Jelly Roll Speaks Out About Wynonna’s CMA Awards Performance

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Wynonna Judd joined Jelly Roll on stage to open the 57th CMA Awards last week to sing “Need A Favor.”
But, fans became concerned for Wynonna after the singer looked wobbly as she made her way across the stage, and appeared to have a firm grip on Jelly Roll’s jacket throughout the entire performance.
Just hours after taking the stage, Wynonna posted a video to social media explaining her behavior and putting fans’ minds at ease about anything being amiss.
âThey say, âDonât read the comments.â Iâve read the comments,â Wynonna said. âIâm just gonna come clean with yâall. I was so freaking nervous. I got out there and I looked at Jelly Roll. I wanted it to be so good for him. I could cry right now, but Iâm not going to because Iâm such a fan of his and he asked me to sing and I said, âAbsolutely!â I got out there and was so nervous that I just held on for dear life. And thatâs the bottom line ⦠All is well.â

In an upcoming episode of the Dumb Blonde Podcast, Jelly Roll joins his wife, Bunnie XO, to discuss the CMAs and more specifically, his collaboration with Wynonna.
âCan we talk about that too? … how Wynonna was hanging on you a little bit. They said she had a death grip on your jacket, but I think itâs really sweet because people saw that you could see that she needed you at that moment, and you just held onto her. Instead of walking around the whole performance, you literally just stood there and held her,” Bunnie said in a teaser clip for the podcast episode.
Before Jelly Roll replied with his thoughts on Wynonna’s performance, he praised the fact that she agreed to join him to being with.
âWynonna Judd did not have to do this. She has said ânoâ to everybody and everything. Not like in a bad way; Wynonna has just always done her own thing,” Jelly Roll said. “Sheâs always had a heart for the broken. She has always had a spirit for people like us.â
He added that he was honored that she was willing to join him and calls out the fact that viewers were more focused on Wynonna holding onto him instead of how amazing her vocals were.
âHow are yâall going to overlook the fact that that yeah, she might have been holding on to meâ¦but she was blowing to the heavens. The woman was singing from the absolute pit of her soul,” Jelly Roll said.
The “Save Me” singer also said that he was tempted to defend Wynonna after seeing comments, but that she beat him to it.
âI never comment back to stuff because I donât think itâs worth feeding into. But I had been so tempted to go on there and clear that for her,” he said. “But one thing about Wynonna, sheâs a boss. She went straight and cleared it up for herself.â
RELATED: WYNONNA EXPLAINS WHY SHE WAS “OFF” DURING CMA AWARDS PERFORMANCE
Watch Jelly Roll and Wynonna perform “Need A Favor” at the CMA Awards in the video below.