Jelly Roll made an unexpected — and hilariously bold — comparison to Taylor Swift when recounting their meeting at the 2024 Grammys.
The 39-year-old “Son of a Sinner” artist — who didn’t nab a Grammy this year but made country history at the 2024 CMT Awards by taking home three of the biggest wins of the night — had the opportunity to meet Swift backstage in February and recalled their conversation to CMT in a recent TikTok video.
“I’m a fly on a bull’s butt compared to Taylor Swift,” the southern rocker declared, before recalling their backstage meeting at the Grammys, where Swift won Album of the Year for Midnights. (The record also won Best Pop Vocal Album.)
“For her to come over and just say hi …,” he praised. “You know, she’s proudly from Nashville, and I love her philanthropic efforts in Nashville. I’ve pushed my daughter on a swing set she built for the kids in Hendersonville before. So it was really cool just to get to tell her that.”
Fans were all in for Jelly Roll’s praise for Swift, with dozens of comments begging for him to collaborate with the 14-time Grammy winner. Others couldn’t get enough of his always-positive attitude.
“Who could possibly not love this guy,” one fan asked rhetorically.
Others were here for his hilarious — albeit “random” — comparison, “bull’s butt” and all.
“So random with their choice of words!!!!” one person commented.
Jelly Roll (real name: Jason DeFord) — who shares daughter Bailee Ann, now 15, and son Noah Buddy, 7, with podcast host wife Bunnie XO — is referring to Memorial Park in Hendersonville, Tennessee, where Swift moved when she was a teen to pursue her music career in Nashville. in 2011, the “Tortured Poets Department” singer completely rebuilt the playground.
Earlier this year, Jelly Roll held up Swift to another artist, asking on the That’s Deep podcast if “Taylor Swift is the new Michael Jackson.”
Jelly Roll is seen onstage during Day 2 of SiriusXM’s The Music Row Happy Hour Live on The Highway at Margaritaville on June 07, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. The following month, the country star had some bold words to say about Taylor Swift.
Getty Images/Jason Davis
Swift, for her part, has made history countless times over in the past year with her Eras Tour — a pop culture juggernaut that has exploded in seemingly endless popularity.
As Jason Kelce — older brother of Travis Kelce, Swift’s boyfriend — recently stated:
“You realize so quickly, that you know every word to these songs, everyone in the stadium knows every single word to these songs. You get into this trance of energy that Taylor and the entire performance is exuding, but then everything the music is exuding, everything the fans … it really just takes you by storm,” the retired Philadelphia Eagles center told Travis of witnessing Swift live in London.
“The pure joy — everyone — it doesn’t matter who you are, what stage of life you’re in, everything — everybody’s having a f***ng blast at this thing, and that’s what makes it so enjoyable,” he added.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
