Jelly Roll, who released the new song “Thorns” last week, will be honored for his achievements away from the stage when Country Radio Seminar gets underway in Nashville in March. The rapper-turned-country-star is the 2026 recipient of the Artist Humanitarian Award, an honor given each year by the Country Radio Broadcasters organization that recognizes the philanthropic contributions of country-radio stars.
Past recipients of the Artist Humanitarian Award include Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, and Kenny Chesney. Last year’s award was given to two artists, Eric Church and Luke Combs, for their efforts in helping those affected by Hurricane Helene, particularly in the Western North Carolina region.
Since breaking out with his 2020 song “Save Me,” Jelly Roll has made his own personal tale of sin and redemption a cornerstone of his persona. He was a convicted felon who served time for robbery and drug possession and was also in juvenile detention. According to his wife, the media personality and author Bunnie XO, Jelly Roll will give one of the three Grammys he won at this year’s 68th annual Grammy Awards to the Davidson County Juvenile Detention in Nashville to put on display.
In 2024, he appeared on Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers to pass legislation to stop the spread of fentanyl.
“For better or worse, we are an accumulation of everything that ever happened to us, and I think that we have to wear that,” Jelly Roll told Rolling Stone in 2024, talking about his checkered past and how he’s evolved. “I’m 15 to 20 years removed from being a real criminal, and I don’t think like a criminal at all. It took a long time to quit thinking that way. I used to look at it like I wouldn’t wish jail on my worst enemy. Now, I’m like, ‘If that dude did that, and he got time, he deserved it.’ It’s such a paradigm shift on how I look at society as a whole.”
Jelly Roll will receive the award at a ceremony to be announced during Country Radio Seminar, running March 18 through 20, in Nashville. Bunnie XO will release her new memoir, Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic, on Tuesday.
