“Redneck Woman,” Gretchen Wilson’s signature song and debut single, has a surprising inspiration: Faith Hill. Wilson told Taste of Country the story of the tune, which she co-wrote with Big & Rich’s John Rich.
“The day that we wrote ‘Redneck Woman’ was a day that John and I were sitting around watching country music videos and Faith Hill’s ‘Breathe’ was on,” she said. “She’s gorgeous. She looks like a supermodel. She’s rolling around in satin sheets. And that was the inspiration behind ‘Redneck Woman.’ I looked at John and said, ‘This is probably never gonna happen for me because I’ll never look like that, and I’ll never be that. That is just not the kind of woman I am.'”
The song topped the Country chart for five weeks in 2004, spending all of that June in the top spot. It was a game changer for Wilson, who went from an unknown former bartender from Illinois to a country star.
In the video, directed by David Hogan, Wilson is depicted performing in a western-style club with a live band, cage girls dancing in the background, and patrons in the crowd that are drinking beer. Scenes of Wilson driving a 1973–1987 General Motors pickup truck and a four-wheeler through the mud with two men are interspersed throughout the video. The video includes appearances from Kid Rock, Big & Rich, Tanya Tucker, and Hank Williams Jr., the latter two of whom are name-dropped in the song. In 2008, CMT voted the song number 11 on its list of the “100 Greatest Videos”.
“Redneck Woman” – Single by Gretchen Wilson from the album Here for the Party
Released on March 15, 2004
Studio Sony/Tree (Nashville, Tennessee)
Songwriters Gretchen Wilson and John Rich
Producers Mark Wright and Joe Scaife
Charted No.22 in US (Billboard Hot 100); No.1 in US (Billboard Hot Country Songs); No. 42 in UK; No.50 in Australia
