“Sounds Like Entertainer Of The Year To Me” – Jelly Roll Names Lainey Wilson His Pick For The Upcoming CMA Awards During Surprise Appearance In Nashville

“Sounds like Entertainer of the Year to me.”

To say it’s been a massive year for Lainey Wilson would simply be an understatement. Beyond releasing the 5-song deluxe edition to her 2024 record, Whirlwind, the “4X4XU” singer would also capture four separate ACM Awards for Entertainer, Female Artist, Artist-Songwriter and Album of the Year (Whirlwind) back in May. Couple that with the fact she was also named solo host at the upcoming CMA Awards in November and her continued success on the nearly year-long Whirlwind World Tour, and Wilson has been on nothing short of a tear.

With the aforementioned Whirlwind Tour slowly coming to a close next month, the Louisiana native decided to pull out all the stops last night in her return to Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena.

Beyond playing all of her solo hits such as “Heart Like a Truck,” “Watermelon Moonshine,” “Things a Man Oughta Know” and “4X4XU,” Wilson would bring out not one but three separate surprise guests throughout the show. Kicking things off early in the show was fellow CMA Award front-runner, Ella Langley, taking Miranda Lambert’s place on a killer rendition of “Good Horses.”

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Not finished, Wilson would then call upon ERNEST to deliver an acoustic performance of their 2024 duet, “Would If I Could,” a song first written by the great Dean Dillon and Skip Ewing all the way back in 1996.

@thenicolemurphy

Lainey Wilson & Ernest Nashville #laineywilson #ernest #nashville @Lainey Wilson @Ernest

♬ original sound – Nicole Murphy

Finally, Jelly Roll was the third and final surprise guest of Wilson’s star-studded night in Nashville, delivering a performance of their 2023 #1 hit, “Save Me,” which netted the duo a nomination at the 66th Grammy Awards for Best Country Duo/Group performance.

@exceptionallyexcited

And then she brings out Jelly Roll #laineywilson #jellyroll #nashville #concert

♬ original sound – Sheena Lynn

In typical Jelly Roll fashion after the performace, the “Need a Favor” singer would pause the concert to deliver a signature speech, this time praising Wilson for her continued impact on the genre. Noting how much of an inspiration she’s been to so many young women around the country, Jelly would thank her for being the kind of role model he wants for his daughter.

“I want you to know, 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 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.

Capping off the brief speech, Jelly would finish by making his prediction for the upcoming CMA Entertainer of the Year race next month.

“A 66-city ‘Whirlwind Tour’ sounds like Entertainer of the Year to me. I love you, Lainey Wilson.”

It seems as if Lainey has remained an award show darling as of late, highlighted primarily by her back-to-back Entertainer of the Year wins the past two years at the ACM Awards. With fellow nominees headlined by reigning EOTY, Morgan Wallen, as well as Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson and Luke Combs this year at the CMAs, she’ll have some stiff competition to beat if she fulfills Jelly Roll’s prediction and takes it home for a second time in three years.

Watch here:

@nashvillexp

This is why we love @Jelly Roll @Lainey Wilson’s Nashville show #Nashville #615 #LaineyWilson #JellyRoll #Country

♬ original sound – Nashville Experience

Lainey Wilson Tour Dates

October 3—Noblesville, IN—Ruoff Music Center§
October 4—Cleveland, OH—Blossom Music Center§
October 9—Columbia, MD—Merriweather Post Pavilion§
October 10—New York, NY—Madison Square Garden§
October 11—Mansfield, MA—Xfinity Center§
October 16—St. Louis, MO—Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre||
October 17—Rosemont, IL—Allstate Arena||
October 18—Saint Paul, MN—Xcel Energy Center||
October 24—Knoxville, TN—Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center#
October 25—Charlotte, NC—Spectrum Center#
November 7—Tampa, FL—Amalie Arena#
November 8—Orlando, FL—Kia Center#

~with special guest Zach Meadows
*with special guests ERNEST and Kaitlin Butts
†with special guests ERNEST and Maddox Batson
‡with special guests Muscadine Bloodline and Drake Milligan
§with special guests Muscadine Bloodline and Lauren Watkins
||with special guests Muscadine Bloodline and Maddox Batson
#with special guests ERNEST and Drake MilliganThe post “Sounds Like Entertainer Of The Year To Me” – Jelly Roll Names Lainey Wilson His Pick For The Upcoming CMA Awards During Surprise Appearance In Nashville first appeared on Whiskey Riff.