Jelly Roll and Ashley McBryde had their inaugural turn hosting the CMA Fest TV special, airing later this month on ABC. The two singers and friends spent the four days of CMA Fest capturing content, reporting live and sharing inside stories as only they can.

“You can expect pandemonium and chaos with me and Ashley McBryde hosting together,” Jelly Roll says ahead of the broadcast. “It’s been the funnest time. You go by her green room, and she’s just randomly singing cover songs, just entertaining her crew. There’s like five of them, and Ashley McBryde’s putting on a one-person concert right now.”

McBryde echoes Jelly Roll’s sentiments, telling viewers and fans to expect the unexpected.

“I would tell you what to expect from me and Jelly Roll co-hosting an entire event, left basically unsupervised, but I don’t know how to tell you what to expect, because it’s a little bit unpredictable,” the Grand Ole Opry member says. “You can expect energy and you can expect laughs and probably the most fun you can have in one place.”

For Jelly Roll, his desire to be part of CMA Fest, which also included performing one night at Nissan Stadium, goes far beyond being able to perform in front of his fans. A portion of the proceeds from CMA Fest goes to the CMA Foundation, which promotes and supports music education in schools all over the country.

For Jelly Roll, he believes those resources could have kept him out of jail, first as a juvenile, and then as an adult.

“Imagine how much different my life could have been, had I had access to those resources early on, had Antioch High School had that same program in the late ’90s,” the Nashville native says.

When announcing their first time co-hosting, both Jelly Roll and McBryde admitted they were thrilled to take on the new role, especially together.

“Stepping onto the stage in front of 50,000 people to host CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium in my hometown of Nashville was indescribable,” said Jelly Roll. “The magnitude of the moment really hit me, to be across the street from the juvenile detention center I was in and to now be on stage hosting—how do you describe being in the same exact place while being in a place that couldn’t be more different, at the same time.”

“When my buddy Jelly Roll and I walked out into this massive crowd and felt the electric energy for the first time, it felt important,” added McBryde. “We were nervous! But it also felt good, because at the root of it all, it’s just me and my pal cutting up, only we’re doing it on national television for CMA Fest.”

 

Jelly Roll and McBryde will perform during the CMA Fest TV special, along with Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson, Carly Pearce, Kelsea Ballerini, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan and more. See a list of performers and songs below. The CMA Fest TV special will air on June 25 at 8:00 PM ET on ABC, and streaming the following day on Hulu. More information can be found at CMAFest.com.

Kelsea Ballerini — “Penthouse”
Big & Rich and HARDY — “Save A Horse (Ride a Cowboy)”
Clint Black and Jon Pardi — “Killin’ Time”
Brothers Osborne — “Break Mine”
Brothers Osborne — “I Won’t Back Down”
Luke Bryan — “Love You, Miss You, Mean It”
Terri Clark and Lainey Wilson — “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me”
Jordan Davis — “Next Thing You Know”
Jackson Dean — “Fearless”
HARDY — “SIX FEET UNDER (Caleigh’s Song)”
Jelly Roll featuring Keith Urban— “Halfway To Hell”
Jelly Roll with Lainey Wilson — “Save Me”
Cody Johnson — “That’s Texas”
Little Big Town — “Girl Crush”
Lynyrd Skynyrd — “Sweet Home Alabama”
Lynyrd Skynyrd featuring Billy F Gibbons from ZZ Top — “Call Me The Breeze”
Ashley McBryde — “The Devil I Know”
Parker McCollum – “Burn It Down”
Megan Moroney — “I’m Not Pretty”
Carly Pearce — “truck on fire”
Post Malone featuring Blake Shelton — “Pour Me A Drink”
Shaboozey — “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Brittney Spencer — “I Got Time”
The War And Treaty — “Called You By Your Name”
Thomas Rhett — “Beautiful As You”
Keith Urban — “Messed Up As Me”
Keith Urban with Lainey Wilson — “GO HOME W U”
Gretchen Wilson and Ashley McBryde — “Redneck Woman”
Lainey Wilson — “Hang Tight Honey”
Bailey Zimmerman — “Where It Ends”