Anne Wilson believes following Jesus can come with a cost — and she’s willing to pay it.
The Grammy-nominated Christian-country singer opens up in her new book, “Rebel: Following Jesus When the World Walks the Other Way,” about navigating criticism, industry pressure and fears of rejection while refusing to soften her message about faith.
The Kentucky native told Fox News Digital that she believes being outspoken about Christianity has cost her professional opportunities along the way despite her successful rise in Nashville.
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“I’ve missed a lot of opportunities for speaking about my faith,” said the singer/songwriter. “I think it’s definitely come at a cost, but I’m the kind of person that I’m very bold in the things I believe in. When I stand for something, I’m going to stand for it knowing the cost.”
“There were moments early on when even my manager and team would be like, ‘Anne, do you know what you’re doing by saying this?’ Or, ‘Do you know what could happen if you speak about this?'” the 24-year-old recalled. “And I would always say, ‘Yeah, I do, but I want to do it anyway.'”
That conviction appears throughout the book. Wilson writes that when she began discussions with a major country label, she made her position clear from the start.
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“If they tried to change me or my message about Jesus, there was no deal,” she wrote.
“There’s definitely been moments when I’m looked at a certain way, shows I’m playing at a country festival where I’m literally preaching Jesus and the gospel, and people look at me like I’m crazy. … But I know my calling, and it’s to take Jesus to the world. I believe it with every fiber of my being that that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Wilson told Fox News Digital that sharing the gospel has always been her purpose in pursuing a music career.
“[I remember] the head of the label told me, ‘I want you to bring God back to country music,'” she said. “I remember hearing those words, and I was just so inspired. I was going to be authentically myself coming into the country music industry.”
“I remember feeling, ‘Are people going to accept this? Am I going to be authentically myself?’ And honestly, the response [has been] really special. I feel like both sides of Christian music and country music have accepted me for who I am.”
That acceptance became one of the surprises Wilson recounts throughout the book, which often contrasts her fears of rejection with moments of encouragement from within the country music industry.
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In the book, Wilson described performing at Florida’s Tortuga Music Festival in 2024. She felt “overwhelmed by a sense of discouragement” whenever she peeked out from backstage.
“The tent was nearly empty, and my start time was drawing too close for comfort,” she wrote.
“Best known in the Christian music world, I was not yet well known as a country artist. Now no one was showing up to hear me sing at this country venue. … The empty tent didn’t lie. I sold out my tours in the Christian world — but now I couldn’t fill a small tent. What if I had made a mistake by focusing on developing as a country artist?”
“… I did not fit in there, and evidently, everybody knew it,” she continued. “Most of the fans at this festival were barely clothed and deep into partying by this point. How could I relate to them or even get my message across? What in the world was I doing here?”
The songstress turned to Lainey Wilson, who encouraged her to “be my authentic self, which would always be more than enough.” Minutes before walking onstage, Wilson heard the growing buzz of voices. People were coming to see her.
“Then I walked out, stood on that stage, and shared Jesus with every person who showed up,” she wrote.
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There were even moments when Wilson was tempted to make her message “easier to digest and a little more politically correct” so more people would accept her.
“I have been tempted to change a set list so that my songs aren’t so ‘in your face’ about Jesus,” she wrote. “I know that if I made just one inappropriate video, I would gain thousands of ‘followers’ on social media. But would it be worth it? Is that what Jesus would do? Not on your life.”
In another passage from “Rebel,” Wilson recalled performing at the 2022 Rock the South festival, where 50,000 people “were there to party, and I was there to preach.”
“What was I doing, standing there in my cute — but modest — outfit, with my message of Jesus’ salvation?” she wrote. “All the other women were scantily clad in outfits that flaunted their feminine attributes. The other acts were amazingly talented, but they weren’t carrying the same message I was or living the same lifestyle. The whole atmosphere was one of party and reckless abandon.”
“… I knew that when I walked out on that stage, I’d face confusion from the crowd, if not mockery,” Wilson wrote. “Perhaps even some hatred. I was just a 20-year-old girl from the Bluegrass who loved to sing about Jesus.”
Wilson said those moments reinforced the reality that speaking openly about her faith could sometimes come with professional consequences.
“… It wasn’t hurtful as much as [I] was just a little bummed out that I missed out on something because of the things I believe in and speak about,” Wilson admitted to Fox News Digital. “But then I also think it was a reminder of just the world we’re living in and the state of the world, how dark it is, and that when we speak up about our faith, we are judged, and we lose out on opportunities. … I need to continue to be the light in any way I can.”
Wilson said that these days, it isn’t always easy for Christian artists to speak openly about their faith without fear of alienating fans or facing backlash.
“… If we speak about the things that we believe in, whatever they are, there’s always going to be pushback from other people,” she said. “But there’s something harder about speaking up about your faith. I think for my generation, there’s this fear that they don’t feel like they can speak about their faith. They don’t want to get judged or criticized for doing so.”
Wilson also wrote that she felt pressure at times to dress more provocatively but chose not to.
“I want to be respected for the message I share, not for how my body looks,” Wilson wrote. “Revealing outfits and inappropriate lyrics tend to draw likes and follows, but I’m not looking for that kind of attention. The only reason I am walking this path is to share about my Jesus and bring Him glory.”
Wilson told Fox News Digital she has zero plans to change her image or message as she continues to navigate the music industry, on her terms.
“I have never let anyone sway me,” she said. “I’m going to stay true to myself.”
