Half a year after setting a new bar for country awards show performances alongside HARDY at the 2022 CMAs, Lainey Wilson hit the 2023 ACM Awards on Thursday (May 11) alongside Jelly Roll for a scorching take on their duet “Save Me.”
It was another knockout win for Wilson and an impressive showcase for Jelly Roll, who quickly became one of the biggest breakout success stories of 2023, shattering the record for most weeks atop Billboard’s Emerging Artists Chart in February.
Jelly Roll’s sound substantially draws on Southern hip-hop, but the Tennessee artist was in gritty country-blues mode on stage at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas. Wilson demonstrated her deft ability to share the spotlight while still commanding attention on “Save Me” before segueing into a high-energy solo run-through of her song “Grease.”
“Grease” hails from Bell Bottom Country, which – shortly after Wilson and Jelly Roll’s performance – won the ACM Award for album of the year. “I’m blacking out,” Wilson joked as she took the stage. “I’m out of breath either because of that or this,” she said, pointing to the stage where she just performed and her new award.
You can see Jelly Roll’s live prowess front and center at Billboard’s first-ever Billboard Country Live event, which takes place in Nashville on June 6-7. Jelly Roll will perform at Marathon Music Works on June 6, with Garth Brooks participating in an intimate Q&A on June 7.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions. DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldridge. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
