Gretchen was born in Pocahontas, Illinois to a 16-year-old mother. Her father left before she was two years old, and she and her mother lived in trailer parks and relative poverty. Gretchen's mother worked as a waitress, and Gretchen herself dropped out of the 8th grade at age 15 to work as a cook and bartender in rural Illinois.
After a failed marriage to former Baywolfe bandmate Larry Rolens, Gretchen moved to Nashville and began dating Mike Penner. They have a daughter, Grace Frances Penner, who was born November 9, 2000.
Gretchen, who had sung for Kmart as a child, sang in two bar bands by the age of 20. In 1996 she moved to Nashville to sing back-up and record sample songs. In 2000, she met John Rich, a former member of Lonestar, who invited her to become his song-writing partner. Wilson signed with Epic Records in 2003 and recorded Here for the Party within the year.
Her first single, "Redneck Woman", was released in early 2004 and reached the top of the Hot Country Songs charts and #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of "Redneck Woman" prompted an earlier-than-planned release for Here for the Party -- May 11, 2004 -- and it debuted at #1 on the Billboard country chart. It also reached #2 on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Internet album sales charts. She performed as a support artist for Brooks & Dunn and Montgomery Gentry.
She released the title track Here For The Party as the second single. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard country chart. Two other songs were released as singles, and both reached the top 10. Released in markets outside the U.S., the album hit #2 on the Australian country charts (behind Kasey Chambers) and the top 50 of the Australian charts. As of July 5, 2004, "Redneck Woman" was #1 on a world composite country chart (based on the U.S., UK, and Australia charts). The album went on sell more than 4 million copies in the U.S. and 5 million worldwide and was certified four times platinum.
On September 27, 2005, Gretchen released her second album, All Jacked Up, which peaked at #1 on both the Top 200 and Country album charts, but, after initial decent sales, the album quickly fell off the charts. It was certified Platinum and sold 1 million copies. The title track, All Jacked Up, peaked at a disappointing #8 on the Country singles chart and was the only song from the album to reach the top 10. The second single, I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today, peaked at #22. The third and the fourth singles were Politically Uncorrect and California Girls, which peaked respectively at #23 and #25 on the Country chart. Kid Rock appeared on "The Other Side of Me," an exclusive track that Target released with the album.
On February 28, 2006, Gretchen appeared on Kid Rock and The Twisted Brown Trucker Band's "Live" Trucker, as she performed "Picture" recorded at Detroit's Cobo Hall, 3/26/04. On November 2006, she released a new single called Come To Bed, a song produced by her friend John Rich, who also sings the background vocals. The song's suggestive video received a TV-14 S rating when aired on CMT.
Gretchen's "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today" was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best Female Country Vocal Performance, and Best Country Song. In 2006, Wilson contributed a well-received cover of Kris Kristofferson's Sunday Mornin' Coming Down on the tribute CD The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson. In 2007, Wilson displayed her rock and roll vocals on the cable TV special VH1 Rock Honors, singing Heart's hit Barracuda, along with Alice in Chains and Heart member Nancy Wilson on guitars.,
On May 15, 2007, Gretchen released her third album, One of the Boys. The album debuted at #5 on the Top 200 and at #1 on the Country album chart. After 11 weeks, it exited the Billboard Top 200, having sold just 178,220 copies at that point. "Come To Bed" and "One Of The Boys", the first two singles released, both failed to enter the top 30 and missed the Hot 100 completely. The third single, "You Don't Have to Go Home", was even less successful, peaking at #53.
Id Love To Be Your Last
Gretchen Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This would be the first time that I made love,
And I would be the first girl that your hands touched.
But we've both done our share of living,
Taking chances we've been given,
I've never been too big on looking back.
I don't care if I'm your first love,
But I'd love to be your last.
If I could do it over,
I'd have waited for this moment
So I could give my heart to you unbroken.
But if our mistakes brought us together,
Does it really matter whether
We were saints or sinners in the past?
I don't care if I'm your first love,
But I'd love to be your last.
All I know is what I see when I look at you.
And all I see is what I'm feeling down inside.
And all I'm feeling is this feeling
That I've finally got it right.
When I wake up tomorrow,
I'm gonna wrap my arms around you,
Thank my lucky stars I've found you.
'Cause I know your heart has so much more than
anyone has touched before and
nothing matters more to me than that.
I don't care if I'm your first love,
But I'd love to be your last.
I don't care if I'm your first love,
But I'd love to be your last.
In Gretchen Wilson's song "I'd Love to Be Your Last," the singer expresses a desire to have a long-lasting and meaningful relationship with her partner, even though they both have a past full of mistakes and experiences. She acknowledges that they have both taken chances in life and made mistakes, but believes that those mistakes don't define who they are now. She wishes she had waited to give her heart to her partner, but realizes that their mistakes may have played a role in bringing them together. She doesn't care if she's his first love, but rather, she wants to be his last, as she believes that their love is special and worth cherishing.
