Jelly Roll Believes ‘Cowboy Carter’ Country Awards Snubs Weren’t “Malicious”: It “Wasn’t Beyonce’s Best Record,” But It Was “Worthy of Nominations”

The Queen Bey had the music industry buzzing all 2024 long thanks to her latest chart-topping album ‘Cowboy Carter‘ – albeit for different reasons.

That trend seems poised to continue into 2025.

Beyonce‘s fans (affectionately called the #Beyhive) may have been swarming to digital shelves to spin the LP and tune in to its related ventures (see: ‘Beyonce Bowl‘), but ‘Carter’ garnered its fair share of jeers from Country music gatekeepers who kept its content from spinning on radio or winning any of the genre’s leading awards.

And while some of the biggest names in the scene like Dolly Parton, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mickey Guyton, Shaboozey, and more made headlines for defending the diva, others like Luke Bryan, Oliver Anthony, and others seemingly sided with the traditionalists who refused to welcome Bey.

photo source: Getty Images

The most recent Country celeb to get tongues wagging for his weigh-in on the topic is Jelly Roll – an award-winning superstar in his own right who is competing against ‘Cowboy Carter’ cuts in a few of 2025’s GRAMMY categories.

During a visit to Andrew Schulz‘s controversial ‘Flagrant‘ podcast (January 2), Roll shared his thoughts on the controversy around Bey’s album.

“The record was good. I don’t know if it was Beyoncé’s best record, you know what I mean, it didn’t make me feel the way ‘RENAISSANCE’ made me feel as a full body of work, but there was two or three songs on there that I thought could be Country Song of the Year for sure,” he relayed. “What she did with ‘Jolene‘ was just unbelievable, and how much Dolly [Parton] loved it, to me, that’s the real tale. If Dolly loves it, it’s a big deal.”

Elsewhere in the chat, Jelly suggested he doesn’t believe there is malicious intent against Beyonce from the Country music scene at large as much as they’re simply protecting the genre’s “boundaries.”

Hear his full statement below.

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