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2023 CMA Awards

2023 CMA Awards

2023 CMA Awards

Jelly Roll: ‘God Is Just Getting Started With Me’

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

When Jelly Roll won the CMA Award for New Artist on Wednesday night (11/8), the speech sounded like he was speaking from the pulpit of a church. Jelly said in the inspirational speech, “There’s something poetic about a 39-year-old man winning new artist of the year. I don’t know where you’re at in your life or what you’re going through, but I want to tell you to keep going, baby. I want to tell you, ‘Success is on the other side. It’s going to be OK! I want to tell you that the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror for a reason because: what’s in front of you is so much more important than what’s behind you!”

Jelly also thanked many people and told his fellow nominees, “Megan, Parker, Hailey, I love all of you all — we’re friends. And Zach Bryan, I think you’re one of the hottest things on Earth, not just country music! You deserve this just as anybody else! I love you; I’m glad we’re sitting there partying the rest of the night, baby.”

RELATED: Jelly Roll Drops And Shatters First CMA Trophy

Backstage after his first CMA win, Jelly was asked if he would ever be a preacher. He said, “What I know for sure is God is just getting started with me, that’s for sure. So, I don’t know where that could go.”

He said about where he gets his joy, “Me and my wife spoke about it one time; I was actually acting kind of weird at the house one time, and she said, ‘You know you ain’t wrote a song in three months.’ I think what helps me with my mental health and helps me be so joyous is, for one, coming from where I came from, which is the opposite of something, and two, just understanding the therapy that is involved in not only songwriting but music itself.”

“I’m not here to entertain; I’m here to connect. I think that’s what music does here to connect. Before, I was as articulate as I am now, which I am proud of myself; I could only speak in the form of a song. Even sometimes, like Jim Croce, I have to tell my wife I love her in a song.”

CMAs 2023: These Are The Moments People Are Talking About

  • Wynonna Judd's Performance With Jelly Roll

    There was so much talk about the opening CMA Awards performance of “Need A Favor” by Jelly Roll and Wynonna Judd. Fans expressed concern online that Wy seemed shaky; Wy sang with a firm grip on Jelly’s jacket throughout the song, which the star-studded crowd loved. A church choir accompanied the powerful song, and as the song ended, fire rained down on the stage. Regardless of all the talk about Wynonna’s performance, the song sounded amazing and was a show highlight for sure.

  • Lainey Wilson's Performance

    Lainey told us before the CMA Awards that when she performs on an award show, she likes to show a different side of herself and do different kinds of performances. She did just that with her gripping performance of “Wildflowers and Wild Horses,” a song from her album Bell Bottom Country. She sang in front of a Western backdrop, and her performance was one of the best of the night.

  • HARDY, Post Malone, and Morgan Wallen's Performance

    It was so great to see country stars honor the late great Joe Diffie and his hits of the 1990s. HARDY and Morgan Wallen paid tribute to Joe in the best way possible, playing two of his biggest songs for a packed CMA crowd. The addition of Post Malone to the performance was epic, and it was nice to see him dress like a country boy and sound like he’s a natural fit with two of country music’s biggest voices (Wallen and HARDY) of today.

  • Tanya Tucker with LBT Performance

    Tanya Tucker is a name that should have been added to the Country Music Hall of Fame years ago, and in 2023, she was finally inducted as a member. Her songs have spanned decades, and she has contributed so much to country music, winning her first Grammy award just a few years ago (2020) with Brandi Carlile. It is important to honor those in country music who paved the way for today’s stars, and it was nice to see a CMHOF performance from Tanya and Little Big Town singing Tucker’s mega-hit from the 1970s, “Delta Dawn.”

  • Lainey Wilson Winning Entertainer of the Year

    The biggest winner of the night was Lainey Wilson, who said in her tearful speech when she won the top award of Entertainer of the Year, “This is all I’ve ever wanted to do. It’s the only thing I know how to do. We have played… I think at the end of the year, we’ll have played about 186 shows this year, and we’ve worked our butts off this year and so many years in between. I’ve been in this town for 12-and-a-half years, and it finally feels like country music is starting to love me back.”

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.

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Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group
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