Lawson Bates
Lawson Bates
Lawson Bates is the fourth child and second son of Gil Bates and Kelly Bates.[3]
He is the brother of Zachary Bates, Michaela Keilen Bates, Erin Paine, Nathan Bates, Alyssa Webster, Tori Smith, Trace Bates, Carlin Stewart, Josie Balka, Katie Bates, Jackson Bates, Warden Bates, Isaiah Bates, Addallee Bates, Ellie Bates, Callie-Anna Bates, Judson Bates and Jeb Bates.[3]
Early Life
William Lawson Bates was born on July 27, 1992, to Gil Bates and Kelly Jo Callaham.
He was the couple's fourth child, and they went on to have fifteen more children after him.
Lawsonwas named Williams after father and grandfather.
Some close family members call him "Willie".[3]
Lawson's middle name, which he is recognized by, was picked out by his older brother, Zach, before his parents even knew he was going to be a boy.
Lawson talked about having so many siblings in interviews, where he said
"It's really good for relationship building.
There's always someone there to show you who's been through it before."[3]
Lawson is a humorous person who has always kept his family in stitches.
His parents also consider him wise and cautious.
Together with his siblings, Lawson was homeschooled growing up.
Although he was brought up as an active participant of Bill Gothard's Institute in Basic Life Principles, hedenounced Bill Gothard and his ministry as an adult. [3]
"IBLP & ATI are no longer affiliated with Mr. Gothard,"
Lawson said in a comment on his sister Erin's Instagram photo.
"ALL of us make our own decisions & follow Jesus Christ.
People will always let you down.
Christ never will.
My dad joined the board only around 2 years ago & was as unaware of accusations as anyone.
I don't support him or his ministry."[4]
It was unclear if the "ministry" Lawson referred to is IBLP or Bill Gothard's new ministries.
Music Career
Lawson's Second Album
Lawson had always loved music.
He started playing the piano when he was seven years old, then the guitar at eleven years old.
He wrote his first song at fifteen.[4]
Lawson began his musician career performing in gigs with his family.
As an adult, he decided to go solo as a singer and instrumentalist.
At eighteen years old, he started working with Andy Leftwic, an award-winning instrumentalist and producer, on his first solo album.
Lawson talked about his solo career
"With music it has been different, It's not me with the Bates family.
It's make it or break it based off of my music strictly.
That is a little scary especially when you're writing country music you share a lot of your heart."
Lawson released his first album, "Freedom Sure Ain't Free", which contains twelve tracks of country and gospel music on October 30, 2013.
Two of the tracks were original songs.
On January 28, 2015, he released a single "I Thought I Had Problems".
This single included vocals by Rachel Leftwich.
He said the single was being released to raise awareness and support for global disaster relief.
He released another single, "I Will Always" on February 4, 2016.
This single hit number 46 on iTunes country charts, and was number 1 on Amazon traditional country charts.
On November 10, 2016, Lawson released his second album, "What Country Means to Me", which contains twelve tracks of country music.
Two of the tracks are duets with Emily Ann Roberts, who was a contestant on NBC's show The Voice. Eight of the tracks on this album are original songs. [3]
On January 24, 2019, Lawson released another single "One + One".
He co-wrote this song (along with Adam Wheeler) for his sister Tori, and performed it at Tori's wedding to Bobby Smith on December 16, 2017.
Lawson has posted a number of music videos on his YouTube page.
His most notable video is for his song "Past the Past", which features Sadie Robertson from the A&E show Duck Dynasty. [3]
Lawson sometimes performs at children's hospitals due to the fact that he loves to help those in need.
"It's something that I look forward to.
I'll just kind of go room to room or sometimes I'll get a group.
I've made so many friends over there."[3]
Lawn Business
Lawson opened his own lawn-cutting business, Lawson's Lawncare, at age thirteen.
His business was very successful, and at age nineteen he was able to loan out large sums to members of his family, including $1,000 to his brother Zach for a car, $2,000 to his sister Erin for college tuition, and $4,000 or $5,000 to his father just to pay the bills.
"They're good for it," he said of these loans.
"I don't need the money right now anyway."
One of Lawson's chores as a teenager was doing the family's grocery shopping, which he often paid for himself.[3]
Lawson currently works as a reserve deputy for the Anderson County Sheriffs Department.[3]
Courtship Rumours
Lawson and Emily Ann Roberts
Although Lawson is currently single, it has been rumored that he has courted a number of different young women over the years since he became an adult, i ncluding Jana Duggar and Emily Ann Roberts. [4]
The most observed rumor was that Lawson was interested in Jinger Duggar. Although this has been supposed for a long time, the speculation took off due to the timing of a number vague social media posts he posted when Jinger announced her courtship and weding to Jeremy Vuolo. [4]
On June 20, 2016, when Jinger announced she was courting Jeremy, Lawson posted two tweets: "Things aren't always as they seem" and "[Time] always tells...".[4]
At 6:50am on November 5, 2016, the day of Jinger's wedding, Lawson tweeted, "If you saw me last night & I was a lil out of sorts, srry; It was quite a day."
At 5:07pm that day, presumably at the wedding reception, Lawson tweeted, "As long as you're comparing, you'll never be content."[3]
Jana Duggar joined instagram on January 10, 2019.
So far, she is the only single Duggar to have her own instagram account.
Lawson commented on her first few posts, which generated a lot of speculation amongst followers that he and Jana were courting.
On January 10, Jana's sister Jessa posted a photo of Jana with their niece Felicity Vuolo.
A number of commenters asked if Jana was courting, and Jessa said that Jana was not "in a relationship".
On January 17, Lawson posted a picture on his instagram of him holding a rose.
The photo, which was part of some posts promoting his new single.
A fan commented "Please tell me that rose is for Jana", and gossip increased when the official Bates family instagram account liked the comment.
In response, Lawson spoke to InTouch Magazine, saying that his mom didn't know what she was doing when she liked the comment.
Despite these denials, speculation continues.[4]
Discography
Freedom Sure Ain't Free (2013)
What Country Means to Me (2016)