Even before officially meeting fellow rising star Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson knew “he was just my kind of people.” Fortunately for country music fans, that proved true. The two hitmakers teamed up for a country remix of Jelly’s 2020 single “Save Me” as part of the “Need a Favor” singer’s country debut, Whitsitt Chapel. The duet ratcheted up the charts and brought the house down at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards. Seeing the pair’s chemistry, it’s no surprise they like each other. The “Need a Favor” singer gushed over his “Save Me” counterpart in a December 2023 interview with Taste of Country. Recently, the Country Music Association’s 2023 Entertainer of the Year returned the favor.
Videos by American Songwriter
Jelly Roll Praises Lainey Wilson’s “Next Level” Work Ethic
Fans love Jelly Roll as much for his humble, unassuming demeanor as they do for his emotionally raw performances. The three-time Country Music Television Award winner is always quick to share the spotlight. Jelly loudly sang the “Watermelon Moonshine” singer’s praises following her 2023 CMA Entertainer of the Year win.
“First of all, let’s start with praising Lainey, man. I pride myself on being a really hard worker,” Jelly Roll, 39, told Taste of Country. “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. She is willing. She is working.”
He went on to describe running into Wilson on the set of the 2023 American Idol finale, where the pair performed “Save Me.” The Bell Bottom Country artist was visibly “a little frazzled,” Jelly recalled. And for good reason — she had woken up at 5 a.m. that day to catch a flight, just arriving after a five-hour layover.
“She was like… ‘I leave here and I 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 do Luke Combs,'” Jelly Roll said.
“These were commercial flights,” he added. “This girl was running on fumes. Her work ethic is next level.”
Lainey Says Jelly Roll Is “Always Somewhere”
According to Taste of Country Nights, Wilson grinned broadly when the publication played Jelly’s words back to her.
“I’ll take it,” said the GRAMMY winner, 31. “But I will say, you know, if Jelly Roll don’t beat me with the whole work ethic thing, I think he comes in a close second. ‘Cause, he’s always somewhere. I’m like, ‘Man, I thought I was the only one running around,’ and he’s like, ‘I been running around, too.'”
Wilson made sure to emphasize that she doesn’t regret a thing. “But it’s fun, this is what we asked for,” she said. “[A]nd I feel so blessed and lucky to be a part of what’s happening right now.”
Featured image by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for iHeartRadio
