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Jelly Roll Calls Taylor Swift the ‘New Michael Jackson’ Amid His Own Grammy Nominations
Jelly Roll deemed Taylor Swift the queen of pop after he compared the “Anti-Hero” artist to the late Michael Jackson. While gushing over his first two Grammy nominations, the rising country star gave praise to the well-respected musicians who have inspired him.
“When you get nominated for a Grammy, every other accolade you had takes a backseat to just the nomination. You know what I mean?” Jelly Roll, 39, said during a Thursday, February 1, interview on Audacy’s Katie & Company’s Superstar Power Hour. “Like, it’s crazy that I was, in this weird way, I was only the CMA new artist for a day, because nobody can introduce me that way. Now I’ll forever be introduced to the Grammy-nominated Jelly Roll … It’s wild.”
The “Need a Favor” musician then reflected on the first time he saw Taylor’s picture and title appear on his TV while watching an NFL game, which ultimately led to his comparison of her to the “Thriller” artist.
“What reminded me of that was seeing that picture of Taylor Swift, the first time she was at the first Chiefs game. She’s the new Michael Jackson,” he admitted during the interview. “I don’t know why they had to put any accolade under her anyway, but they put Taylor Swift, and under it, it said, ‘15-time Grammy award winner’… That’s all it had to say was that she’s won 15 Grammys. It’s like, that alone is the thing. It’s when you become king, there’s nothing more than king.”
Jelly Roll is nominated for two 2024 Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Country Duo/Group Performance with Lainey Wilson for the remix of “Save Me.” The Tennessee native reacted to being up for the high honor in a raw November 2023 Instagram video.
“I’m not sure if I should post this or not because I’m so emotional, but the greatest honor an artist can ever hear is that they’ve been nominated for a Grammy. I got to hear that this morning,” he said. “I haven’t cried like this since my daddy died. I love you all, man, so f–king much.”
Jelly Roll may cross paths with Taylor, 34, at the 66th annual Grammy Awards as she is up for six awards, including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights and Best Pop Solo, Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Anti-Hero.” Last but not least, Taylor is nominated in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category for “Karma” featuring Ice Spice.
The 2024 Grammys haven’t commenced, and Taylor has already made history by being the most-nominated artist for Song of the Year. If Midnights gets crowned Album of the Year, she will become the first musician to win the category four times.
Michael Jackson was nominated for a whopping 38 Grammys and took home 13. Not to mention, the late King of Pop was honored with The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 and the prestigious Grammy Legend Award in 1993.
