Middle Schooler Wins Talent Show Singing “Save Me” By Jelly Roll
14-year-old Gage Jude from Red Jacket, West Virginia, won his middle school talent show after getting in front of his entire school with a guitar and singing Jelly Roll‘s “Save Me.”
With his electric guitar in hand, the student sat in a chair in the middle of the gymnasium as a woman held the microphone for him while he strummed the beginning cords to the song and started to sing.
“Somebody save me, me from myself / I’ve spent so long living in Hell / They say my lifestyle is bad for my health / It’s the only thing that seems to help,” Jude sang.
Not only did he convey the emotion of the song well while playing the guitar at the same time, but something amazing happened about halfway through his performance. When he was about 40 seconds into the song, the other students in the gymnasium watching from the bleachers started to sing along. The students were swaying back and forth and getting into Jude’s performance.
Video Of The Performance Goes Viral & Jelly Roll Sees It
The teen went on to win the talent show and a video of it was posted to TikTok where Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunnie XO, were tagged. The video got Jelly Roll’s attention and he took the time to comment on the post, letting everyone know what he thought about it. Here’s what he said:
“UNBELIEVABLE! So good and when the crowd started singing along I almost teared up,” Jelly Roll wrote in the comments.
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The video was posted a week ago as of press time it’s been viewed more than 6 million times!
When the middle school found out that Jelly Roll commented on the TikTok video, they brought Jude up to the front office and got on the intercom to announce to the entire school what had happened, and to congratulate him again on his performance.
The Town of Matewan, WV Facebook page also gave him a shoutout saying, “Mayor Moore & Council would like to congratulate Matewan PreK-8 Student Gage Jude from Red Jacket for winning 1st place in the school’s talent show. Gage is 14 years old and in the 8th grade. He sang Save Me by Jelly Roll in the talent show and after numerous shares & views on social media, he received a shout out from Jelly Roll himself!!!!! We are all very proud of you Gage.”
In addition, someone in the comments of the post appears to know Jude’s family and mentioned that his father is a singer and the boy is growing up to follow in his dad’s footsteps. All we can say is, excellent work Jude! Country Music Family is also proud of you and we’d love to see more.
Take a look below at Jude’s talent show performance of “Save Me” below.