Despite ‘N’ Word(s), Grand Ole Opry, Grammy Voters Embrace Jelly Roll

Jelly Roll will be the Grand Ole Opry’s newest member. That is the news that was revealed Wednesday afternoon, December 10th, after the most recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast was released, and Jelly Roll was surprised on the podcast with a video message from Opry member Craig Morgan. “Hey Jelly, my friend,” said Morgan from the Grand Ole Opry House. “I want to take a minute today to say congratulations on all the great things happening in your career and to thank you for the positive difference you are making in the lives of so many people who need the help. You are doing great work, buddy. Who would have ever dreamed I’d be back at the Opry House today to say…Jelly Roll, you are officially invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. It’s an honor to say, ‘Welcome to the family, brother.’” On cue, Jelly Roll burst into tears on the Joe Rogan Experience set. The induction comes very expected, if not even delayed. There were numerous rumors swirling around the live broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry’s 100th Anniversary Celebration on March 19th that Jelly Roll would be inducted at that time. But when Jelly Roll backed out of performing due to illness last minute, that potential plan was shelved. Jelly Roll has a teary, emotional history with the Grand Ole Opry that was recounted in part during the video presentation on the Joe Rogan Experience. His debut was on November 9th, 2021 where in his fiery, sermon-like style, Jelly Roll spoke about how important the moment was for him going from a Nashville native pursuing a hip-hop career who ended up a convicted felon, to using country music to rehabilitate himself.

However, the Jelly Roll induction deserves a significant amount of scrutiny, starting with the fact that little if anything about Jelly Roll’s musical output in the past or present really has anything to do with country music. He’s a former hip-hop and rock performer who’s leveraged the permissive nature of the country music industry into a mainstream country career. Jelly Roll characterized in a January 2023 video that he’d “snuck in the back door on these bitches,” with the “bitches” being the country music industry. But that wasn’t the only troubling revelation from the video where Jelly Roll was discussing the local Nashville hip-hop scene with fellow country rappers Upchurch and Adam Calhoun. In the video, Jelly Roll is heard using the N-word three times. For context, this was two years after Morgan Wallen was caught on camera using the N-word, which became arguably the biggest controversy in country music in the last decade. Where Morgan Wallen was charged with making numerous public apologies and has since donated millions of dollars to Black charities, Jelly Roll hasn’t even had to answer for the situation since zero media outlets have reported on it, except for Saving Country Music. To read more about the Jelly Roll N-word incident, CLICK HERE.

The intent of revealing and highlighting this information is not an effort to “cancel” Jelly Roll, but to point out the double standard institutions such as the Grand Ole Opry are perpetrating for Jelly Roll, who apparently is deemed beyond reproach. As Jelly Roll just got invited to become a Grand Ole Opry member, Morgan Wallen remains basically banned from the institution indefinitely. The last time Morgan Wallen appeared on the Opry was January 8th, 2022. He was not scheduled to perform on the Opry that night. Instead he simply jumped on stage to sing the track “Flower Shops” with duet partner Ernest. Wallen’s appearance received widespread condemnation from the Black country community, including the Black Opry, Rissi Palmer, Allison Russell, and other performers such as Jason Isbell. Meanwhile, mum has been the word around Jelly Roll as he continues to be considered a media darling without the scrutiny most any other country performer would receive. Similarly to the Opry, the Grammy Awards recently turned a blind eye to Jelly Roll’s indiscretions and nominated him for three awards in country. In fact, the Joe Rogan appearance and Opry invitation were likely planned to align during Grammy voting, which opens on December 12th. But in truth, the Grand Ole Opry, Grammy members, and the rest of the public probably don’t even know that the footage of Jelly Roll using the N-word exists due to the media enacting a strange moratorium on the information, and many who would report on such activity from virtually any other country performer. Others might recognize the double standard, but don’t want to be accused of participating in “cancel culture.” Just like everyone else, Jelly Roll has a right to rehabilitate and receive forgiveness. This is what much of his music is about. But the marketing behind his music often obfuscates the public from the truth of Jelly Roll’s recent indiscretions while he’s supposedly been in a rehabilitated state, and so he’s never been challenged to answer or apologize for actions that other performers wear around their necks like scarlet letters to this day. Saving Country Music has reached out to Jelly Roll representatives for comment in the past without receiving responses. – – – – – – –

I agree it’s hypocritical, but the difference between Jelly Roll and Morgan Wallen, is the Roll wants to be here, Wallen doesn’t. Wallen has been telling us he ain’t country lately and he’s not going to the awards shows or GOP. personally, I don’t think either is country, but at least one is trying to faking it.