Line by Line Meaning
If I had it my way,
If I had complete control,
This would be the first time that I made love,
I would want this to be our first intimate experience,
And I would be the first girl that your hands touched.
And I would want to be the first person you ever touched intimately.
But we've both done our share of living,
But we've both had experiences in life,
Taking chances we've been given,
We've taken risks that we were presented with,
I've never been too big on looking back.
I prefer not to dwell on the past.
If I could do it over,
If I could rewrite my history,
I'd have waited for this moment
I would have waited for this exact moment in time,
So I could give my heart to you unbroken.
So I could offer you my whole heart without any past damage.
But if our mistakes brought us together,
But if our errors and failures led us to each other,
Does it really matter whether
Does it genuinely matter if we were ever,
We were saints or sinners in the past?
Saints or sinners in our past lives?
All I know is what I see when I look at you.
All I know is that I see something incredible when I look at you.
And all I see is what I'm feeling down inside.
And all I can see and focus on is the feeling within me.
And all I'm feeling is this feeling
And the only thing that I feel,
That I've finally got it right.
Is that I have finally done the right thing.
When I wake up tomorrow,
When I awaken in the morning,
I'm gonna wrap my arms around you,
I'm going to embrace you tightly,
Thank my lucky stars I've found you.
Remind myself how fortunate I am to have found you.
'Cause I know your heart has so much more than
Because I am aware of the amount of love that your heart holds,
Anyone has touched before and
That no one has ever been able to match or connect with in this way,
Nothing matters more to me than that.
No other thing is more important to me than this love I receive from you.
I don't care if I'm your first love,
I don't mind if I'm not your first love,
But I'd love to be your last.
But I would cherish being your final and last love.
I don't care if I'm your first love,
I don't care if I'm not the first person you've ever loved,
But I'd love to be your last.
But I would be honored to be your final and last love.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: KATHLEEN ANNE WRIGHT, RIVERS RUTHERFORD, SAM TATE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
joe hren
As a 16 year old boy I fell in love with a 14/and a half year old girl , it was love to beyond redemption .
A cruel lesson for a besotted youth overpowering love and immaturity was struck a sunder by the green-eyed Monster ..
I have loved her every day since for the past 62 year's
And though I had to go and develop two other relationships a large part of my heart still belongs to her ..
I managed to re-establish contact her some 6 years ago ..
She is happily married and though we've caught up for Lunch on two occasions
And we remain in contact by text and the odd emails
She now lives in a different state ..
And with the China virus still with us I've not seen her again these past two years ..
My dilemma is though my feelings haven't changed towards her ..
I can't in all aspects tell her how I still feel
As Ned Kelly often said " Such is life 😢
April Mosebrook
I am bawling my eyes out. What a beautiful song about second chances. After divorce and many heart breaks, I am still trying to stay hopeful that I will "get it right."
Cheryl Miller
Stay positive!!
Jason Hohman
I know this comment is 10 years old, but your words touched me and I just have to send you a virtual hug and tell you that whether you finally (or ever) get it right or not, April, to take comfort in His promise that one day all your tears will be dried. ❤
joe hren
As a 16 year old boy I fell in love with a 14/and a half year old girl , it was love to beyond redemption .
A cruel lesson for a besotted youth overpowering love and immaturity was struck a sunder by the green-eyed Monster ..
I have loved her every day since for the past 62 year's
And though I had to go and develop two other relationships a large part of my heart still belongs to her ..
I managed to re-establish contact her some 6 years ago ..
She is happily married and though we've caught up for Lunch on two occasions
And we remain in contact by text and the odd emails
She now lives in a different state ..
And with the China virus still with us I've not seen her again these past two years ..
My dilemma is though my feelings haven't changed towards her ..
I can't in all aspects tell her how I still feel
As Ned Kelly often said " Such is life 😢
ZI TI Den
I hope you ended up getting it right. I've learned the key is getting you right. Then it all falls into place.
Trinity Regard
Never give up
Casey Davis
I love Clay Walker & Gretchen Wilson. They both have AMAZING voices & so much talent! Both of their versions are so beautiful. I honestly think that they should make this song into a duet between themselves! It would be absolutely beautiful! Thats just my opinion though...haha
Fernando Guevara
Casey, I, too, think that is a great idea!
bryce colwell
thank you i was just wondering if their were other versions. who wrote this song? it makes me cry, no doubt. my soul feels this song and every word of it strikes a cord in me that summons the waterfalls.
CQ20Queen
Love this female version of the song! Great to have both Clay and Gretchen sing this song. Beautiful words and vulnerable singing. Good Luck Gretchen!