Jelly Roll took home the trophy for Music Event of the Year at the 2024 ACM Awards for his song “Save Me” with Lainey Wilson. The emotional ballad is right in his wheelhouse with its raw vulnerability; however, this song carries extra weight.
In fact, the country singer says he had a hard time even listening to it after it was recorded. Taste of Country asked him ahead of the show which song may have been a little too emotional to perform, even for him.
“‘Save Me.’ Man, was that one,” he says with emphasis. “I had trouble playing it in a room for people for like 3-4 weeks after I recorded it.”
“Like, I couldn’t listen to it with them, you know what I mean? And so, singing it was really rough,” he adds.
If an artist can’t even listen to one of their own songs, it would make it even more difficult to release it in the first place. Despite the gravity of the track, Jelly Roll powered through, and now the song is an ACM Award winner.
Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson Win Music Event of Year at the 2024 ACM Awards
“I’m gonna try not to get emotional, but seriously, this song saved me,” Jelly Roll said as he accepted his award Thursday (May 16). “I was in a dark place. I wrote it from my soul. I knew people would connect with it.”
Related: 2024 ACM Award Winners: Full List
The country singer wrote the song during the pandemic, not long after his father had passed away. He first released it in 2020, but then revamped it with Wilson for a 2023 release.
“This song is a triple-platinum record,” he continued as tears filled his eyes. “I wrote it with a high school friend — we never thought we’d be songwriters. I never thought I’d be standing here. I thought I would die or go to jail and I’m standing here an ACM Award winner.”
Jelly Roll’s Music Is About Connection
Since day one, Jelly Roll has had one mission when it comes to his music: connection. In 2023 at the CMA Awards, he said, “I’m not here to entertain,” and he is continuing to follow that calling — even if that means a few tears along the way.
“I got one on the new album that man, I choke up every single time,” Jelly Roll shared with Taste of Country this week. “There’s one line in the song on my new album that every time I hear the line, I literally choke up.”
Fans will have to wait until his next album arrives to know what that line is. The hitmaker has yet to reveal details surrounding the project.
