The unconventional country hero kicked off the 2023 CMAs with a stirring performance of his repentant anthem
Jelly Roll is the year’s breakout country star, a larger-than-life character with so much heat right now that the producers of the CMA Awards chose him to open the show. The face-tattooed singer-rapper from Antioch, Tennessee, sang a boisterous “Need a Favor” with help from an unannounced guest: Wynonna Judd.
“Who the hell am I to expect a savior/if I only talk to God when I need a favor?” the man born Jason DeFord howled in the song, a track off his new album Whitsitt Chapel, while a gospel choir took the Bridgestone Arena crowd to church with the gospel-inflected “Amen” of the chorus. Wynonna proved a fitting foil for Jelly Roll, throwing herself into the power ballad about forgiveness and repentance.
A longtime mixtape hustler and rapper, Jelly Roll has all but seamlessly transitioned into both a country and rock singer. His vulnerable, sometimes even shaky, singing style has endeared him to fans and fellow artists, making him a go-to collaborator in Nashville. Right now, he has collabs with Lainey Wilson (on his own song “Save Me”), Cody Johnson (“Whiskey Bent”), Jessie Murph (“Wild Ones”), Riley Green (“Copenhagen in a Cadillac”), and Dustin Lynch (“Chevrolet”). He’s shared the stage with Wilson, Murph, and Eric Church in recent weeks.
Jelly Roll is doing double duty on CMA night. Along with opening the show with Wynonna, he’s set to join K. Michelle in a salute to both Wynonna and Naomi when he sings the Judds‘ “Love Can Build a Bridge,” which appears on a new tribute album to the mother-daughter duo.
Jelly Roll is also in the midst of what he predicts will be the largest toy drive in Nashville history. From now through Dec. 15, he’s asking fans to donate new, unwrapped toys at eight Walmart stores in the Nashville area. At the kickoff of the drive, he gave a surprise pop-up concert in the parking lot of one store.
