The 2023 CMT Music Awards belonged to Jelly Roll last night. The Tennessee native won the most awards, with three trophies, and had one of the stand-out performances of the night, with his current single, “Need a Favor.”
Jelly Roll was backed by a church choir for his performance. The song, which follows his recent No. 1 hit, “Son Of A Sinner,” is from his upcoming Whitsitt Chapel album, out on June 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFq_L-ANNNQ
Jelly Roll won CMT Music Awards for Male Video of the Year, Male Breakthrough Video of the Year and CMT Digital-First Performance of the Year, all for “Son Of A Sinner.”
“Three awards in one night,” Jelly Roll said when accepting the trophy for Male Video of the Year. “I hope y’all will give me a second here. I started drinking. I didn’t think I was going to win again. It may have looked like it was only 30 yards. But it took me 39 years to walk from over there to right here. And I want you to know that I don’t know what you’re going through, and I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I know you can overcome it. I promise you. You can. And you can be whatever you want to be, I promise you that.
“I told them I wanted to be a country music singer, and I’m standing here at the CMT Awards with the Male Video of the Year,” he continued. “When God has something for you, nothing can get in the way. I know you’re watching, Mama. Look at your baby boy. … I want to thank country radio for accepting me, knowing who I was, and letting me do it my way the whole way to this stage tonight. That means the world to me. And I want to thank the country music community for standing behind me, and standing next to me through all of this.”
Jelly Roll will kick off his Backroad Baptism Tour in July, joined by a rotating list of opening acts, including Ashley McBryde, Chase Rice, Struggle Jennings, Caitlynne Curtis, Elle King, Merkules, Three 6 Mafia, Yelawolf and Josh Adam Meyers. Find all of Jelly Roll’s music and upcoming shows at JellyRoll615.com.
Photo Credit: Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for CMT