Anne Wilson On How A Personal Tragedy Shaped Her Faith And Inspired Her Vulnerable New Album, ‘Stars’

Anne Wilson is 23 years old, the same age her brother Jacob was when he tragically passed away in 2017. Coming to terms with this reality has had a profound impact on her life and her perspective on grief, faith, and purpose. It’s this journey that inspired her third studio album, Stars, a deeply personal collection of songs that arrives today, October 17, via Capitol Christian Music Group.

The Lexington, KY native poured the emotions she has walked through since losing Jacob into this coming-of-age collection. She bares her soul while weaving in reflections from her real-life journey—from her childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut, explored in the title track, to the strength of her faith and the resilience that has carried her through the greatest challenges.

“This album is really vulnerable and feels like what I’m still walking through right now as of today,” Wilson recently explained to Country Now. “It’s about kind of exchanging your dreams for God’s dreams and for me that was, I wanted to be an astronaut and work for NASA, and then my brother passed away and everything changed and music became what God was calling me to. So I love getting to dive into this record and write this idea of ‘Stars,’ of what it means to just embrace what God has now put in my life and the dreams that he’s now placed on my heart, which is music and getting to walk. And that has been so cool.”

Each year, the rising star says she chooses a word to use as the foundation for her prayers every day. In 2025, she landed on the word “wonder” after feeling God’s calling to return to that childlike wonder she had before tragedy struck and to dream bigger dreams for her life. One month after making that decision, she began writing for this record. “Wonder” suddenly became the guiding force of these songs, thus adding a whimsical feeling to the vulnerable and real narratives.

It’s evident that faith is at the center of Anne Wilson’s life, and that extends to her music. As a result, she admits she could never make an album that doesn’t fully reflect her beliefs, including the honest reality that even someone as devoted to their faith as her faces challenges along the way. This honesty coms through particularly in the track, “Still Do.”

“I love artists that write songs or that will cut an outside song that’s nothing about their actual life. But for me, I have to write very real songs of what I’m actually going through and what’s real to my life. And so this album felt like, ‘okay, if I’m going to be honest with fans, then I’m going to have to write a song like ‘Still Do,’ for example, is a very kind of song about wrestling with my faith. And so I just kind of had to get to that point where I was like, okay, I’m going to be vulnerable and real and put this out.”

Every song on this project offers a glimpse into Wilson’s story in some way and a few like her latest release, “Carry On” and the final track, “Twenty Three,” find her digging the deepest into her emotions. These are two songs that Wilson knew she had to put out, even if it meant risking being completely vulnerable with her fans unlike she ever has before.

“There’s a couple other songs that talk about being 23 on this album and it just felt like a really pivotal year for me because I was grasping the idea of living longer than my brother ever got to,” she explained. “And for me, he was eight years older than me so it was like, I always looked at Jacob as so much older and he was this big adult and he is just so much older than me. And now that I’m his age, it’s so hard to grasp that I’m going to live longer than he got to. And it makes me sad and it’s an extra layer of grief.”

Wilson shared that February (when she turned 23) was one of the hardest months she’s had since losing her brother, but it also became one of the most meaningful. Out of that deep grief came the songs that would shape her new album. She says the experience reminded her how pain can sometimes lead to unexpected blessings. After writing most of the project in February and finishing it in May at the beach, she knew the song “Twenty Three” would be the perfect way to close both the album and this chapter of her life.

Anne Wilson is expanding her message of faith beyond music with her new 40-day devotional, Hey Girl: You Are Seen, Loved and Made for More. Named after her 2021 hit single and inspired by the growing Hey Girl Nation community, the book aims to guide young women towards discovering their true worth and connection to God.  The book is designed to connect with readers of all ages, from middle school to college and beyond,

“I just have a heart for young women and reminding them and encouraging them and who they are in Christ. And so this devotional was that. I wanted a girl to have a physical copy of that reminder, and I can only write so many songs. I can only talk so much about that at a show. So to be able to have something that these girls can take home with them and continue to inspire and encourage them outside of listening to my music or watching a show or something was just the goal in that.”

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Once again, Wilson found herself trying to create a book that was completely authentic to who she is at 23 years old while also trying to tap into the mind of who she was in her early teens. To write her devotional, she revisited her old journals from middle and high school, reflected on past insecurities and moments of self-doubt. Drawing from those experiences and scripture she created a resource to help others find the same confidence and peace she’s discovered through faith.

Hey Girl: You Are Seen, Loved and Made for More  is available now wherever books are sold.

In support of the new album, Anne Wilson is preparing to embark on The Stars Tour. The trek opens on October 18 in Nashville and runs through November 23. A full list of dates can be found on her official website.