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Lauren Alaina shared a heartfelt message on International Womenâs Day on Sunday (March 8).
Alaina shared a clip on Instagram of a moment during a recent performance. The powerhouse singer-songwriter took the stage with âRoad Less Traveled,â her first No. 1 hit that she released in 2016. The anthem served as the title track of the former American Idol runner-upâs second studio album, which made its debut in January 2017. The audience loudly sang along and waved flashlights throughout the arena as Alaina performed âRoad Less Traveled.â
âI posted a video last week about people commenting on womenâs bodies, and I just wanted to share this with yâall today,â Alaina wrote in her Instagram caption on Sunday. âAfter I posted that video, I got up on stage and sang âRoad Less Traveledâ like I do every night. But this time, when I was singing the words to this song and heard yâall sing them back to me, it reminded me why I wrote it. And honestly⊠I needed that reminder.
âI wrote this song about learning to love myself when people online tried to convince me that I shouldnât,â she said. âI was only a 15 year old girl when people started commenting on my body online, and I really let the opinion of strangers get to me. I hope this video and this song find someone who needs it like I once did (and still do). Love others. Love yourself.
âWhat would happen if women built each other up instead of tearing each other down?â Alaina said. âAnd honestly⊠who cares what mean people online have to say about you. (Those same people gave me my first #1 song on country radio lol.)â
Alaina said in the video she posted in late February:
âI am literally so mad right now. Iâm seething. âŠWeâve got to change the way weâre talking about women on social media. A few weeks ago, I saw a TikTok of me up on stage singing, and all the comments were about my weight. Iâm eight and a half months postpartum, by the way. âŠPeople were saying that my tour needed to be sponsored by Ozempic, and just horrible things. And it really affected me. I am in recovery from an eating disorder that I battled for a very long time. This just really upset me. And I know better, and Iâm fine, but Iâm also just ticked. And I just saw a video just now â this is what really has stirred me â of a young, beautiful artist. She is literally taking over the world right now. And people are commenting and saying she needs Ozempic. I mean, she is perfectly trim and fit and very healthy and looks amazing and probably feels amazing because she should. And theyâre saying that about her, so it just really ticked me off. I have an 8-month-old daughter, and we canât talk about women this way. This is bull crap. And if you are a woman out there and people are commenting on your body and saying this, myself included, weâve got to ignore that and we all need to be better. This is crazy.â
Alaina has since received supportive messages, including from women who have dealt with similar comments. The country star said, âthe amount of women that have commented on this video makes me so proud but also so sad. Iâm sad that so many of us have experienced this. I love each of you.â
Alaina is part of the star-studded lineup of the 2026 iHeartCountry Festival, along with Luke Bryan, Kane Brown, Parker McCollum, Riley Green, Shaboozey, Dylan Scott, Russell Dickerson, Gretchen Wilson and Chase Matthew. iHeartRadio's Bobby Bones is returning as the eventâs host. The show will take place on May 2 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Tickets to the show are available as of January 23. Fans across the country will be able to catch all the action as the 2026 iHeartCountry Festival will be broadcast live across iHeartCountry stations nationwide and the free iHeartRadio app on Saturday, May 2nd at 8pm ET/5pm PT (7pm CT).