting to affect my performance onstage a little bit where I don’t feel comfortable,” Jackson said in 2021.
“I just wanted the fans and the public to know if they’ve come to see me in the last few years or if they come to see me in the future if I play anymore, what’s going on. I don’t want them to think I’m drunk onstage because I’m having problems with mobility and balance.” 
While Jackson said the condition is not fatal, he acknowledged it would eventually make performing more difficult.
“This is not a condition that I would be complaining about typically, but it is going to affect me performance-wise onstage, and I don’t know how much I’ll continue to tour,” Jackson said at the time.
Jackson is known for blending traditional honky-tonk with mainstream country, creating a signature sound. With more than 60 million albums sold, 35 number-one hits, and numerous awards, including Grammys and CMA honors, he’s one of country music’s most enduring and respected artists.

Alan Jackson

Country Legends Unite For Farewell Show

U.S.

Country music artist Morgan Wallen was caught on video last week throwing a cell phone across the stage during a show.
The incident occurred during a Pittsburgh stop on his “Still the Problem” tour Friday. A concert attendee recorded Wallen gesturing to the phone before walking away, then walking back and ripping the phone out of the guard’s hand. The country star proceeded to dramatically throw the phone across the stage.
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A TikTok user posted a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jcroo419/video/7648373212270677262">video</a> of the incident, writing in the caption, “I get it … security should be doing security things, but &#8230;” 
The TikTok poster also said the phone was given to the security guard by another fan to record. 
Wallen canceled the second of his two planned stops in Pittsburgh, blaming weather and later referencing what he described as “nonsense” rumors about him.
&#8220;This morning, my team walked on my bus and told me they had been consulting with local officials and that I should cancel my show in Pittsburgh tonight and I said, ‘Why?’&#8221; Wallen <a href="https://www.instagram.com/morganwallen/?hl=en">said</a> in the video posted to his Instagram Stories.
&#8220;They said that there was going to be strong winds in the area, and I said, ‘OK.’ So, that is what I did and that was the information I had in the moment, and I trusted my team,&#8221; Wallen said. &#8220;I understand that wind hasn&#8217;t gotten to Pittsburgh yet. &#8230; The truth of the matter is, I have a large stage that, in those conditions, could become fatal to a lot of folks around it. So, I did the best I could with the information I had in that moment.&#8221;
“I’ve been seeing a lot of nonsense about me that is simply not true, and I just wanted to clear the air,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I think my true fans know that that’s not how I operate in general, but I had to say it. Y&#8217;all take care.&#8221;
His fans were questioning this explanation, speculating that it had to do with the prior night’s incident and not with the weather at all. 
&#8220;Morgan wallen [sic] cancelling his show last night is just hilarious because i walked outside after my shift at 11pm and my car was completely dry,&#8221; one X commenter <a href="https://x.com/coleslawslut/status/2063640778920927384?s=46&amp;t=6H1TpnlkKEHOxmv5jMs48Q">claimed</a>. &#8220;No rain in sight. that man was already on his way back to tennessee [sic].&#8221;
“&#8230;he hates his fans and his job and they eat it up,” the person continued. 
Wallen previously made headlines for flipping a piano during a performance last month.

