Photo: Getty Images
Lauren Alaina finally revealed the identity of her mystery collaboration partner.
Alaina has been teasing fans by dropping subtle hints “for months” on social media. “You guys just didn’t know it,” she said as she hinted at the artist’s identity in a clip she shared on Instagram on Monday evening (July 6). Alaina invited Instagram followers to “get ready with me for my show tonight,” as she “spill(ed) the tea” on a collaboration appearing on her upcoming studio album.
In the clip, Alaina said she’s seen “lots of wrong guesses” after she posted the track list with a blurred, fake name (so the length of the name would offer “zero” hints, she explained). The country star said the featured artist is a male. He “is most definitely not my husband.” The artist has headlined stadiums. he has scored multiple multi-genre No. 1 hits. Alaina and her husband, Cam Arnold, are both fans of the artist. The mystery artist got his start on social media, and he’s a big family man, Alaina said.
“I have been dropping hints for months on social media,” she teased. “You guys just didn’t know it.”
Watch Alaina’s GRWM clip here, and scroll below to see the mystery artist revealed (warning: spoilers).
Kane Brown joined Alaina on “Never Been In Love,” marking the duo’s first collaboration since their history-making “What Ifs” debuted in 2016. Alaina revealed Brown as her duet partner and shared a sneak peek of the unreleased song on Instagram on Tuesday (July 7). “Never Been In Love” is one of 17 tracks on the former American Idol contestant’s upcoming album, Stages. The project also includes “Those Kind Of Women,” “Raining Whiskey,” “All My Exes” with Chase Matthew, “Heaven Sent,” “Better Off” and other previously-released songs, plus a duet with brother Tyler Suddeth. Joey Moi and Ben Johnson produced the record.
“I'm fifteen years into a ten-year town and 31 years into a lifelong dream,” Alaina said in a previous statement. “Stages represents every version of me along the way: the dreaming, the breaking, and, ultimately, the becoming. There's something on this album for everyone, no matter what stage of life they're in. Stages is letting everyone see behind the curtain of the girl in the spotlight. It's a reflection of the moments that shaped me and the dream that carried me through. It's always been the same dream, different stages.”
Stage 1
1. Babies Raising Babies, featuring Tyler Suddeth
2. Those Kind Of Women
3. Household
4. Paints the Picket
5. The Ringer
Stage 2
6. Rings On The Table
7. If You Ain’t Gonna Love Me
8. Walking On Broadway
9. Better Off
10. Raining Whiskey
11. All My Exes, featuring Chase Matthew
Stage 3
12. Daddy Shoots Straight
13. Spin
14. Never Been In Love
15. Boots On The Ground
16. Little Things
17. Heaven Sent
Stages will follow Wildflower (2011), Road Less Traveled (2017), and Sitting Pretty on Top of the World (2021). Alaina, who took the stage at the iHeartCountry Festival this spring, will kick off her headlining tour this fall with Shane Profitt, Ashley Kutcher and Hannah Harper. Harper is another former Idol contestant, and she’s the first female country artist to win the competition since Carrie Underwood’s career-launching win in 2005.
“This tour feels like my most personal yet,” Alaina said when she announced the run of shows. “Stages is all about the different chapters I've lived through: the highs, the heartbreaks, the growth, and finding joy in who I am today. Every stage of my life has shaped this music, and now I finally get to bring all of these songs to stages around the country and share them with the fans who've been with me through it all. I hope people leave these shows feeling seen, healed, and maybe even a little more hopeful.”
Stages will make its debut on August 28. See Alaina’s tour stops below.
Oct 1 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater *
Oct 2 – Des Moines, IA – Hoyt Sherman Place *
Oct 3 – Clear Lake, IA – Surf Ballroom *
Oct 8 – Norfolk, VA – The NorVa ^
Oct 9 – Charlotte, NC – Coyote Joe's ^
Oct 10 – Jacksonville, FL – FIVE ^
Oct 15 – Springfield, MO – Gillioz Theatre >
Oct 16 – Little Rock, AR – The Hall >
Oct 17 – Columbia, MO – The Blue Note >
Oct 22 – Lexington, KY – Manchester Music Hall >
Oct 23 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues Cleveland >
Nov 5 – McKees Rocks, PA – Roxian Theatre *
Nov 6 – Troy, OH – Arbogast Performing Arts Center *
Nov 7 – Jackson, MI – Potter Center *
Nov 12 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium >
* with Shane Profitt
^ with Ashley Kutcher
> with Hannah Harper