How Jelly Roll Nearly Punched On With The Black Keys

There’s an infamous story about a near-fight that’s been floating around circles in Nashville for over a decade involving two unlikely artists: Jelly Roll and Lonely Boy rockers The Black Keys.

Revisiting the alleged incident from 2010, The Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney joined Audacy for an interview ahead of performing at the Florida event Riptide Music Festival.

Asked about the run-in with Jelly Roll back before his rise to fame, Carney said, “I was with a friend of ours, Harmony Korine; we were in Nashville at this hip-hop show. Yelawolf was just coming out, starting to perform, and I went, and Jelly Roll was there.”

Korine, a movie director, was mid-conversation with Carney when Jelly Roll apparently thought the pair were talking about him. “Jelly Roll thought we were making fun of him, and he just rolled up on me and just scared the living crap out of me,” Carney explained, “Like, ‘Do you wanna go?’ And I was like, ‘Nope, I'm good dude, nice to meet you, though’.”

Jelly Roll and The Black Keys recently performed at the same music festival – Riptide. During the interview, Carney was asked if they get along with the country singer, to which the drummer said they’re “cool” despite not discussing the incident.

Carney added, “He seems a lot different. He was angry then.”

Nowadays, Jelly Roll seems like a sweetheart we want to hang out with – even if he can’t handle a trophy.

Last month, Jelly Roll dropped his Country Music Association (CMA) Award for Best New Artist. The unfortunate incident occurred backstage at the Nashville Bridgestone Arena, shattering the glass trophy. 

Addressing the incident, he said, “I feel bad. Oh God. I was worried. The first thing I said to my publicist was, ‘They're not gonna keep it from me now, are they? I'm gonna get the one with tape. Wonder how much that cost. It looked expensive.”

As the Tennessean reports, a CMA representative confirmed that the awards artists receive on stage and hold for backstage photo ops are only props – as the winners aren’t known beforehand, their names aren’t engraved on the award, so following the photos, the prop awards are handed back. Jelly Roll and his fellow winners will receive the actual awards in the mail.

Before the win, Jelly Roll received two nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards, Best New Artist and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for Save Me (featuring Lainey Wilson).