New York, NY (Top40 Charts) After eight performances and a plethora of incorrect guesses as to the identity of "Pearl,"
Gretchen Wilson emerged from the lavish sea-themed costume to hoist the Golden Mask Trophy as the winner of the popular show's 13th season. Judges Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, Rita Ora, and
Robin Thicke and host
Nick Cannon were all over the map trying to guess "Pearl's" identity after each performance. Following her last performance,
Thicke finally named "Pearl" as Gretchen Wilson.
"This is without a doubt the craziest thing I ever agreed to do, and it ended up being one of the most rewarding," said Gretchen, following the win. "The cast and crew were some of the craziest people I've ever worked with, and they all became like family. 'Pearl' is safely back in the ocean, but her gloves may resurface on the ACM Red Carpet!"
Week after week, "Pearl" stumped all four judges by effortlessly moving from Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again," to Whitney's "Saving All My Love For You,"
Gloria Estefan's "Conga," Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper," and The Outfield's "Your Love." A beautiful version of Lesley Gore's "
You Don't Own Me" sent her into the Top Four. KT Tunstell's "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" landed her in the Top Three, and after singing The Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You," she was announced as the Season 13 winner.
Gretchen will be on hand at the ACM Awards in Dallas on
Thursday to present the coveted "Female Artist of the Year Award," 20 years after winning the same award and "Top New Artist of the Year." The show celebrates 60 years, airing live on Amazon Prime Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific.
CBS recently announced that Gretchen will appear in the special role of "Tour Manager" on THE ROAD, a new music competition series from executive producers Taylor Sheridan,
Blake Shelton,
David Glasser, Lee Metzger and Keith Urban. As Tour Manager, Wilson will provide support and guidance to the emerging musicians while they make their way across America, ensuring the tour's success while sharing with them her own expertise and experiences on the road as a touring artist. Wilson also takes to the stage to deliver a performance of her own as part of the show. THE ROAD is set to premiere in fall 2025 on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Acclaimed country artist and songwriter,
Gretchen Wilson has won awards across the board, including ACMs, CMAs, AMAs and Billboard
Music Awards. She is also a GRAMMY winner and nine-time nominee. Her first single, "Redneck Woman," spent six weeks at #1 and her debut album, Here for the Party, sold more than 5 million copies. Wilson's first book, the autobiographical Redneck Woman: Stories from My Life, landed her on the prestigious New York Times bestseller list. Since her debut, she has been featured on 60 MINUTES, "Dateline NBC," "20/20 Primetime," "CNN's People in the News" and has appeared on virtually every morning, noon and late-night television show on the air.
