Jelly Roll took ’em to church last year.
Jelly Roll was a Pentecostal preacher man in a past life.#CMAawards
— Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) November 9, 2023
The Tennessee native is known for his powerful way of using words in his lyrics, but that power spills over into his acceptance speeches at awards shows. Jelly Roll is known for firing fans up with his speeches, often preaching to the audience.
Last year, Jelly Roll won his first CMA Award for New Artist of the Year, and the “Save Me” singer was thrilled to be honored with the award. This excitement led to an acceptance speech that inspired fans. He honestly might have given the best awards show acceptance speech of all time that night.
The speech begins with him thanking a few of the folks in his corner and the fellow artists he was up against in the category: Megan Moroney, Hailey Whitters, Parker McCollum, and Zach Bryan.
"Zach Bryan, I think you are one of the hottest things on Earth, not just country music. You deserve this as much as anybody else. I love you, I'm glad we're sitting there partying the rest of the night" -Jelly Roll#CMAawards
— Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) November 9, 2023
He then said a few kind words about his wife, Bunnie Xo, before getting amped up to encourage anyone with ears to hear.
“There is something poetic about 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 wanna tell you to keep going, baby. I wanna tell you success is on the other side of it.
I wanna tell you it’s gonna be okay. I wanna tell you that the windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror for a reason, because what’s in front of you is so much more important than what’s behind you. Let’s party Nashville!”
Reading the worlds are one thing, but hearing the conviction in his tone is another. His delivery of his message makes you want to run through a wall.
I don’t know who Jelly Roll is but this acceptance speech may have just made me a fan. Man delivered a word. pic.twitter.com/KwzZn6YO9z
— A Spooky SZN Enthusiast “Foots” (@welplookathim) November 9, 2023
Sadly for Jelly Roll, the fun was short-lived. After delivering the iconic speech, he dropped his CMA Award backstage, breaking the glass sculpture. While fans heard during the awards show’s airing last year that Jelly Roll had dropped his award, we never knew the whole story until this year.
Earlier this fall, Jelly Roll stopped by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and recalled the hilarious yet unfortunate events that happened shortly after he gave his speech.
“First of all when it first dropped, you could’ve heard a mouse pee on cotton. I mean, it was dead silent. Right after you could’ve heard a cricket fart, you heard a bunch of people go, ‘Awwww.’
I was just so excited and so nervous that I had the sweatiest, shakiest palms. And that thing is…I’m already not a physically fit man and that thing’s heavy. That thing’s really heavy. I was so excited, and I was going to change it from one hand to another to shake somebody’s hand, and it just boom.
This is the story of my life, though, Jimmy. I finally got my life together. I won the biggest award, best new artist. I was one of the oldest people to ever win it. I was 39 years old. I gave a passionate speech. And then I came backstage and fumbled the ball. I dropped it right there!”
While Jelly Roll told the CMA Awards to let him keep the broken sculpture, as it was the perfect metaphor for his life, it sounds like they sent him a new one.
Jelly Roll is up for three awards tonight: Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year, so hopefully, we get to hear Jelly amp up the crowd with another stellar speech.
