Summary

Gretchen Wilson won Season 13 of The Masked Singer, proving she’s still got it with pop and Latin tracks.

Participating on the show was Gretchen’s way of testing if she still had what it takes to be a touring artist.

Her Pearl costume took her breath away, allowing her to show a new side of herself beyond being known as the “Redneck Woman.”

She was certainly here for the party! After being known for her hit single “Redneck Woman,” Gretchen Wilson returned to the stage with a victory on Season 13 of The Masked Singer. After weeks of crazy guesses, not only did she mask her voice, but the country music superstar proved that she’s still got it! Expanding her musical repertoire with some pop and Latin tracks, Gretchen Wilson had the time of her life as Pearl. Noting how timing was everything, Gretchen Wilson shared with Collider that doing The Masked Singer was her opportunity to see if she would still be able to hit the road as a touring artist. Needless to say, she’s more than capable to tear it up. “Can I breathe? Do I have what it takes to get back out there on the road? Do I have what it takes to be a touring artist still? Can I get up there and put on those shoes and do the steps and dance? I mean, am I really back or is it time for me to hang it up? This show will let me know. And boy, did it,” she excitedly shared.
‘The Masked Singer’ Was Out of the Norm for Gretchen Wilson

Image via FOX

COLLIDER: Pearl has been unmasked. It’s Gretchen Wilson! Congratulations. You’re a winner! GRETCHEN WILSON: I did it. I can’t even believe it. You know, when I first got there, I was like, “Oh, this is so hard. This is so grueling. This is nothing like I’ve ever done before,” but, man, I stuck in there. I just made it happen. And I’m still kind of in shock. COLLIDER: How does it feel to be a winner? GRETCHEN: Well, I feel like I won in life in general, you know? I mean, from where I started and where I am now, there’s nobody on earth that wouldn’t call that a win. I’m doing pretty dang good, but to win that particular show was like, I just didn’t expect it. Totally different than anything I’ve ever done before. Hard. Just grueling hours. Secrecy of it. The whole thing, just totally outside of my norm. But I’m really proud of myself. COLLIDER: If you could describe your experience in three words, what would they be? GRETCHEN: Hard as hell. COLLIDER: I love that. GRETCHEN: But worth it. I have to add three more. but worth it. COLLIDER: Absolutely. How proud is your family of you? GRETCHEN: I think they’re they’re definitely proud. I think mostly, they’re stunned. And not all of them know, yet. There’s just a few select people that know, and they wouldn’t have known had the show not involved them. They involved a couple of my family members. So today’s great, because today is the last day that I have to keep my mouth shut about this. This is nice getting to blab to you guys for a little while this morning, because it’s the first and only time that I’ve been able to discuss it. COLLIDER: What inspired you to join The Masked Singer? GRETCHEN: It was sort of a personal thing. I had just gone through some really bad health stuff. Post-COVID stuff, blood pressure, asthma, and then I also shattered my leg and ankle. So I was just, I was in a really pathetic way about two years ago, and it took forever for me to get everything figured out. The blood pressure, what medication I needed to be on to get my leg healed. And so when they asked this time around, I had said no in the past, it just didn’t work out for me. And this time, when they asked, I was like, you know what, this might be the perfect opportunity for me to go and just prove to myself. Can I breathe? Do I have what it takes to get back out there on the road? Do I have what it takes to be a touring artist still? Can I get up there and put on those shoes and do the steps and dance? I mean, am I really back or is it time for me to hang it up? This show will let me know. And boy, did it. COLLIDER: What was your first reaction when you got to see your pearl costume? GRETCHEN: I honestly loved it. You’ve seen some of the costumes are crazy over the top. Some of them aren’t even pretty. And I could have been given anything, you don’t get a choice in that matter. So the first sketch that I saw of it, I remember I was on a Zoom call like this, and they just said, “Here she is.” And it took my breath away, actually. Instantly, I thought, “Who can I be in there?” And my wheels started spinning, and I was just like, wow, I’m going to get to show a side of myself that I’ve never gotten to show before. And anybody out there who ever thought that, the “Redneck Woman” was this one-dimensional thing they’re about to see different. I’m going to show them that there are lots of sides.
Gretchen Wilson Was Shocked to Learn Who Else Was Backstage at ‘The Masked Singer’

