Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll are on top of the country music world these days. They’ve been flying high since the CMA Awards in November. That night, Jell Roll won New Artist of the Year and Wilson won five awards including Entertainer of the Year. Additionally, their duet “Save Me” went to No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and stayed there for two weeks.
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Neither Wilson nor Jelly Roll are truly “new” artists. Both have been chasing stardom for more than a decade. Wilson, a Louisiana native, has been in Nashville working toward country stardom for 12 years. Jelly Roll, on the other hand, spent more than a decade as an independent rapper before transitioning to country music. Their years of hard work are finally paying off.
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Recently, Jelly Roll spoke to Taste of Country Nights host Evan Paul about Wilson. Paul asked what it says about the current state of country music that he and Wilson are both getting their flowers.
[RELATED: The Meaning Behind Jelly Roll’s Song of Addiction and Recovery “Save Me”]
Jelly Roll Praises Lainey Wilson’s Work Ethic
“First of all, let’s start with praising Lainey, man,” Jelly Roll said. “I pride myself on being a really hard worker. This is what I say to people: I do the stuff that other people in this town won’t do. Lainey Wilson does the stuff that I won’t do,” he explained. “She is willing. She is working.”
[RELATED: Jelly Roll Reveals How Time as Independent Rapper Was Catalyst for Country Music Success]
He said that he recognized her work ethic when they met up on the American Idol set back in January. Jelly Roll recalled that he saw Wilson and she looked “frazzled” so he asked if she was OK. “She’d just pulled up, she was running late. She was like, ‘Man, I had to wake up at 5 o’clock this morning to catch a flight, and had a layover at such and such for five hours. I leave here and got a 4 a.m. flight tomorrow to do a corporate show at three in the afternoon, then I gotta fly to another city to [perform with] Luke Combs.’”
Hearing that, Jelly Roll was shocked. “These were commercial flights. This girl was running on fumes. Her work ethic is next level.”
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