Lainey Wilson brought surprise guest Jelly Roll on stage during her first sold-out headlining show at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Wilson took the stage on the latest stop on her “Whirlwind World Tour” on Thursday night (October 2). She said she was “full of surprises” as she introduced Jelly Roll, one of several unannounced artists joining Wilson on stage throughout the concert. The Beautifully Broken megastar walked onto his hometown arena stage and teamed up with Wilson to perform the duo’s No. 1 duet, “Save Me.”
“Nashville, there is no place like home, baby!” Jelly Roll said as thousands in the audience cheered. “Save Me” appeared on Jelly Roll’s debut country album, Whitsitt Chapel. The reigning iHeartRadio Music Awards Country Artist of the Year released the project in June 2023, and included “Halfway to Hell,” “Need a Favor” and more on the track list.
“As a girl dad, what you mean to my family and my daughter and all these little girls in this building, the inspiration, you are the role model us parents were praying for,” Jelly Roll told Wilson in a heartfelt moment after their performance. “To encourage these young women to be brave, be bold and share their testimony across the globe. You did that, girl. You brought the bell bottoms back in style, girl. You made country music cool again. A 66-city ‘Whirlwind Tour,’ sounds like the Entertainer of the Year to me. I love you, Lainey Wilson!”
Wilson is one of the leading nominees at the upcoming 59th Country Music Association Awards (including in the Entertainer of the Year category), which will take place at the same Nashville arena in November. She’ll also return to host the show after making her debut in 2024.
Jelly Roll was part of the star-studded lineup at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Festival last month in Las Vegas, Nevada, along with Bailey Zimmerman, BigXthaPlug, Bryan Adams, Ed Sheeran, Diplo, GloRilla, John Fogerty, Justice, LL COOL J, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McRae, The Offspring, and Tim McGraw. In case you missed it, or just want to relive it all again, fans can tune in to an iHeartRadio Music Festival special, including highlights from the music mega weekend, on Hulu on Thursday, October 2nd. It will be available for 21 days.
