Covering a song can often be intimidating for artists, usually because they are worried they won’t do the original justice.
However, sometimes a cover comes along that is so good, the artist that created it can’t help but give their applause and their blessing. Some famous examples that come to mind are Whitney Houston’s cover of “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton, or Johnny Cash’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.”
This cover below might not be at the high level of those two songs, but it was impressive enough that it managed to cause the original artist to come out and commend it. Kelly Clarkson sang Jelly Roll’s “Save Me,” a duet with Lainey Wilson, on her daytime talkshow The Kelly Clarkson Show, and Jelly Roll was absolutely floored by it.
The rapper-turned-country artist sent this message out on socials after he heard the cover of his song that was performed during the “Kellyoke” segment of the artist’s show:
“I would’ve never believed you if you would’ve told me that I’d write a song so impactful that (the) incredible Kelly Clarkson would deem it worthy to cover. Thank you Kelly- wow – I’m honored in a way I can’t even describe. I cried watching it.”
Jelly Roll doesn’t shy away from sharing his emotions (as made evident by his transparent songwriting), so he wasn’t afraid to tell the world how much Kelly Clarkson’s cover meant to him. And when Clarkson covered the song, she covered it (if you know what I’m saying).
Though it was part of a fun reoccurring segment of her talkshow, Clarkson gave an impassioned performance of the song that was featured on Jelly Roll’s uberly successful Whitsitt Chapel album. Jelly Roll had country superstar Lainey Wilson help him out with the song on the album, and something tells me that he might be giving a call to Clarkson for a collaboration sometime in the future.
Check out Kelly Clarkson’s stirring rendition of “Save Me” below:
Kelly has some PIPES.
You can tell why Jelly Roll cried when he watched the performance. Clarkson brought it with that cover, and it must have been a truly surreal moment for Jelly Roll.
And if you wanted to give the original a listen again, you can go ahead and press play right here:
