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Jelly Roll hailed Lainey Wilson an “inspiration” during a powerful moment on stage in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Beautifully Broken superstar appeared as a surprise guest when Wilson headlined Bridgestone Arena on her “Whirlwind World Tour” on Thursday (October 2). The duo performed their No. 1 duet that appeared on Jelly Roll’s debut country record, “Save Me.”
“As a girl dad, what you mean to my family and my daughter and all these little girls in this building, the inspiration, you are the role model us parents were praying for,” Jelly Roll told Wilson as the audience applauded and cheered. “To encourage these young women to be brave, be bold and share their testimony across the globe. You did that, girl. You brought the bell bottoms back in style, girl. You made country music cool again. A 66-city ‘Whirlwind Tour,’ sounds like the Entertainer of the Year to me. I love you, Lainey Wilson!”
Wilson, the reigning Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, is also nominated in the Entertainer of the Year category (and several others) at the upcoming 59th Country Music Association Awards, which will take place at the same venue in Nashville next month. The Whirlwind hitmaker is also returning to host the show for her second consecutive year, after making her debut with Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning in 2024.
The recent “Whirlwind Tour” stop in Nashville is one of the latest times Jelly Roll has expressed his appreciation for Wilson. He hailed her “an angel on earth” as he shared a lengthy Instagram post after “Save Me” won the Music Event of the Year category at the 59th ACM Awards last year.
“Your hard work is inspiring but even more inspiring is how you anchor yourself in your family,” Jelly Roll said of Wilson at that time. “You are the perfect partner for this song. No matter how big or small you have showed up for me every time I’ve asked. Whether it was a dive bar or a morning TV show, you showed up with a smile no matter how much it inconvenienced you because you knew the power of this song and how it could HEAL! Thank you - you truly are my sister, I’d go to war beside you if it ever came down to it. Send my love to Duck [Wilson’s fiancé, Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges], and your mom and dad. This song would not be what it is without you!”
Before that, Jelly Roll, the reigning iHeartRadio Music Awards Country Artist of the Year, said he “could not have picked a better person to reimagine this song with (than Wilson). …you inspire women and make them feel heard and seen. You are of the best humans I’ve ever encountered.”
Jelly Roll was part of the star-studded lineup at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Festival last month in Las Vegas, Nevada, along with Bailey Zimmerman, BigXthaPlug, Bryan Adams, Ed Sheeran, Diplo, GloRilla, John Fogerty, Justice, LL COOL J, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McRae, The Offspring, and Tim McGraw. In case you missed it, or just want to relive it all again, fans can tune in to an iHeartRadio Music Festival special, including highlights from the music mega weekend, beginning on Hulu on Thursday, October 2nd. It will be available for 21 days.