COLLIDER: You made it to the finale with some incredible contestants. What does it mean to you? GRETCHEN: Well, in the moment, I had no idea who I was standing next to. There’s still a couple that I don’t know at this point, and the only one that was really revealed to me was second place, because they allowed us to unmask in front of each other. So I had no idea who I was standing there with. I feel like that I knew pretty early on, though, that Boogie was probably, in my opinion, the best singer on the show. I can’t judge myself. So, I imagine there were people out there going, “Well, no, you were because you won.” But to me, I’m, I’m only looking around me. And I thought Boogie Woogie had this thing wrapped up. Probably his fourth song that he sang I think I was like, “Oh yeah, he’s got it. It’s all his. He’s just running away with this thing.” But as I’ve been watching and seeing some of the people behind this, I mean, like Oscar De La Hoya? Come on! I’m a huge fan! And lot of people probably wouldn’t know that, but to even think that I was walking around backstage with this guy, I’m getting goosebumps, just thinking about it. COLLIDER: You had some incredible performances. Was there one that sticks out as your favorite? GRETCHEN: As of right now, my favorite is “Conga,” just because of how fast it is, and it was kind of a challenging dance for me. It was a little more moving than some of the other numbers, so I feel like that one was my sneakiest. Maybe that’s why I like it the most. COLLIDER: What was it like being able to expand beyond country music and sing a variety of styles on The Masked Singer? GRETCHEN: Amazing, because it’s what I want to do every night in my tour. It’s not something that I get to do. I do, I break off and do a couple of rock songs every night in my show. I always go to some Heart, maybe some old Foreigner, you know, “Hot Blooded” or “Barracuda,” or even a Zeppelin song from time to time. But I never get to go into pop. I never get to because the people that have bought ticket to my show, there’s a list of songs that they’re expecting to hear. I have to make sure I get to those, or they will be crushed, you know. And I would feel the same way if I bought a ticket to, you know, a Billy Joel show, and he didn’t play “Piano, Man,” I’d be crushed. But I imagine he’s probably like, “Damn ‘Piano Man.'” That’s kind of how I am with some of my songs. So it was really cool to be able to sing a variety of different kinds of genres of music, to show that there are different sides to me, to show that I am more than just one-dimensional. And it was fun, it was challenging. A few of them I had to learn. A couple of them I wasn’t familiar with. COLLIDER: What is scarier: performing on The Masked Singer stage or the Grand Ole Opry? GRETCHEN: I would say Grand Ole Opry is still a little bit, and I don’t know that it’s scarier, it’s just more, I’m not sure if scarier is the word. It’s just more haunting. It’s haunting. It’s not scary, but it’s it haunts you in such a way that it does put a little bit of fear into you.

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Gretchen Wilson Shares Her Incredible Dolly Parton Story

COLLIDER: The panel had an array of guesses for you. Ken Jeong kept saying Madonna. What did you think of that? GRETCHEN: Ken was Ken was having a Ken moment, I guess. that’s what I’ve been told. I don’t know where he was getting that from. I feel like that Madonna might be so Madonna that she would have given herself away to more than just one of the judges, you know what I mean? There’s just no denying Madonna. But you never know. She could have been that sneaky, maybe. I thought the guesses were great. They guessed some of my favorite people in the world, and I was just humbled to be compared. COLLIDER: My favorite clue of yours was your reveal about Dolly Parton. Spill the tea. What’s that story? GRETCHEN: So a few years ago, I was invited to do the CMA Awards, and it was a vocal performance with several of the past female vocalist winners. And when we went to dress rehearsal, Dolly, being Dolly, of course, was dressed to the nines. She just sparkled. And this is dress rehearsal, it’s like we’re all in our sweatpants, but Dolly’s being Dolly. And I had purchased a top that had these little sparkles on it, and I looked at Dolly at dress rehearsal, and she was wearing pants that looked exactly like my shirt. So I walked up, and I said, “Where did you get those? Because that’s exactly what I need to match my shirt for tomorrow’s performance.” And Dolly said, “Well, I’ve got two or three of everything, so let me just call my girl and see if I’ve got a pair of them down at the storage locker.” So she loaned me, well, not really loaned, because I never gave them back, I still got them, She gave me a pair of pants. So my joke on the red carpet the next day, walking around to all of the different outlets, they were like, “And who are you wearing?” And I said, “Can you believe I finally got into Dolly’s pants?” And so that was the joke. And then Dolly said, “I heard what you were saying on the carpet. It’s fine by me. It’s funny. Go ahead, you can say it.” And so that was the joke the whole day. And so I’ve still been saying, you know, I’ve got Dolly Parton’s pants. I got into Dolly Parton’s pants. Somehow or another, I got into Dolly Parton’s pants. And so that was the clue that I wore Dolly’s pants on the CMA Awards. COLLIDER: I love that so much. Well, you have more reality television coming up. You are going to be on The Road as the tour manager. Tell us about the project and what it’s like being able to join the likes of Blake Shelton and Keith Urban. GRETCHEN: Two just extraordinarily talented, amazing people. I’ve known Blake for a long. He’s he’s just a barrel laughs. He’s always in a great mood and just fun to work with. Professional but fun. Keith Urban, he is just, I mean I want to be Keith when I grow up. He’s got his stuff together. That’s just the best way to put it. And he’s just wonderful to work with. And Taylor Sheridan, obviously. Getting a chance to work with Taylor, amazing opportunity. It’s a different show. It’s not going to be your run-of-the-mill. It’s very realistic. That’s why they’re calling it. It’s not some shiny little building with a four-star hotel every night. It’s really getting on the bus, moving around city to city, playing in front of a crowd that’s not necessarily there to see you. How do you win that crowd over? What are you going to do to be your best self on any given night? How do you take care of yourself on the road? What do you don’t do so that you can sing tomorrow night? Those are kind of my responsibilities, just being there with them. They called me more of the “tour momager” than the tour manager, and that’s kind of what the role is really. COLLIDER: I cannot wait to watch. Congratulations on your victory and an incredible run on The Masked Singer! GRETCHEN: Thank you. I’m so proud. Thank you so much for the time.