Randy Travis praised Stella Lefty on TikTok after her Sept. 22 video of unreleased song “Raised by the Radio,” which mentions him. He wrote that the country singer could stand “toe-to-toe with the very best in Nashville” and urged her to keep believing.
Lefty, 24, released her debut album, Long Way Home, in August and often covers Travis’s “Forever and Ever, Amen” at her shows. In the unreleased track, she describes country singers as influences on her life.
Travis’s praise came amid online criticism of Lefty, including comments about her billionaire father and claims that her music sounds like other hit songs. After trolls flooded comments during Lefty’s Grand Ole Opry debut earlier this month, Kelsea Ballerini defended her, saying country music by artists from different backgrounds and generations should be celebrated.
