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Jelly Roll Hopes To ‘Recreate History’ At CMT Music Awards

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

The 2023 CMT Music Awards was Jelly Roll’s breakout moment in country music, and the first award show he had ever attended, and he won three awards that night. So, Jelly posted a video to his Instagram telling fans about that evening and looking ahead to the CMT Music Awards 2024, which take place April 7.
Jelly Roll on the 2023 CMT Music Awards red carpet wearing a red jacket and holding an award. Photo – Emma McIntyre

That Big Night

In a video he posted, Jelly said, “Remember the CMT awards last year? I’ll never forget it, baby. It was our welcome party into country music. I don’t know if you all know all the details, but let me just give you the highlights. We went three for three; we won all three awards. We introduced the world to ‘Need A Favor’ that night.”

Behind The Scenes

He continued, “See, what ya’ll don’t know is that behind the scenes, that was like our welcoming party to country music. We had never been to an event at that time. It was the first award show we got invited to, and lucky for us, it was a voted awards show.”

“Let’s Recreate History”

Jelly added, “It’s back again this year, and we are back up for three awards again, baby. We can do it again with your help. CMT.com, the voting poll, is open. I think you can vote every day. Please, ya’ll. This was truly one of the launch pads that made last year the greatest year of my career. Let’s recreate history magic again. I love ya’ll.”

Fans can vote for the winners of the 2024 CMT Music Awards here.

RELATED: Jelly Roll Had Reservations About Dueting With Lainey Wilson

Jelly and Lainey Wilson are the “it” artists in country music these days, and they celebrated their success together at a party in Nashville recently. Before the event, we chatted with the country superstars, and Jelly explained how deep his friendship with Wilson goes.

His Friend Was There For Him

Jelly said after they recorded their duet “Save Me” together, his friend was there for him more times than he expected, joining him to sing it on TV, at corporate parties, or even flying to different cities just to join him on stage for a concert moment fans will never forget. He said, “Twenty, thirty times, Lainey’s went out of her way to come and do this for me. I could not have asked for a better dance partner.”

Beautiful Friendship

It started a beautiful friendship. He said, “It seeped over to the family: my daughter loves her, and my wife loves her. I love Duck (her boyfriend, Devlin Hodges), and Duck loves me. I love her parents.”

A Moment In Country Music

He concluded, “I think that we have a moment that will remembered that way forever. I think they’ll be an era where we’ll always look back in country music and go, ‘That was kind of Jelly and Lainey’s year.'”

Jelly Roll: 5 Songs You Need To Know From 'Whitsitt Chapel'

  • "The Lost"

    An album cut that Jelly co-wrote with Miranda Lambert. In January, Lambert posted to Instagram that she made a new songwriting friend, Jelly Roll. By the looks of it, the two had a great time writing songs. Miranda posted a couple of photos to her Instagram, one with her, Jelly Roll, and a songwriter named Telenitry. She wrote, “Made a new friend this week! Jesse was right when he said we go together like biscuits and gravy! Loved writing a tune with @jellyroll615 and @telemitry.” See that post here.

  • "Halfway to Hell"

    While this song has not been released as a single to country radio, it’s well-known by fans and got a massive response when Jelly performed it at his “Backroads Baptism Tour.” The song kicks off the album, starting with a clip of a church preacher preaching, “Just save you because he gave his only begotten son.” As the music starts, the preacher continues to preach; Jelly begins the song with the lyrics, “I’m a county jail revival / I’m a bottle and a Bible / I’m a rolling stone disciple / With a cross across my face.”

  • "Save Me" (with Lainey Wilson)

    Little did Jelly know when he recorded this song with his friend Lainey Wilson that the collaboration would be nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance. The song was also recently nominated for Musical Event at the 2023 CMA Awards. In early December 2023, the song hit the top of the country music charts. They also performed the song at the ACM Awards in May of 2023.

  • "Need a Favor"

    The first number-one country song from this project, but his second number one country song overall. The first number one was “Son Of A Sinner,” which was his first country single release before he released Whitsett Chapel. The powerful and relatable lyrics include, “I only talk to God when I need a favor / And I only pray when I ain’t got a prayer / So who the hell am I, who the hell am I to expect a savior, oh / If I only talk to God when I need a favor? / But, God, I need a favor,”

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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