Trisha Yearwood Says She Never Wrote Her Own Songs Because of 1 Thing a Man Said to Her at Age 19
She said on the TODAY show that "some guy" told her she was "a good singer, but you're not really a writer" when she was 19
The Mirror, her first album of songs she co-wrote, is out in JulyIt's been more than 40 years since Trisha Yearwood's songwriting aspirations were derailed by a single throwaway comment — but now, she's making up for lost time.
The country star, 60, is set to release her latest album The Mirror in July, and the record marks the first of her career that she's co-written herself.
In an appearance on the TODAY show on Friday, May 16, Yearwood explained that she'd long avoided writing songs of her own because 'some guy' once told her in college she was not a songwriter.
'Bless his heart. I'm sure he probably wouldn't even remember ever saying it, but… I was 19 years old. And I gave him a bunch of poetry. Everybody in Nashville's writing. I was in college,' recalled the star, who graduated from Belmont University. 'He just said, 'Yeah, you're a good singer, but you're not really a writer.' And I just let it be the truth for 40 years.'
Yearwood said she finally gained some new perspective upon turning 60 in September.
'I had this kind of 'a ha' moment. I turned 60 last year, and I highly recommend it. Everything sort of opened up,' she said. 'I just thought, 'That doesn't have to be the truth about me just because somebody says it.' And I started writing for me.'
The 'She's in Love with the Boy' singer told hosts Jenna Bush Hager and Erin Andrews that she 'didn't ever intend' to make a record, but the more she wrote, the more confidence she gained in her abilities.
'People in my life said, 'You should make a record of this,' and so here we are. It's crazy,' she said. 'For the last 30 years I could always go, 'That's a really personal song, but I didn't write it, so it's not about me.' And now everything has a little piece of me in it.'
She continued, 'I always felt like as an artist, I chose songs that I made mine. They were mine when I was done with them. But it's just another layer when you actually have a hand in writing the song.'
The Mirror is set for release on July 18, and Yearwood has so far released the songs 'The Wall or the Way Over' and 'Bringing the Angels.'
She teased 'Bringing the Angels' in an Instagram post on May 9, revealing she wrote the track with her sister Beth Bernard, plus Bridgette Tatum and Leslie Satcher.
"They told me I wasn't a songwriter, so I turned around and co-wrote a whole album,' she captioned the post.
Yearwood has co-written a pair of songs over the years with her husband Garth Brooks, whom she married in 2005. They co-wrote the song 'For the Last Time' on her 2019 album Let's Be Frank, and they also share credits on 'What I'm Thankful for (The Thanksgiving Song),' off their joint 2016 holiday record.
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