Jelly Roll Swept The 2024 CMT Music Awards

Jelly Roll swept the 2024 CMT Music Awards tonight (4/7) in Austin, Texas. He won CMT Awards for Performance of the Year, Male Video of the Year, and the big award, Video of the Year, all for "Need A Favor."

In winning the top award of Video of the Year, Jelly said, "Billy Bob Thorton (presenter) just gave me my third trophy of the night, ya'll." He addressed two of the other finalists in the category: "Man, Cody Johnson, I'm not gonna tell you anything I don't tell you on the phone, but I love you, brother. You are my favorite cowboy forever and ever. And one of my best friends in the business, I love you."

He added, "Kelsea Ballerini, you know what I think of you, too, girl. You go, baby."

Jelly then said thanks to his manager and publicist, record label, and country radio. He thanked his "Beautiful wife," Bunnie Xo, who he said is his best friend and partner.

Jelly added at the end of his speech, "Gayle King, I'm gonna be a little late in the morning because we're going to party, Austin." King was a presenter at the show, and mentioned that he would be joining her on CBS Mornings tomorrow.

Jelly won the Performance Video of the Year for "Need A Favor," which he performed at the 2023 CMT Music Awards. He said, accepting the honor from Carly Pearce, "This is a moment I want to thank the fans for everything they've done for me. I want to thank God, and I want to thank my beautiful wife and my daughter at home."

He continued, "One year ago, I was invited to perform at my first award show. I walked onto this stage and sang 'Need a Favor' for the first time on national television right here."

He closed by saying, "And what I am emotional about is that last year, you have changed my life in every way. I never would have thought my life could be changed."

Jelly then won the Male Video of the Year and was nominated against his friend Cody Johnson. He said, in accepting, "First of all, my brother Cody Johnson's 'The Painter' was one of the best music videos I've ever seen in my life. That's my brother in real life. I love you, Cody Johnson."

He continued, "Thank you to CMT. I couldn't believe you gave me a chance last year. I came back on fire this year, and I had one of the best nights of my life."

"Speaking of second chances, it's important that I stand up and represent those who are looking here tonight for second chances."

He shouted out to the kids in the juvenile detention centers in Nashville and Auston, saying in part, "You can be this guy, you can change: I promise you."

Jelly winning the CMT Music Award's Male Video honor.
Hubert Vestil/Getty Images 

Jelly Roll's breakout moment in country music was at the 2023 CMT Music Awards, and it was the first award show he had ever attended; he won three awards that night. So, Jelly posted a video a few weeks ago, before tonight's (4/7) CMT Awards show to his Instagram, telling fans about that particular evening.

In the video, 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."

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 [on] awards show."

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."

As Jelly Roll celebrates his 39th birthday today (12/4), we celebrate him and the album that brought him to country superstardom, Whitsitt Chapel.

As a journalist who has lived for many years in Antioch, Jelly's hometown and a suburb of Nashville, when I saw the album cover and his tribute to Whitsitt Chapel, it looked pretty familiar to me. The family and I drive by it often on our way to Percy Priest Lake and the recreation area. If my husband wasn't a teacher in another county in Tennessee wanting his kids to go where he teaches, both of my children would have attended Antioch High School just like Jelly did.

When the album was released in June of this year (2023), Jelly Roll described it as "Real music for real people with real problems." He added that the project was "about growth and gratitude happening in my life." The album and his music struck a nerve with listeners, who quicky made it one of the most successful album releases in country music in 2023.

Jelly has been a top award nominee and often a winner. Last month (November), he won his first CMA Award for New Artist of the Year.

Just a couple of days after winning the New Artist award and in Nashville, Jelly Roll learned that he is a three-time GRAMMY nominee for the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which will air on February 4, 2024, on CBS.

Jelly posted a video on his Instagram; in the clip, he is openly weeping and wiping tears away. He says, shot on his phone at his Nashville area home, "I'm not sure if I'm gonna post this or not because I'm so emotional, but the greatest honor an artist can ever hear is that they've been nominated for a GRAMMY. I got to hear that this morning."

He paused for a moment to get even more emotional before saying, "I haven't cried like this since my daddy died. I tried to make this video seven times, ya'll."

We gathered five songs from the Whitsitt Chapel album that we believe stand out the most and everyone should know.

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.

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."

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.

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,"