Did Jelly Roll drop and break his CMA award? Breakout country star opens up on backstage incident

Multi-generational rapper Jelly Roll opened up about the backstage incident that led to him breaking his CMA Award. The 38-year-old musician won the award for Best New Artist of the Year on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

However, before the Son of a Sinner has the chance to get acquainted with the glass award, it slipped out of his hands and shattered into pieces. A post shared by ABC's On The Red Carpet which was later reposted by the singer himself included the broken trophy stated:

"Guess who dropped and broke his best new artist #CMAawards? Yes, @JellyRoll615 but don't worry, he will get a replacement. #JellyRoll"

The news was confirmed by Billboard, but it explained that the trophies used backstage were generic ones, since winners are not known ahead of time. The 38-year-old rapper will receive his actual award with his name engraved at a later date.

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"I'm so embarrassed": Jelly Roll breaks his silence on the unfortunate CMA Awards incident

Jelly Roll's 57th Annual Country Music Award was eventful. He kicked off the ceremony with a performance of his banger Need A Favor with Wynonna Judd and later closed the function with his emotional take on The Judds' Love Can Build a Bridge with K. Michelle and the Fisk Jubilee.

After accepting the award he carried it backstage where he shattered it soon after. He told told Rachel Smith from ET that he was so excited at the turn of events, that he kept swinging the trophy around for someone to hold it.

He said,

"I'd been passing it around like a bag of popcorn. I've been just letting everybody ... like a bag of potatoes like we were just all sharing or something."

He received a standing ovation in response to his speech. While accepting his award, Jelly remarked it was poetic for a 39-year-old to win a new artist of the year award. Urging everyone struggling to "keep going" he added, "Success is on the other side..."

Jelly Roll was shocked he beat fellow nominees, Zach Bryan, Hailey Whitters, Megan Moroney, and Parker McCollum, to take the Best New Artist of the Year. He told Rachel Smith from ET:

"I didn't think I had a chance man. I thought Zach Bryan had it by a clean sweep, man. I think he is one of the most polarizing and incredible people I've ever seen in this business, so winning it wasn't even in my mind, to be honest."

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More about Jelly Roll

Jason Bradley DeFord a.k.a. Jelly Roll, was raised in Nashville, Tennessee. He started his career in hip hop releasing mixtapes, however, he has experimented in multiple genres. He debuted in 2003 releasing his hip-hop mixtape The Plain Shmear Tape, followed by the four-part Gamblin' on the White Boy series.

In 2010 he collaborated with Memphis rapper Lil Wyte for Pop Another Pill which went viral with over 6.3 million views.

In November 2021, Jelly Roll debuted on the Radio broadcast Grand Ole Opry. In May 2022, his rock track Dead Man Walking from the 2021 album Ballads of the Broken reached number one on rock radio. He performed Almost Home with Craig Morgan in July 2022.

Son of a Sinner, the second single from the album, peaked at number one eight spot on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart and was the top song on Country radio.

The 2023 CMT Awards aired on Wednesday, November 8 on ABC and are available to stream on Hulu.