Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson brought their No. 1 “Save Me” duet to the iHeartRadio Music Awards. The two performed the song during the live ceremony, where they both walked away as winners.
Jelly Roll also won the trophy for Best New Country Artist and Best New Pop Artist, and Wilson won the award for Country Song of the Year, for “Heart Like A Truck.”
“My mama always told me I had a face for radio,” Jelly Roll quipped during his acceptance speech. “I remember being a kid sitting in the backseat of my car with my brothers. I had three older brothers and an older sister, and all we did was ride around and listen to the radio. We [sang] every single word. I never would have dreamed I would be one of the voices coming through your radio. And to be the Best New Country Artist, and to represent country music, and the Best New Pop Artist, you don’t know what this means to a kid like me.
“I was thinking about it: what does it mean when a guy like me has the opportunity to be the new Pop Artist of the Year, at iHeartRadio Awards?” he continued. “It means that God will always use the least likely messenger with the biggest message every single time. You can take it to the bank. I love you, Jesus, and I love you, Bunnie, my wife. and I love you, Bailee Ann, my daughter.”
Ahead of Wilson’s win, the Louisiana native spoke about being part of the iHeartRadio Music Awards, which is followed by the CMT Music Awards this weekend, where she is nominated for three trophies, including Video of the Year.
“It’s awesome,” Wilson told Billboard. “The truth is, everybody enjoys that recognition. But specifically, for the CMTs, it’s all fan-voted, and you hear what the fans got to say. We listen. We listen, and I’m proud. I’m proud to be doing all of it. I just remember a time that I just wished I was included on anything like this. And to be recognized is a totally different game.”
Jelly Roll had already released “Save Me” independently, before deciding to include it on his debut Whitsitt Chapel album, released last year, this time with the addition of Wilson.
“I got to show y’all a trick y’all didn’t know she could do … She said, ‘I’ve loved ‘Save Me’ from the first time I heard it, but I never felt it the way I felt it coming until I heard it coming from a woman’s perspective,’” Jelly Roll said when their duet was released. “I think that’s what made this such a beautiful marriage for me.”
The CMT Music Awards will air live on Sunday, April 7, at 8:00 PM ET on CBS.
Photo Credits: Getty Images for iHeartRadio and The Tyler Twins
