Covered in a shiny blue bell-bottom pantsuit get-up, Lainey Wilson gave her first of two performances during the three-hour American Idol finale on Sunday (May 21).
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First up, Wilson stepped on stage with Jelly Roll to perform “Save Me,” off his 2020 album Self-Medicated. Wilson stepped off stage as Jelly Roll continued with a performance of his 2022 single, “Need A Favor” with Season 21 AI contestant Oliver Steele.
For Wilson’s second performance, it was all about her song. Changing colors, Wilson slipped into a similar shiny green outfit and was joined by recent Top 10 AI contestants Warren Peay and MaryBeth Byrd for her Bell Bottom Country hit “Heart Like a Truck.”
Opening the song, Wilson sang the first few lines before Byrd joined in with both taking turns showing off their powerhouse vocals. At one point, after Peay joined the two on stage, Wilson just let the two singers show off their vocal abilities on her song, and dialed back her vocals for a few moments.
Peay, a 24-year-old from Bamberg, South Carolina, first caught the attention of the Idol judges. who called him a “Christian Chris Stapleton,” with his audition of Zach Williams’ “To The Table.”
Byrd, 21, first auditioned on American Idol with a cover of The SteelDrivers’ “If It Hadn’t Been For Love,” and eventually earned her spot in the Top 10 with a rendition of ABBA‘s 1976 hit “Dancing Queen.”
This year has been a momentous one for Wilson, who recently won the ACM for Album of the Year for Bell Bottom Country, in addition to winning Female Artist of the Year.
Earlier in the year, Wilson also picked up two CMT Awards for Collaborative Video of the Year for “wait in the truck” with HARDY and Female Video of the Year for “Heart Like a Truck,“ along with being named Best New Country Artist at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards.
Released in 2022, Bell Bottom Country peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart with the hit “Heart Like a Truck,” co-written with Trannie Anderson and Dallas Wilson, reaching No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart and No. 7 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
Photos: ABC/Eric McCandless