I do think that Jelly Roll cares more about something like a Grand Ole Opry induction more than Morgan Wallen might. Or at least, that’s the persona Jelly Roll likes to present to the public. Whether either want to be “country,” I’m not so sure. Even Morgan Wallen’s career-level least country last album is still more country than Jelly Roll’s “Beautifully Broken.”

Honestly, I’m just wondering if any outlet is going to show any kind of backbone and even report on this. Or since they don’t want to loose the opportunity at the next “Exclusive” with Jelly Roll or someone else on his label’s roster, they continue to ignore what’s a major story.

And then this guy name Trigger with excuses that are bigger than the probiscus of an elephunk or the whanger of a whale, said “Let’s not be toooo judgmental until Charley Crockett fails.”

Wallen hasn’t said he “ain’t country” recently. I also don’t agree that the difference between them is that Jelly Roll wants to be here and Wallen doesn’t. Wallen probably does want to be “here” (accepted and welcomed in industry etc.) but has been vilified so badly that he’s inadvertently made a career out of being an outsider. He has nothing to gain by joining. Roll, on the other hand, has everything to lose by not “joining” because he must play into the narrative scripted by the media that he’s some sort of inspiration and that’s become his identity. But as Trigger has written before, Jelly Roll the image versus Jelly Roll the man are not consistent. Time will tell if Jelly Roll (and the media) can keep faking the sell.

All of those white trash rappers talk like that. Nobody cares or expects anything better from them. I’d love it if jelly roll got ran out of public life and I never had to see his fat stupid face again, but this won’t affect him at all. But here’s hoping I’m wrong.

Awww Bless your heart.. Jelly Roll isnt goin anywhere Bubba! You dont wanna see his “fat stupid face” go crawl in a hole. Having a problem with someone because of who they are like you not liking a white rapper and calling them white trash, or liking his style, or not up to your grand ole opry standards, is childish. You can dislike a person without the hate. We should all feel good about anyone with a heart, using their platform to help build other less fortunate peoples lives up, whether they rap, rock, sing, dance, are black white male or female.

It’s flatly hypocritical. And it wouldn’t be as annoying if it wasn’t all mum among some of the most outspoken and insufferable virtue signalers in the city/business.

At the end of the day, Jelly gets away with it because he’s a loser. No one wants to admit that, but condemning Jelly is punching down, and no one has anything to gain doing that.

Wallen is easy to hate. He’s wildly successful, good looking, talks and sings with a thick Tennessee draw. And to top it off, he was handed an inside track to superstardom. He’s a typecast jock from an 80s sitcom, and he’s treated like such in pop culture. He had the world to lose when that (super serious) ring camera video hit TMZ. You’ll get nothing but pats on the back for beating that dead horse because he never really took the loss that was clamored for.

I’m no big fan of Wallen. I think he’s got 10-15 great tracks that are mostly pop songs with a hint of country, and the rest of his discography is mainly radio fodder and garbage. He’s not worthy of the Opry, but he’s head and shoulders above a number they’ve already let in.

How long did it take the Opry to offer membership to Mandy Barnett? Like 25 years? And yet, this fat, talentless sack of white trash is ushered in carte blanche tout de suite. Gross.

Rehashing these two manufactured artist in steady rotation has become as a pop culture item in itself..The Opry, The Grammy, Award shows, Billboard. Big money controls it all as entertainment buisness..let’s get back to Marvin Rainwater and Uncle Dave Macon please.

I lost interest in the Opry years ago. It’s been circling the drain for a long time. If they want to turn it over to freaks and wiggers, that’s fine with me. The wonderful performers, producers, and fans who created this iconic institution must be spinning in their graves!

When I saw the news on this earlier I was so disgusted. This has been said many times over, there are so many ACTUAL REAL Country artists who are continually overlooked & they invite this trash? SMDH

And I commend you for trying, but you can’t really be surprised by this. The mainstream media selectively reports what it decides is newsworthy. And when it comes to race issues, it has to fit the narrative. The ex-con hip-hop artist with face tattoos and an inspiring redemption story doesn’t match the image of a white supremacist. No matter what words he uses. Morgan Wallen on the other hand, no problem painting him as racist.

However, nobody cares what the media has to say about stuff like this anymore. Their credibility is gone. At this point, they are preaching to a shrinking audience who already agrees with the views of their chosen news outlet. The rabble rousing continues, but is largely ineffective. One need only to check Morgan Wallen’s 2026 tour schedule to see what the public’s opinion is. He’s playing football stadiums on back to back nights all summer.

Truthfully, this seems to be the Opry’s attempt at clinging to relevancy. The thing that stands out to me is that an artist like Jelly Roll is the safe choice for the Opry.

…the 100th anniversary of the opry revealed something quite obviously: the opry can do with a few oddballs again – or a oddroll for that matter – if it wants to stay in touch with the times. after all, it’s a showcase and not a museum or a monastery full of great singers.