Morgan Wallen

VIDEO: Morgan Wallen Snatches Phone From Security Guard, Chucks It Across Stage

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/weekend-plans">Weekend Plans</a> is Upstream’s exclusive lifestyle feature where we highlight the real off-duty routines of the most exciting people in culture. 
This weekend, 27-year-old country singer and political commentator Alexis Wilkins stops by Daily Wire HQ to talk about splitting time between Nashville and D.C., her strategy for flying above the fray, and why dating FBI Director Kash Patel might be the most normal (and perfectly aligned) chapter of her story.
***
Alexis Wilkins arrives wearing a relaxed button-down and silver jewelry, offset by her dark hair, which she tucks behind her ear. She offers me a warm smile and a big hug. I’ll bet you $1,000 no one would ever peg her as an NRA board member. “Hiiiii!” she trills. I immediately get why those who know her love her. 
I’m not going to be that girl who asks when Kash is finally gonna put a ring on it (yet), or whether the relentless stream of rage-bait headlines and credible death threats freaks her out. Instead, I go with, “How does it feel to be hot enough that people think you&#8217;re a spy?”
Alexis laughs. “I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s ever been framed that way, and I love it.”
She grew up Orthodox Christian, mostly in Arkansas, raised by her Armenian mother who was a financial consultant and her father who was top brass at Gillette. 
Still, some allege she’s a “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kash-patel-girlfriend-alexis-wilkins-conspiracy-israel-mossad-b2945596.html">Mossad honeypot</a>.” Alexis essentially rolls her eyes. “My poor mom&#8217;s digging in our basement for my baptism certificate, like, ‘Wait, but this doesn&#8217;t make any sense.’ I&#8217;m like, ‘Mom, they don&#8217;t do common sense.’” 
“If I wasn’t doing a good job, nobody would attack me,” she adds. “So I will continue to do my work.”
Alexis doesn’t come off as anything close to a flash-in-the-pan opportunist. Hey, New York Times, she built a career of her own long before Kash. 
Alexis wrote her first song when she was seven years old and recorded it in Nashville at the ripe old age of nine. “I started writing when I was really young because I read an article in a Smithsonian magazine about <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/fire-in-the-hole-77895126/">coal fires</a> in Pennsylvania,” she says. (Wait, she was reading Smithsonian at seven?) “It was just one of those ‘bored is not allowed’ things,” Alexis confirms. 
“I asked my mom if we could donate all of our money, and she was like, ‘No, that&#8217;s not how that works.’” Instead, her mother suggested she use her talents to fundraise for the cause. “I went on my American Girl doll tape recorder, and I recorded a song. And I&#8217;m like, I&#8217;m gonna put it on the new iTunes thing that’s out, and we&#8217;re gonna raise money with this song.”
She later took on Christ-focused <a href="https://www.independentwomen.com/people/alexis-wilkins/">Belmont University</a> when an activist professor gave her an F in comparative politics because he didn’t jive with her conservative values. His mistake was messing with a straight-A student who doesn’t take kindly to being silenced.
She also describes leaving the American flag icon on her social media and continuing to work with veterans despite pressure from the music industry to tame her patriotism. Pointing to her parents and a close circle of friends, Alexis says, “My support system is really great. That&#8217;s why I started speaking up.” 
About her music, tracks like “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm8fSgu6Wgc&amp;list=RDvm8fSgu6Wgc&amp;start_radio=1">Grit</a>” and “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7BQayn516w&amp;list=RDA7BQayn516w&amp;start_radio=1">Country Back</a>” are as fire as her favorite <a href="https://www.sigsauer.com/p365-380-rose.html">Sig Sauer P365-Rose</a> and as country as cowboy boots. Luckily, Alexis is still following her gut and staying true to herself.
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The rare off-duty day
Alexis hits the stage most weekends, but on the occasion that she’s in D.C. with a little downtime, she says she and Kash prefer “no plans” plans. “We just hang out, honestly,” she says. The U.S Intelligence life involves constantly being on-call, but the couple unplugs when they can. “We settle into the house, see people, cook, ask, ‘What do you want to do today?’ Things that we don&#8217;t always have the luxury of doing. It&#8217;s such a blessing.”
Back in Nashville, a free schedule features the same emphasis on living in the moment with the people she cares about most. “I would go to breakfast with my mom, and go antiquing or something … find an estate sale. I just love old things.” 
A curated place to call home
Architectural Digest’s “<a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/video/series/open-door">Open Door</a>” home tour series is missing out on a brilliant gem. Alexis describes the interior of her Nashville home as “old Roy Rogers,” AKA the cowboy decor of any Western fan’s dreams, which her mom helped her DIY.
Part of the vintage curioscape involves a mid-century RCA turn-dial TV they rigged to stream nonstop Westerns, and a gorgeous bannister they built from salvaged wood and rugged rebar. “I collect old books,” she explains of her museum library-like collection of secondhand treasures. “I am literate, contrary to popular reporting.” 
But once she utters, “I have a taxidermy squirrel that has a cowboy hat and a holster,” <a href="https://woodlandcreekfurniture.com/gunslinger-squirrel-whimsical-taxidermy-mount-anr-sqbandit.html?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=20086237438&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAD_a_Z1yVuMnIduE_wQkkqjsbbsUH&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw8uTQBhAdEiwAVvtJyvC0Tx-TOfxA_lYxkrx09I-MdfQWSFKI1E6gBiBN0SHu1b5wbbyyBxoCS0oQAvD_BwE">I’m sold</a>. As for music? “I listen to Gene Autry, like very, very, very old Western country. It&#8217;s a theme in my house.”
