Country music star Jelly Roll wept as he spoke about his recent Grammy Award nominations following his checkered past.
On Friday, Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason Deford, 39, posted an emotional video on his Instagram page after he was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the remix of his song “Save Me” with country singer Lainey Wilson at the anticipated 66th Grammy Awards, according to Billboard.
“I’m not sure if I should 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,” he said. “I got to hear that this morning.”
He continued, “I haven’t cried like this since my daddy died. I love you all, man, so f***ng much.”
In the caption of the video, Jelly Roll admitted his embarrassment over posting the video but credited his wife, content creator Bunnie Xo, for her encouragement.
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“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,” he wrote.
This came after the “Talk to God” singer won an award for New Artist of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards on Nov. 8.
Jelly Roll, who once faced a 20-year prison sentence after his arrest for aggravated robbery and was charged as an adult at the age of 16, gave a heartfelt acceptance speech onstage following his win.
“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,” he said.
He added, “I want to tell you success is on the other side of it. I want to tell you it’s going to be OK.”
Jelly Roll concluded, “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. Let’s party, Nashville.”