Kane Brown Reflects on Nearly a Decade of Friendship With Lauren Alaina: ‘She’s Like My Little Sister’

Kane Brown and Lauren Alaina may be longtime collaborators, but their friendship goes far beyond making music. Brown recently opened up about their close bond while co-hosting Country Countdown USA with Lon Helton over the weekend, stating that Alaina feels like “my little sister.”

The childhood friends have grown up together, and their shared love of music has developed alongside their friendship. They first collaborated on the 2016 multi-platinum duet “What Ifs,” which a appears on Brown’s self-titled debut album went on to become a chart-topping success, eventually earning an RIAA Diamond certification.

Nearly a decade later, their friendship remains just as strong and their latest collaboration come together with ease. When Helton asked Brown about being featured on “Never Been In Love,” he says he didn’t hesitate to return the favor to record a track for Alaina’s album this time around.

“It was real simple. She sent me a song. She said. ‘I did a song for your album, you gotta do one for mine.’ I loved the song.”

Brown goes on to say that Alaina made it “very easy” to work together, noting it only took “30 minutes out of my day” to do his part of the collaboration.

“Never Been In Love” was penned by Alaina with Ashley Gorley and Ben Johnson and is set to appear on her on her new album Stages, arriving August 28.The upbeat country love song finds the artists depicting the emotions of two people who have realized that everything they thought was love before was nothing compared to what they are experiencing now that they’re together.

“I’ve never been in love/ I swear I thought I was, but now it’s time the truth came out Oh/ I said it a thousand times/ Now I know I was lying/ I’ve never been in love ‘til now,” they sing.

In a recent statement regarding the song’s inspiration, Alaina revealed that she pulled emotions from the stage of life she is now and reflecting on the kind of love story she and her husband Cam Arnold share now compared to her previous relationships.

“I remember falling for my husband and feeling different than I’ve ever felt before. When you find true love and happiness, you realize how much you never had it in past relationships,” she explained.

Alaina went on to gush over her friendship with Brown, noting they have “come a long way from those two kids singing ‘What Ifs’ ten years ago.” Since then, so much has changed in their lives, with both artists now married and raising families of their own.

“I’m so excited to sing this song with my boy, Kane Brown…It’s so exciting to sing this song to celebrate the love we have with our spouses and children,” she added.

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Lauren Alaina’s forthcoming album was produced by hitmakers Joey Moi and Ben Johnson, and is expected to dive into the defining chapters of her life while exploring coming of age, her time spent on Nashville’s Lower Broadway, starting a family and more. This fall, Alaina will take center stage on her headlining The Stages Tour, a career-spanning run that will give fans the chance to hear new songs alongside some of the anthems that have become staples throughout her career.

Meanwhile, Kane Brown has officially confirmed that a new album is in the works, but he has yet to reveal when we will get to hear the new music. He has three U.S. performances left in 2026 before bringing his music across Australia in January 2027.