Rejuvenating in the midst of chaos
For Alexis, the biggest difference between her public and private life is the way she’s portrayed in the headlines. “People would be surprised that I&#8217;m just not very serious,” she says. “I&#8217;m just kind of a normal person … God forbid.” 
She can often be found reading over policies, researching, and even teaching herself to code, so zoning out with a little beauty routine is her favorite way to unwind: “sitting in front of my red light, on my <a href="https://higherdose.com/products/higherdose-infrared-pemf-on-the-go-mat?variant=42731166498987">PEMF [pulsed electromagnetic field] mat</a> on the grounding setting, watching reality TV.” When we talked, she had just finished part one of the “Summer House” reunion. 
Also a fan of Pilates, light strength training, and a peaceful walk outdoors, she wants to form a regular hobby that doesn’t involve a screen. Still, we’re both low-key looking forward to “Love Is Blind” Season 11 this fall.
Cooking up a family connection
Keeping it simple in the kitchen, Alexis preps basics like chicken cutlets and <a href="https://www.goodles.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoq2xGaj7J-5ctFvNc5uSwlkqO9vZTvqx-eA7V1IyPOWi6ayampi">Goodles</a> mac and cheese for herself. “I am such a boring eater,” she jokes. “I&#8217;m making chicken Caesar wraps all the time.” But when Kash hits the jackpot during hunting season, she says, “We have a lot of wild game to work with. I&#8217;ve been cooking stuffed peppers with elk recently.”
Always down to learn something new, she also enjoys discovering a few tricks of the trade from the Gujarati Indian side of the family. “[Kash’s] mom teaches me how to cook,” she says, noting how the same dish might be seasoned differently depending on a family’s preference. “I&#8217;m in the kitchen with her, I&#8217;m asking her questions, I&#8217;m taking pictures of how much spice she uses. It&#8217;s such a fun privilege to get to learn these things.”
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<div id="attachment_1104731" style="width: 393px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1104731" class=" wp-image-1104731" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-1500474725-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="383" height="216" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-1500474725-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-1500474725-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-1500474725-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-1500474725.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 383px) 100vw, 383px" />Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images</div>
A casual meet-cute 
Alexis and Kash met at a Truth Social party at country singer John Rich’s house, where Kash tried to hit on her by complimenting her jacket. But first things first, what the heck was that jacket? 
“You&#8217;re the first person to ask me that,” she smiles. “Fun fact. It&#8217;s actually a men’s jacket: the <a href="https://www.filson.com/products/mackinaw-wool-cruiser-jacket-red-black-plaid-1">Filson Mackinaw</a> wool plaid jacket, black and red.” She later bought one for Kash as an inside joke. Alexis proudly maintains “boring,” “straight-laced” professional boundaries, so it took a minute before she accepted an invitation to dinner at E3 Chophouse in Nashville with the then-adviser to Donald Trump. But this serendipitous connection almost didn’t happen.
“I wasn&#8217;t gonna go to that party because I had lost my dog like 10 days before,” she recalls. Deep in grief over her 16-year-old Bichon Frise, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CjKKj29OmDN/">Bizou</a>, Alexis reluctantly took her mom’s advice … sort of. “My mom literally kicked me out. She was like, ‘You have to get out of the house.’ I was like, I&#8217;m just wearing jeans. The joke is I wasn&#8217;t dressed up.”
Kash has <a href="https://youtu.be/QJZz4hI-KZE?t=696">spoken</a> publicly about an imminent proposal, but the dedicated couple remains intentional as they navigate uncharted territory. “We had no idea, obviously, what challenges lay in store for us,” Alexis says. “But everything is an adventure. I&#8217;m so proud of him.”
Advice for the next generation
Alexis offers front-line wisdom for those just beginning to find their voice. “I think that being who you are does turn into a superpower,” she says. Stepping out confident in your values requires some guts, but she confirms, “It&#8217;s the same thing as someone saying you have to go to these parties in high school and do drugs to be cool. We all look at that like, ‘Oh, that&#8217;s peer pressure.’ You don&#8217;t have to be in rooms that you don&#8217;t want to be in.”
This high-value apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. She says her grandpa — a first-generation Armenian who worked in an ice cream factory, sold newspapers, shined shoes at age five, and went on to become an aerospace engineer — often quoted historian Thomas Babington Macaulay: “The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.”
“My mom always said don&#8217;t settle,” she adds.
I tell her to waitlist me for a “Mossad honeypot” tee if she ever launches a line of satirical merch. But before we part ways, I invite her to share what most often occupies her thoughts.
“Am I making a good impact, and am I showing up for my friends and family, and am I being myself in all of this noise?” she says. “Is God proud of me? Is my mom proud of me? Okay, cool.”

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Weekend Plans With Alexis Wilkins

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