Why did Jelly Roll miss the big event? The star is in the middle of his Beautifully Broken tour, and on the night of the awards, he was performing at a sold-out show at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Despite his absence, Jelly Roll was up for some of the biggest honors at the awards, including People's Artist of 2024, Best Male Artist, Social Country Star Award, and Song of 2024. To represent Jelly Roll, his collaborator MGK attended the ceremony and accepted the award for Best Crossover for their track "Lonely Road." The song creatively incorporates John Denver's classic "Country Roads."
During his acceptance speech, MGK showed his admiration for Jelly Roll, saying, "Jelly, I love you. We went from 10 years ago hating each other to elevating each other." He emphasized that comparison often brings negativity and expressed how both of them have grown from their past feud.
Their decade-long rivalry was brought up in a Spotify podcast episode titled Kelly Roll: Countdown to Beautifully Broken, where MGK and Jelly Roll reflected on their past. MGK recalled how much they used to dislike each other, fueled by competition in the rap scene, especially with so few white rappers at the time. Jelly Roll also admitted feeling envious of MGK's looks during that period.
Fans can now look forward to Jelly Roll's new album, Beautifully Broken, set to release on October 11, 2024.