Jelly Roll: The Song He Couldn’t Listen To

Jelly Roll won an ACM award with Lainey Wison for their duet "Save Me" last week (5/16).

Before the show, Jelly chatted about how hard it was for him to write and then share the song with people. He said, "'Save Me.' Man, was that one. I had trouble playing it in a room for people for like 3-4 weeks after I recorded it."

He added, "Like, I couldn't listen to it with them, you know what I mean? And so, singing it was really rough." 

Jelly went to say that the song literally saved him. In his acceptance speech at the show, he said from the podium, "I'm gonna try not to get emotional, but seriously, this song saved me. I was in a dark place. I wrote it from my soul. I knew people would connect with it."

He continued, tears in his eyes, "This song is a triple-platinum record. I wrote it with a high school friend—we never thought we'd be songwriters. I never thought I'd be standing here. I thought I would die or go to jail, and I'm standing here an ACM Award winner."

Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson accepting their 2024 ACM Award for Musical Event. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

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Jelly told us after he and Lainey Wilson recorded their duet of his "Save Me" together, "Twenty, thirty times, Lainey's went out of her way to come and do this for me. I could not have asked for a better dance partner."

It started a beautiful friendship. He said, "It seeped over to the family: my daughter loves her, and my wife loves her. I love Duck (her boyfriend, Devlin Hodges), and Duck loves me. I love her parents."

He concluded, "I think that we have a moment that will remembered that way forever. I think they'll be an era where we'll always look back in country music and go, 'That was kind of Jelly and Lainey's year.'"

Lainey agreed, saying, "I knew before I officially met him that he was just my kind of people. What you see is what you get, and I love people like that."

She added of recording "Save Me" with her friend, "I made a promise to myself that any song that I cut that I didn't write, I needed to feel like I wrote it at least. I needed to feel like I had been through it or experienced it in some kind of way, or it was a story that just needed to be told, even if it wasn't mine specifically. This one turned out that it was something that I could relate to one hundred and ninety percent."

The 59th Academy of Country Music Awards last night (5/16) was like it has been in years past: Full of great performances. Country stars often use award shows to debut new music to the world.  

Post Malone played some of his new brand of country music, and his performance was country to the core. When Reba joined him to sing a little after his performance, it was definitely a show highlight. 

Thomas Rhett performed his new love song, "Beautiful As You," for the first time ever. The high-energy anthem represents the first taste of Thomas's upcoming seventh studio album, which will be released on August 23. 

He said of the new song, "This is an anthem for everybody who feels like they out-kicked their coverage. There was one day a couple years back when I was looking at my wife, and I was like, 'Why in the world did you choose me?'"

Thomas continued, "I get to be with someone who could easily be on the cover of a magazine, and I get to see her in all her forms – a partner, a mother, a friend, even a philanthropist. I just feel like I've got a first-row seat at almost perfection, if you will. And like the song says, 'Seriously, what is somebody as amazing as you doing with somebody like me?'"

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani performed their new song "Purple Irises" for the first time on an award show and brought the house to their feet. The song was recorded in Nashville at Smokestack Studios early this year and was produced by Scott Hendricks.

Blake said of the new song when it was released in February, "We love this song so much. It's a song Gwen wrote with a couple of friends of hers, and I fell in love with it the first time I heard it. She knew there was something different about it and asked me to come in and sing with her. My longtime producer, Scott Hendricks, produced it, and Gwen's been wanting to work with him for a long time now, and it's turned into this really cool and different song that can live anywhere."

Stefani added, "'Purple Irises' is a song that comes from the idea that when you plant something, you are planting hope and watching love grow. Weathering all the different seasons of growth. We are in this together; we planted the seeds together, and we are growing together."

As we recap all the wonderful performances from the 59th Annual ACM Awards, we gathered what we believe are the top four performances of the big night. 

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There have been a few award show tributes to Toby Keth since his death in February, but somehow this one somber and emotional performance from his friend Jason Aldean was extra special, as he sang Toby's biggest hit with a new vibe and tone. Watching Keith's family and his wife, Trica, wipe tears away throughout the performance was especially touching.

This was a great way to hear some of the new music Jelly Roll has been working on, which he plans to release as soon as he can. Jelly performed his new song "Liar" to perfection and brought the ACM crowd to their feet. His passion and exciting award show performance have helped his star shine, and this one was another great performance from this infectious new superstar.

What a great way to kick off the show with a performance from its biggest star: Lainey Wilson. Lainey was epic, singing a Texas classic to the Texas crowd, then walking through the crowd, placing her red cowboy hat on her mother's head, and then taking center stage to sing her new song, "Hang Tight Honey." It was also nice to see her hair as she performed without her signature hat. 

When Chris Stapleton performs on an award show, it will be something great and the talk of the show the next morning. This year's performance with a surprise guest, country music lover Dua Lipa, was one for the books. Her stunning vocals, matched with his on this stirring love song, were once again the highlight of the ACM Awards.