Jelly Roll graced the red carpet Thursday at Spotify’s Best New Artist Party, just days before the much-anticipated 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards.
The singer, nominated in two prestigious categories — Best New Artist and Best Country Duo/Group Performance — for his soul-stirring rendition of “Save Me” with collaborator Lainey Wilson, took a moment to share his thoughts and emotions with 360aproko Cassie DiLaura.
Jelly Roll opened up about the significance of being nominated for Best New Artist, expressing, “Ah, it means nothing short of everything. I mean, this is a big deal. This don’t get no bigger. I even felt almost a little out of place when my plane landed because I was like, ‘This is big big. We ain’t in Nashville no more, Toto. This is huge. Winning would be… I wouldn’t know what to do. I’d probably cry and give the worst speech ever. But just being here for me is a W, this is a huge win.”
Reflecting on his journey and the overwhelming emotions leading up to Sunday’s GRAMMY Awards, Jelly Roll shared, “I’m worried about Sunday. Yeah, I think up until then, we’re just partying, enjoying it with everybody, but I think Sunday’s gonna be a real thing for me. Probably when I stand on that red carpet and I realize the magnitude of me actually being at the GRAMMYs. And I have a rule in life, man — you do everything the first time like you’ll never do it again, and that’s how we’re doing it this week.”
Addressing his nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Save Me,” Jelly Roll shed light on his camaraderie with Wilson.
“Man, we have the coolest text thread ever,” he shared. “I landed, I was on my way, and my manager said, ‘Man, we’re on the way to the GRAMMYs. What were we doing a year ago?’ So I went in my calendar, and one year ago on January 30th, Lainey Wilson laid her verse for ‘Save Me.’ So the day that me and her, and I text her, I go, ‘One year ago, we’re flying to, we’re nominated for this song, you laid vocals a year ago today.’ She said, ‘You won’t believe it. I just landed in L.A.’ I said, ‘I’m two hours behind you.'”
In November, Jelly Roll shared his emotional reaction to his GRAMMY nominations, posting a video of himself in tears over the recognition to Instagram.
“I’m not sure if I’ll post this or not because I’m so emotional, but the greatest honor an artist could ever hear is that they’ve been nominated for a GRAMMY,” the country singer said through tears. “I got to hear that this morning. I haven’t cried like this since my daddy died. I tried making this video seven times, y’all. I love y’all, man. So f**king much.”
Beneath the Instagram video, Jelly Roll wrote, “I’m embarrassed to post this but my wife says honesty and rawness got me this far … I’ll post a more complete thought about this when I get my head together. I just never would’ve imagined.”
In the comments, several celebrities celebrated Jelly Roll’s big accomplishment. “YOU DESERVE IT ALL!!!!!!! 🙌 We are so happy for you!!!!!!! Congratulations my sweet friend ❤️” Wynonna Judd wrote.
“8times a charm. Go jelly roll!!!!!!!” Wiz Khalifa added.
“You’re a supernova papa- YOU DESERVE ALL THISSSSSS 😭😭😭😭” Bunnie xo wrote.
At the 2023 CMT Music Awards this year, Jelly Roll won Male Video of the Year, Male Breakthrough Video of the Year, and Digital-First Performance of the Year, for his breakout song, “Son of a Sinner.” At Wednesday’s 2023 CMA Awards, he was nominated five times, scoring a win for New Artist of the Year.
At the GRAMMYs, Jelly Roll will compete against Gracie Abrams, Fred again.., Ice Spice, Coco Jones, Noah Kahan, Victoria Monét and The War and Treaty for Best New Artist.
Jelly Roll’s first major label album, 2021’s Ballad of the Broken, landed him on both the rock and country charts. “Son of a Sinner,” one of the album’s most country tracks, eventually cemented his place in the industry. Released as a single in March 2022, the song hit No. 1 on Billboard’s US Country Airplay chart, and inspired the singer to move even further toward the country sound for his 2023 follow-up, Whitsitt Chapel.
The 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and will broadcast and stream live on CBS and Paramount+. Follow along at360aproko for everything you need to get ready for music’s biggest night, including how to watch, GRAMMY performers and more.
