Grammy Wining Artist Jelly Roll Boldly Sets Hollywood Ablaze with the Holy Spirit

Dawn Slusher
February 10th, 2026 1:33 PM

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Country artist Jelly Roll set Hollywood ablaze with two viral speeches in which he boldly praised Jesus and proclaimed the Gospel. The moment that received the most attention was his inspirational acceptance speech on Sunday at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards on CBS after winning Best Contemporary Country Album for Beautifully Broken. It was a bright light in an otherwise dark ceremony filled with liberal propaganda. In fact, the vibe changed quickly when his speech was followed by Lady Gaga’s satanic performance of her song Abracadabra.

In the Grammys speech, Jelly Roll thanked Jesus for saving his life and proclaimed He was for everyone:

 

 

I know they're going to try to kick me out here so let me just try to get this out. First of all, Jesus, I hear you, and I'm listening, Lord. I'm listening, Lord. Second of all I want to thank my beautiful wife. I would have never change my life without you. I would have been dead or in jail or I would have killed myself if not for you and Jesus. I thank you for that. I thank you for my label, Broken Bow. Country radio, baby! What's up, dog? Oh, Republic John McNeely. We did it, baby.

There was a time in my life, y'all, that I was broken. That's why I wrote this album. I didn't think I had a chance. There was days I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human. There was a moment in my life that all I had was a Bible this big and a radio and a 6-by-8 foot cell and I thought those things could change my life. I thought music had the power to change my life and God had the power to change my life, and I wanted to tell you right now, Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by one political party. Jesus is not owned by no music label. Jesus is Jesus and anybody can have a relationship with him. I love you, Lord.

What many Grammy viewers didn’t know was that just a week prior, the Need a Favor artist gave an equally moving speech as a judge on Netflix’s reboot of the competition show Star Search after contestant Bear Bailey sang an incredibly passionate rendition of he and Brandon Lake’s song Hard Fought Hallelujah.

Jelly Roll stood with excitement as soon as the performance began, and it was apparent he felt every moment deeply, including the end when Bailey softly whispered, “Lord, I love you”:

 

 

I′ll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt

I been-through-hell hallelujah

And I'll bring my storm-tossed, torn-sail

Story-to-tell hallelujah,

′Cause God, You've been patient

My God, You′ve been gracious

Faithful, whatever I'm feeling or facing

I′ll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt, it-is-well hallelujah

Yes I will

′Cause faith isn't proven like gold

′Til it's been through the fire, yeah

My head, heart, and hands are feeling heavy

But that′s when I lift them just a little higher

I'll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt

Been-through-hell hallelujah

Oh, I need You Jesus

More than I’ve ever needed anything in my life, yeah

Yes, I need You, Father, yeah

I'll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt

Been-through-hell hallelujah

And I′ll bring my storm-tossed, torn-sail

Story-to-tell hallelujah

God, You've been patient

God, You've been gracious

Faithful, whatever I′m feeling or facing

I'll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt

It is well hallelujah

I love You, Lord.

The audience gave Bailey a standing ovation, and host Anthony Anderson obviously felt the power too, exclaiming, “You just took me to church, brother!” He later added that Bailey gained two brothers for life, referring to himself and Jelly Roll.

When Anderson asked Bailey why he chose the song, his explanation was as poignant as his performance, and Jelly Roll couldn’t even speak when Anderson asked for his feedback, forcing the host to move on to judge Chrissy Teigen instead:

 

 

ANDERSON: Come on over here, Bear. I want you to come over here with me, Bear, ‘cause you just took me to church, brother. You turned a sinner into a saint backstage, brother. I just got to tell you that right now. Voting around the world is now open. So, what do you at home think of Bear? You can give him one to five stars with five stars being the best. So, get busy with those votes. Right now, we’re going to check in with our judges and I got to gohere  with my brother Jelly Roll who is wiping tears from his face right now. But I want to say something before we get into Jelly Roll. Bear Bailey picked this song long before Jelly Roll was going to be a judge on this show. I just want everybody in the world at home right now… And before I get into Jelly Roll I want to ask Bear, “Why did you pick this song, my friend?”

BAILEY: Because I’m a very imperfect person loved by a perfect God. And Jesus has redeemed me, Jelly. I… drug addiction, I’ve lost everything because of addictions. I’m not perfect, but I serve a God who is, and He believes in redemption. I’m sorry for being emotional, but I’m just thankful for God. I thank You, Jesus.

ANDERSON: Amen to that. Jelly Roll, let’s hear what you gotta say.

JELLY ROLL: Oh, I don’t know. You may have to start with Chrissy and just give me another second.

ANDERSON: Okay, Chrissy, we’ll go to you.

Teigen praised the performance, but many, including former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, noted the sour look on her face when Jelly gave glory to God once he finally spoke. Interestingly, Netflix had apparently edited out Teigen’s reactions that viewers witnessed on the live stream so we couldn’t show it here. But you can see how it originally aired here.

Jelly Roll explained through choked back tears that he had asked God to give him an opportunity to speak about Him that day since he regretted not having a chance to do so the previous night. His words were touching, brave and an incredibly rare occurrence in Hollywood:

 

 

ANDERSON: Jelly Roll to you, and I want you to take your time with this.

JELLY ROLL: Man, I had no clue, you know what I mean. I prayed this morning. I said, “God, give me an opportunity to talk about You.” I said, “God, night one was great. But I didn’t get to deliver my purpose yet. You called me here to talk about You.”

AUDIENCE: Amen!

JELLY ROLL: And what I just seen was a room full of people that might not have ever felt it before, but that is called the Holy Spirit of God. Let me tell you something about the Holy Spirit of God. He don’t care anything about your past. He doesn’t care what you’ve been through. He doesn’t care about your drug addiction. He is your Father. He is here to father you, to show you (how) to be a father to those kids. He is here to pour life into you. He hung so you could stand here and sing His name on the biggest streaming service in the world on night two of us being live on Netflix. Can I get an amen in here, somebody?

ANDERSON: Amen!

JELLY ROLL: Can I get an amen in here, somebody?

AUDIENCE: Amen!

JELLY ROLL: Man, God is looking at this right now. This is God, brother. This is a God moment to show what God has done. God is a redeemer. He is for everybody. Jesus is for everybody. He doesn’t hate anybody. He loves everybody, and that’s what He stands for. I’m cheering for you. The voice (inaudible). You took my song and made it your song. In fact, you took our song and gave it to God. I know Brandon Lake is somewhere crying right now.

Brandon Lake was, in fact, somewhere crying as the country artist confirmed on his Instagram account. Jelly Roll later spoke to Entertainment Tonight about being moved to tears himself and how the entire moment was an answer to his prayer:

 

 

Hard Fought Hallelujah was originally released in late 2024 by country singer Brandon Lake. Jelly Roll introduced a remixed version with Lake on February 7, 2025, and by the following June, the song was certified platinum by the Record Industry Association.

Unfortunately, Bear was eliminated in the following round of Star Search, but his inspirational performance and Jelly Roll’s unforgettable praise of God both then and at the Grammys will live on indefinitely.

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