The irony is that Jelly Roll is kind of like AI. The media/corporations think that everyone loves it. But when you actually talk to people, nobody really does. It’s a constructed narrative that people simply buy into via propaganda.

I find this disturbing. I still question if JellyRoll is actually popular? I do believe initially he gained traction from curiosity but since then – who listens to him? I believe he’s being propped up by the industry. Like him or not, Morgan Wallen’s popularity is real.

Well,at least Mr. Roll doesn’t call himself Brad or Bradley,the latter his middle true name.Jelly and Morgan should cut a couple of rap albums,where the “N” word is the most prominent word in these songs.

Trigger, if I may ask you an honest question here, you know my stance on Classic country, Ameripolitan and all, but at one point, does the very thing we try to save become so completely irredeemably lost that it’s time to abandon ship? It’s not so much the person who got inducted, but the fact he played the system. It’s similar to how Little Nas X gamed the system with “Old Town Road” until it was removed by Billboard. My heart aches hearing this blatant acceptance of NOT country enshrined into the Opry. It feels as though the genre itself seems to indicate this is the future of country going forward. With so many wonderfully talented TRUE country acts ignored, or forgotten, this one hurts. And for us true country fans, our voices feel disenfranchised.

I definitely don’t think it’s time to abandon ship. The irony of this induction is that over the last few years under the leadership of Dan Rogers, the Opry really has revitalized itself, turned over a new leaf, and become way more relevant than it was in the early-mid 00s when I started reporting on it. The last two new Opry members were Kathy Mattea and Steve Earle. That doesn’t mean this isn’t a massive, massive mistake on the Opry’s part. It is. I think Dan Rogers has been svengalied by the Jelly Roll persona just like the media. But there have been positive signs about the direction of country music for years now. I will acknowledge though, it feels like that positive momentum has lost steam.

It started when rock’n’roll (or rockabilly, rather) reared it’s ugly head back in the 50’s. Country/hillbilly music became old-fashioned among the youngsters, so everybody from Faron Young to George Jones and Johnny Horton and beyond recorded some rockabilly lite’s to satisfy the record companies. Or maybe it started with the boogie craze back in the late 40’s. Ernie Ford, Delmore Brothers etc.

Ever since then it’s been a rat race in Nashville. Pop, soul, disco, rock, rap, reggae, even techno. Just add a steel guitar or a fiddle (or violins) way back in the mix, and preferably a hilariously oversized Stetson. That qualifies for the country chart.

Maybe we “traditionalists” are wrong; maybe “country” is just a bin where several styles got thrown together right from the start, from the folk songs of the medieval Europe to the african rythms of the slaves and right up till the modern times of synths and computers. Blues, jazz, folk, pop… it all merged into country music after ww2.

Can we talk about Jelly Roll’s most serious offense against the Opry and the American people, those jobstopper tattoos? How about a few laser treatments and some cover-up makeup?

When Dale Watson got tattoed , that was something. Now, Tracy Lawrence is all tattoed up, including his “Mount Rushmore” of country singers covering his right forearm.

I get what this piece is saying and agree with it. However, I do think one of the reasons why Jelly Roll’s usage of that word isn’t a bigger deal is that the whole world has slanted very right-leaning and authoritarian, including the media’s coverage of, well, everything. We live in a bleak world where institutions, including, the Opry, are not asked or tasked with keeping racism at bay, therefore they aren’t doing so.

I agree that the “vibe shift” in American culture is partly at play here. But nobody is going to convince me that if a new video of Morgan Wallen using the N-word emerged, or video of Jason Aldean or Zach Bryan using it emerged, it wouldn’t be the biggest story in all of entertainment. Of course it would be. People might debate if its relevant like people are debating here. But it would make the news.

The Morgan Wallen incident was the biggest story in country music in the last 25 years. Thousands and thousands of stories were written about it. Not even one is written about Jelly Roll except here? Not even one? That’s so demonstrably insane, it speaks to how just how corrupt the media currently is. The race hustlers in the media should be all over this story. They’re actively avoiding it. So many of these outlets are on the record praising this guy, they don’t want to undercut their own reporting. This is the biggest indictment of entertainment media in the last many years.

I work in media. Have a degree in journalism. Journalism absolutely skews left. Not right. Like Trigger said if Jason Aldean said it tomorrow they would be all over it. They just don’t care because Jelly is an ex felon redemption story and they don’t want to ruin that narrative.

In fact, I’d venture to say that many in media are just waiting on the opportunity to put out a big disparaging story about a Wallen, Aldean, Alan Jackson, CoJo. List goes on. Anyone who is a clear conservative. Now whether the public would care in this current culture wars climate? That’s a different story. Wallen’s N word incident and the Try That In A Small Town controversy says probably not.

