Lily Rose, an Atlanta based country singer found her fame from her viral 2021 hit “Villain” that spent days at the top of iTunes charts. In just a year, she released her debut EP, Stronger Than I Am. Through her performances on NBC’s The Voice and ABC’s Good Morning America, her fanbase soon started to grow outside of the South. Lily immediately took to the on-the-road life, touring alongside stars like Sam Hunt and Luke Bryan, opening shows for icon Shania Twain, and collaborating with Diplo on her track “Sad in the Summer.”
In her short professional career, Lily has found herself listed as ACM Best New Female Artist and winning GLAAD’s Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist Award in 2022. Through her music, Lily stays faithful to who she is and has committed to being completely herself through her music. In such difficult times for the LGBTQ+ community, Lily has proved that adversity can be overcome and anyone can achieve success in Country music.
As a part of her headlining Runnin’ Outta Time Tour featuring Payton Smith, Lily has several concerts scheduled from late April through late June in the southern and western US. Her most recent work is a single, “I Know What I Want,” released in February of this year about the hardships of moving on from an old lover. We met with Lily Rose in Nashville at Country Now Live and got to chat about her hobbies outside of music, her upcoming tour, and a crazy night out that left her standing in her birthday-suit.
Tell me about “Let You Know When I Get There.”
My song that I just put out in January called “Let You Know When I Get There” is a really special song to me. It’s been a while since I’ve put out any music that I didn’t write myself. I was very humbled and honored the day that it was pitched to me. I think it’s just brilliant, and it means a lot. It’s affecting a lot of people, too, in a good way. It’s just been really cool to watch it come to life. We started singing it on tour last year, just seeing if people were going to dig it. I’m glad that it’s out in the world.
Have you ever written a song inspired by a place?
Oh yeah, absolutely. The song that we’re opening with tonight is inspired by a place. It’s called “True North,” and it’s kind of my love song to Georgia, where I’m from. I grew up in Atlanta, but went to school in Athens. It’s just a song all about when things feel like they’re going south, I head to my true north.
What’s your perfect off day on the road?
Easy. Waking up, hitting the gym. We’re going golfing. Then we’re going to Chili’s.
Do you have a favorite golf course?
It’s hard. My first ever round of golf I played was at a place called The Troubadour here in Nashville, which is absurdly nice, and I’ve never played it again, but it was definitely the most beautiful golf course I’ve ever been to.
What’s your perfect day in Nashville?
Probably sleeping in with no alarm. Waking up with my wife and cooking breakfast at home, going to the gym and then us bopping around to some happy hours around Germantown or East Nashville. Grabbing drinks and meeting up with friends for dinner at Mother’s Ruin. It’s no secret I live and die by Mother’s Ruin in Germantown and The Red Door in midtown.
You’re coming to Cincinnati on your upcoming tour. My neck of the woods. Do you have any Cincinnati memories?
I do, yeah. Honestly, the only time I’ve been to Cincinnati was when I was playing the same venue we’re about to go and play. I was opening for Chris Lane. I was the first of three that night. The Cincinnati basketball team let us come in there and play basketball. It was really cool to get to meet them, kind of play some pickup and get to see the campus. It was beautiful.
You collaborated with Diplo. What was that experience like? Do you have any other dream collaborations?
I was just telling my wife yesterday in Vegas that that might be the craziest thing I’ve ever done. I got to do “What Happens” live and meet Andy Cohen, and then collaborate with Diplo and premiere our song in front of 40,000 people at Stagecoach. Diplo is everything you think Diplo is.
The only thing you might not know is how kind he is. He is just always looking out for the next people. We got to do The Voice together. We got to shoot content, play cornhole, drink. That’s my dog. It’s another collaboration that I hope I can do again before my career ends.
Do you have any hidden gems you’d tell people to visit?
For us, we don’t necessarily try to find the highest Yelp review when we’re out on the road. We’re like, ‘Is there a bar that is in a shopping mall or in a cinderblock building?’ If it looks like you don’t want to go there, you can find the Lily-Rose crew there. We probably just try to find the diviest dive bar and you will find us there — if they have Rumple Minze especially.
What’s your craziest travel story?
Speaking of Diplo — we were playing a festival with him back in September of 2023, and the night before the festival, we went out and grabbed a bunch of drinks, margaritas and everything. We decided to call it an early night at 11:00. I woke up at 1:30, butt-ass naked, locked out of my hotel room and had to go downstairs. I ripped the front of the ice machine off, walked down there, and had to go and confront the lady at the front desk. I was like, ‘I don’t have any proof I’m staying in that room.’ She was like, ’girl, you’re good. Here’s a key. Get back in your room.’ So if anybody has one that can beat that, I’d like to hear it.