As Lady Antebellum prepares for the release of their highly anticipated seventh album on June 9, the country trio’s female singer Hillary Scott is still riding high on the success of another venture.
The 31-year-old and her family — mom Linda Davis, dad Lang Scott and younger sister Rylee — released a faith-based record, Love Remains, as Hillary Scott & the Scott Family on July 29, 2016 — and on May 21, they could be taking home three Billboard Music Awards for the project.
Scott and family are up for top Christian artist, top Christian album, top Christian song for “Thy Will” at this year’s BBMAs. Earlier this year, the Scott family took home both Grammys for which they were nominated, so their odds don’t look too shabby for the BBMAs — especially since “Thy Will” spent several weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Christian Songs chart. Even so, Scott insists that she’s just happy that something so important to her has resonated the way it has.
Related
“We’re new to the party, so to speak, and we feel so welcomed by the contemporary Christian community and are just very humbled,” Scott tells Billboard. “More than anything, our hope and our prayer was for these songs to meet people at the heart level. And we know we’re just an ordinary family who goes through the same things all other families go through. So we hoped and prayed that there would be people who would relate and understand and be touched by these songs.”
Unfortunately the Scott family won’t be in attendance at Sunday’s awards due to Rylee finishing up school and Lady Antebellum preparing for their tour kickoff on May 26. Nevertheless, ahead of the show, Billboard chatted with Scott about what the nominations and the success of Love Remains means to her.
What do the Billboard Music Awards mean to you? And what does being nominated for three BBMAs mean to you?
I have such memories throughout my life of being born and raised in Nashville with a mom and dad in the music business before I really even understood what Billboard was, and seeing the charts and knowing that they were important and that they were the equivalent of success. To be nominated for three Billboard awards with my family, that just takes it above and beyond to the coolest place ever because that’s where I grew up singing was with my family.
Every day we’re surprised and shocked, we get teary! We’re just so overwhelmed with gratitude because this all really just started with us truly wanting to share our heart and share our story. So for that to be recognized is just incredible.
When you found out about your BBMA nominations, you wrote that your family had prayed that this project would bring hope and that by sharing your story, people’s hearts would be comforted and led to the open arms of a loving God. Do you feel like you’ve seen that kind of affect?
You know what, absolutely, and I’m so humbled to say yes to that question. I will say, I always throughout my career felt so in tune and connected to our fans — with Lady Antebellum and the Scott family. We take that relationship very seriously, they’re the reason why we have the voice that can be as loud and wide as it is. I’ve never felt more connected on a human level, than through this project because it is such a heart-focused — the foundation, the pillars of what makes people people and who they are on a human level. It’s been a privilege, it really has.
If you were to only win one of the three, which one would you be most proud to win and why?
I think the album as a complete work, for that album to be recognized would be amazing. To be able to celebrate in that with them because the whole album has all of our voices and all of our stories. For me, “Thy Will” was so personal to my story with what my husband and I went through with our second pregnancy. That one is super personal. So I think for me, just from the standpoint of the Scott family, to take home album would be amazing.
Your sister is 16 — does it feel kind of full circle to watch her celebrate the success of Hillary Scott & the Scott Family about the same time in her life as when you were celebrating your initial musical success?
I was 16 when I started writing and performing and when I started really pursuing a career — I was her age. So there’s a lot of that, like, I feel like I’m staring at her but looking in a mirror because she’s the exact age. And I met Charles and Dave when I’d just turned 20, so to think that that’s not very far down the road for Rylee. I found myself at a crossroads of my future and that was a crazy time. To think that she’s not far from that is really bizarre — thinking about shipping her off on the road like I went and what my parents had to do sending me off in a van with a bunch of guys to go tour the Midwest at the very beginning of Lady A… thinking about doing that with Rylee is like, “ahh!”
Has the success of music that’s so personal to you taught you anything that you’ve used in your songwriting for Lady A since?
I think not being afraid to share your story, even if it means in a very vulnerable way, is what I’ve learned from this experience. I think what I’ve realized and what I’ve carried over — and I think Charles and Dave [Kelley and Haywood, Scott’s Lady Antebellum bandmates] in their own way, too, with how they’ve spent their time on our little creative break — is that being fully and authentically ourselves is what people gravitate towards. That’s when people believe you and know that you’re telling the truth.
Even if they don’t necessarily relate on every level or understand on every level, the fact that you’re brave enough to be transparent and real is what I think I’m bringing back into this process and this album with Lady A more than ever. And I’m very excited about that. It’s the successes and the victories as well as the struggles. It’s our story. There’s songs about our families, our children, our spouses. It’s very much a true depiction of Lady A as a whole – where we’ve been, where we are, and where we hope to go.
Do you have a standout Billboard memory?
I think, as of late, just seeing how many weeks “Thy Will” was on the [Hot Christian Songs] chart. I was extremely nervous to release that song and share my story, but I was also like, “Okay I need to push through my own fear, because this is something that people need to hear and they’re going to relate to.” Seeing that song on the chart for so many weeks in a row, that equated to people hearing it and people listening, and hopefully lives and their hearts being touched by it. [The nomination] is just icing on the cake, the cherry on top.
We’re just so overwhelmed with the fact that this album is continuing to get recognition. The way that it’s grown, the journey that this album has taken — we can’t take much credit other than just showing up when a door opens. Our prayer from the beginning was, “Lord, if you open a door we’ll walk through it.” And He’s been so faithful.