Yeah, the world wasn’t authoritarian during the Biden administration where they ran unconstitutional Jan 6 trials, and pressured social media companies to ban what turned out to be true tellers. All the while the media covered up an incompetent president and an open border.

It wasn’t a hard R and it wasn’t intended do disparage a black person. But who is to argue context with a group of people who still believe media hoaxes like “Very fine people” that former president Obama was stilly lying to constituents about in October 2024. Disgusting.

Always gonna be some bombastic comments everytime Opry anything comes up. Contrary to belief, The Opry actually has many, many nights of real honest to goodness Country Music. I go typically at least once a year and have always found great lineups with Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Larry Gatlin, Connie Smith, Bellamy Brothers, Rhonda Vincent , Mandy Barnett , Leann Womack and on. Realistically, how many appearances do you really think Jellyman is gonna make, given his touring schedule, his WWE career and other bigger money endeavors. I’d say a handful a year at best. And with The Opry you can pick your night based on lineup which is announced well in advance of each show. So, no The Opry isn’t totally sucking, just occasionally. Yes, he’s a horrid pick.

The lack of media interest in Roly-Polys language is because they are told to prop him up. For the 800th time, media doesn’t care about rapper lingo, much. Your kids in school are likely saying all kinds of things that would make you cringe. Yes, really. The Wallen thing was entirely manufactured media hysteria because they were given the mandate to prove Country music is bad, because of political winds, that is all.
Jelly gets carte Blanche approval regardless, because he fits the media ideal story. Of course it’s hypocritical, and insane, but that’s the deal. I don’t like any of it, but I can’t fix it, so ehhhhhh….

This makes me extremely upset. When you have singer /songwriters like Miss Elizabeth Cook whose performed on the Opry 400+ times and she’s not a member yet. When she’s called on she jumps and helps out if someone can’t make it. This is ludicrous. And to have the Opry bend cause this guy most likely sells records….but he’s not a nice guy…from what I hear he’s a felon. So the Opry is awarding him for his bad behavior. This Jeyllyroll guy should be in the ROCK genre, not the country genre. He gives country music a bad name. Sorry, but this is my opinion. Country has always been wholesome. I just don’t know or understand anymore.

A few weeks ago in Australia, there was a whole news cycle around Jelly Roll posting that he was asked to leave some upscale retail store because he’d been “profiled as a criminal.” But he is a criminal. He’s a convicted felon, for aggravated robbery no less. I do believe everyone should be granted a path to rehabilitation. But when you look like a criminal, are a criminal, then maybe don’t act like your a victim when you’re profiled. The real victims are the people Jelly Roll robbed at gunpoint.

P.S. In no way should this guy be nominated for a CMA, ACM or a Grammy. He’s just plain garbage and this kind of music isn’t country and if it is the country genre i’s pretending to be country, Anyone that votes for him shouldn’t belong in the country fold.

Jelly roll getting in is def a bad joke. Far as what the difference is between him n wallen far as the language they used. At the time wallen was def more country leani g but was also starting to get pretty popular so he was an easy target for the liberals basically using him as the face of country music to bash it as being racist. So the powers that be in the country arena had to start their own dei program to turn perception around. Jelly roll is part of that program. Of course they arent going to bring that up. Both sides of the spectrum have their issues but liberals especially love to pretend like nothing ever happened or something wasnt said even in the face of video evidence.

The local country station DJs were celebrating his induction. People want to believe the redemption story and refuse to think they were misled by a swarmy oil salesman.

Lets call a spade a spade. The Opry has been watered down for a long time now because they induct whoever is hot at the moment to stay relevant while leaving long time performers and guests on the outside

Though that assessment is certainly the case for Jelly Roll, zooming out, that’s not true at all. The last three inductees have been Steve Earle, Suzy Boggus, and Kathy Mattea. The two before that were Steven Curtis Chapman and T. Graham Brown. If anything, the Opry has been righting past wrongs with their inductions lately. Jelly Roll is the exception, not the rule. He just happens to be a very, very big exception.

Like the Rock Hall, the Opry turned into a joke years ago with some of these inductions. No offence to Mr. Roll, but inductions like this create a lasting stain on the legacy of the institution. Embarrassing all around.

Hearing that a guy like Jelly Roll is joining the Opry is akin to hearing that a woman you love is getting married to a guy like Jelly Roll. It’s bad for her and bad for you, and if they stay together, the nightmare will last a lifetime.

I gotta say that as much as you dislike Morgan , you are willing to call out the media for their hypocrisy and inaccuracies about him throughout all this. You are the only one and I respect that a lot.

Source: savingcountrymusic.com