Jelly Roll couldn’t help but marvel at his big Grammy Award win.
The singer won the best contemporary country album Grammy for the 2024 album “Beautifully Broken” on Feb. 1.
The singer kissed his wife, Bunnie XO, before he walked up to the stage with a Bible.
“First of all, Jesus, I hear you and I am listening, Lord! I am listening, Lord!” he said in his acceptance speech. “Second of all, I want to thank my beautiful wife. I would have never changed my life without you. I’d have ended up dead or in jail. I’d have killed myself if it wasn’t for you and Jesus. I thank you for that.”
After thanking his record label and country radio, the singer turned pensive about his journey.
“There was a time in my life, y’all, when I was broken,” he said, while pulling out his Bible. “That’s why I wrote this album. I didn’t think I had a chance. There were days that I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human. There was a moment in my life when I only had a Bible this big and a radio the same size in a six-by-eight-foot cell and I believe that those two things could change my life.
“I believe that music had the power to change my life, and God had the power to change my life,” he added, before delivering an impassioned message about his faith.
“I want to tell y’all right now: Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by one political party. Jesus is not owned by no musical label. Jesus is Jesus and anybody can have a relationship with him,” he said. “I love you, Lord.”
Jelly Roll, who won two other Grammys, including best contemporary Christian music performance/song for “Hard Fought Hallelujah” and best country duo/group performance for “Amen,” with Shaboozey, said he wanted to use his speech to reach people who relate to him.
Jelly Roll shouted out wife Bunnie XO at the 2026 Grammys.Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic
“Imagine being one of the few people in the world from the very beginning who believed in this just overweight, white trash kid from Tennessee, that he was going to figure it out one day,” Jelly Roll told reporters backstage.
“I think there’s a lot of people that are watching the Grammys tonight that feel like they’ve been represented for the first time in a long time on this kind of stage,” he added. “And I’m excited to be that guy to do it.”