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Cole Swindell and Jo Dee Messina joined forces for an electrifying performance on the 58th annual ACM Awards stage on Thursday evening (May 11). The pair blended Messina’s iconic 90s anthem, “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” with Swindell’s award-winning “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” from his latest smash-hit album.
Swindell released “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” on Stereotype last year, and knew that he needed to drop a remixed version with Messina in time for the deluxe edition that just became available last month.
Swindell delivered on a promise he made to his fans. He previously said, while fielding a few questions during a live Q&A session on Instagram: “It’s so funny reading the comments. It’s like ‘dude…you gotta get Jo Dee on this,’ and I just want y’all to know, trust me, I know that’s been the plan from the beginning. Nobody knew what to expect with this song and the reaction has been insane. …Yeah, we’re figuring something out. Don’t worry. Me and my team, we want Jo Dee on something and we’re figuring that out now, so y’all be patient. I promise, it’s gonna be worth it when we figure out what we wanna do.”
Swindell took home the ACM Song of the Year award for the Messina-inspired anthem. The newly-engaged country star shared a heartwarming moment with his fiancée Courtney Little, and received a warm congratulation from music legend Randy Travis as he made his way to the stage. Swindell took a moment to thank Messina, among others, during his acceptance speech with his fellow songwriters, saying, “we wouldn’t have done this without you.” He returned to the stage when he won the Single of the Year award for the same song moments later.