What a wild night.
On Wednesday, November 8th, the CMA Awards aired live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and while there were a couple low points (as any award show has) there were a ton of cool and exciting moments.
For starters, Eric Church made a surprise appearance alongside Morgan Wallen to perform their newest single at Country radio, “Man Made A Bar.” Post Malone also joined Morgan and HARDY to honor Joe Diffie with a performance of “Pickup Man,” while also simultaneously releasing it to all streaming services and announcing HIXTAPE Vol 3.
On top of that, Lainey Wilson won five awards and Alan Jackson sang Margaritaville while rockin’ sunglasses and a bada$$ hawaiian button down shirt alongside Zac Brown Band to honor the late, Jimmy Buffett.
And if THAT wasn’t enough, one of the most popular acts in Country music had the privilege of opening the show with Wynonna Judd and later took home the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year.
That artist? None other than rapper turned rocker turned country artist turned ‘I’ll do whatever the hell I want to do,’ Jelly Roll.
Oh, but it gets better (or worse). After giving one of the best damn acceptance speeches I’ve ever witnessed on live Television, it was reported that Jelly Roll dropped and shattered his first ever CMA Award trophy.
Good news for Jason, however – he will soon be receiving a replacement from the Country Music Association.
Sure, it may have been a heart-breaking and rather disappointing moment right when it first happened, but Jelly Roll doesn’t appear to let stuff like that bother him and that’s why he’s so beloved by fans and the industry. Plus, it makes for a good story.
Guess who dropped and broke his best new artist #CMAawards? Yes, @JellyRoll615 but don't worry, he will get a replacement. #JellyRoll pic.twitter.com/Mlic2zGws3
— On The Red Carpet (@OnTheRedCarpet) November 9, 2023
Watch his acceptance speech here: