Jelly Roll Wins His First-Ever Grammys and Urges Deeper Relationship With Jesus

Unlike many of his fellow artists at the 68th annual Grammys, Jelly Roll refused to weigh in on the political climate in America during the 2026 awards show.The hip-hop-country hyphenate grew passionate about God from the Crypto.com stage.

Jelly Roll has never been one to shy away from his faith in public settings, and he leaned into it at the Grammys Sunday as he took his first Recording Academy prizes.

“First of all, Jesus, I hear you and I’m listening, Lord, I am listening, Lord,” he began his fiery acceptance speech after winning the new award of best contemporary country album for his 2024 record Beautifully Broken. “I’d have killed myself if it wasn’t for you and Jesus” he said after thanking his wife.

Beautifully Broken is Jelly’s 2024 collab-heavy redemption-journey record that hit No. 1, and he drew on its themes as he continued his speech.

 “There was a time in my life, y’all, when I was broken. That’s why I wrote this album. I didn’t think I had a chance y’all,” he said, in a preacherly cadence. “I was a horrible human.” But then, he noted, he found a Bible and music while in a jail cell and “I believed that music had the power to change my life and God had the power to change my life.” 

He finished his speech with gusto. “I want to tell y’all right now,” he said, growing even more passionate as Reba McEntire looked on gleefully from the audience. “Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by any one political party. Jesus is Jesus. Anybody can have a relationship with him. I love you Lord.”

With their heavily produced performances, the Grammys can lack spontaneity and intimacy, but Jelly’s speech provided a refreshing counterbalance as he bared his soul and asked the audience to do the same.

Jelly Roll, the moniker of Jason Bradley DeFord, is a prolific genre-defying singer-songwriter who came to prominence in the early 2020’s with the alt-rock addiction lament “Dead Man Walking” and “Son of a Sinner,” a country power ballad about navigating one’s flawed humanity. After previously spending time in jail for aggravated robbery and other crimes, he has spoken openly about those mistakes and music and religion as paths out of dark places. 

Jelly had reason to be joyous Sunday: he won all three Grammys he was nominated for after striking out on his four previous noms. He also took best country duo/group performance for his hopeful singalong  “Amen” with Shaboozey and best contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for his worshipful blues-rock duet “Hard Fought Hallelujah” with Brandon Lake.

Despite the sly reference to party affiliation in his speech, Jelly deflected a political question in the pressroom shortly after, saying, “People shouldn’t care to hear my opinion. I’m a dumb redneck” and “I hate to be the artist that sounds aloof, but I just feel so disconnected from what’s happening.” But then he almost directly contradicted that thought when he said a second later, “I have a lot to say about it, and I’m going to in the next week, and everybody’s going to hear exactly what I have to say about it the most loud and clear way I’ve ever spoken in my life.”

The musician is, to be sure, often eager to speak about his faith at live performances and award shows. “The world is hearing about Jesus like they haven’t in decades right now,” he said from the stage of the Christian-themed Dove Awards last year, in a similarly rousing speech, as he cited Matthew ministering to the needy and encouraged the audience to do the same. “They’ve heard of Jesus. Now show them Jesus,” he intoned.