"I can't say thank you to the CMAs enough, because they gave me an alley-oop and all I gotta do is dunk the ball," said Jelly Roll.
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Jelly Roll has been churning away at the music business for a decade. But he exploded this past year with number one hits and a slew of CMA award nominations, including best new artist, best male vocalist and musical event.
"I couldn't believe it. I put in so much work for so many years," said Jelly Roll. "We're selling tickets, helping people, connecting and checking all the boxes. But there's a side of me that still wondered if Nashville knew. And I woke up that day and was like, Nashville knows."
I first met Jelly Roll last year on the CMA Red Carpet and I knew he was something special. For this year's show, he'll be performing twice - once with K. Michelle for a tribute to the Judds.
"She loves country. She's about as country as collard green. So this is really cool man," said Jelly Roll.
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And his other song is being kept under wraps.
"I think we're gonna take the CMAs to church with that song, dude," said Jelly Roll. "I think nobody's gonna see it comin'. I didn't see it comin'. It's gonna be fun."
The 57th CMA Awards airs Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 8/7c on ABC.
Stream it live here at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET.