Lauren Alaina shared a heartfelt message on International Women’s 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 “Road Less Traveled,” her first No. 1 hit that she released in 2016. The anthem served as the title track of the former American Idol runner-up’s second studio album, which made its debut in January 2017. The audience loudly sang along and waved flashlights throughout the arena as Alaina performed “Road Less Traveled.”

“I posted a video last week about people commenting on women’s bodies, and I just wanted to share this with y’all today,” Alaina wrote in her Instagram caption on Sunday. “After I posted that video, I got up on stage and sang ‘Road Less Traveled’ like I do every night. But this time, when I was singing the words to this song and heard y’all sing them back to me, it reminded me why I wrote it. And honestly… I needed that reminder.

“I wrote this song about learning to love myself when people online tried to convince me that I shouldn’t,” she said. “I 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.

“What would happen if women built each other up instead of tearing each other down?” Alaina said. “And 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.)”

Alaina said in the video she posted in late February:

“I am literally so mad right now. I’m seething. …We’ve got to change the way we’re 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. I’m eight and a half months postpartum, by the way. …People 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 I’m fine, but I’m also just ticked. And I just saw a video just now — this is what really has stirred me — 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 they’re saying that about her, so it just really ticked me off. I have an 8-month-old daughter, and we can’t 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, we’ve got to ignore that and we all need to be better. This is crazy.”

Alaina has since received supportive messages, including from women who have dealt with similar comments. The country star said, “the amount of women that have commented on this video makes me so proud but also so sad. I’m sad that so many of us have experienced this. I love each of you.”

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 event’s 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).

Corey Calhoun