New York (AP) — Jelly Roll is catching his breath.
It's not a metaphor. He's running up a hill in South Texas when he answers The Associated Press' phone call, part of his ongoing health transformation journey. “Endorphins are flying. I feel great,” he cheers. “It’s time to win a (expletive) Grammy!”
He's got a lot to train for: This week, he was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. And last month, Jelly Roll learned that he was nominated for three Grammys in 2026, marking his third year in a row receiving nods. Two of those are new territory for him. He's up for his first contemporary Christian music (CCM) award, for “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” his collaboration with Christian singer Brandon Lake. He is also up for his first award in the inaugural contemporary country album category. That's for “Beautifully Broken.”
“It's definitely the greatest honor,” he says. “Everybody wants to be nominated for a Grammy.”
Since its release in 2024, Jelly Roll's album “Beautifully Broken” has connected with his passionate audience, those who view his music as both representational and aspirational. “God wanted people to know you can still be beautiful and broken,” he says of the album's Grammy recognition. “It’s truly my most meaningful album.”
Much of his work has become associated with overcoming adversity. Take, for example, the song “Winning Streak,” which tells the story of someone's first day sober, which he debuted on “Saturday Night Live.” Or the direct-and-to-the-point, “I Am Not Okay.” Even though his life looks pretty great right now, Jelly Roll's no stranger to struggle. He's been incarcerated a few times, most seriously at age 16 when he was tried as an adult for aggravated robbery. At 23, he was arrested for drug dealing.
“I'm never disconnected from it,” he says of his past. It has informed his philanthropic efforts, which often focus on mental health, recovery efforts and include not infrequent performances in prisons.
“When I first started doing this, I was just telling my story of my broken self,” he says of his career. “By the time I got through it, I realized that my story was the story of many. So now I’m not telling my story anymore. I’m getting to pull it right from the crevices of the people whose story’s never been told. Right from them.”
He jokes, “I have a nobody cries alone policy.”
Jelly Roll says God has been the force driving his year and receiving a Christian music Grammy nomination is just further proof that “He's got my back,” the singer says. And while Jelly Roll rejects the idea of crossing over into CCM — “I definitely live a little too secular to be releasing Christian music” — the recognition of “Hard Fought Hallelujah” with Lake is just further proof that “God knows my heart,” he says.
“Country is largely about faith, freedom and family, and those are all things I believe in,” Lake told AP. Collaborating with Jelly Roll, an artist he loves, was natural. “I believe we can change even more millions of people’s lives through these songs.”
Jelly Roll agrees, “It's well intentioned.”
Beyond that, he sees a world that is searching for messages of hope — in his work, in country music, in Christian music and beyond. “I think there really is a revival happening in America right now where people are being re-presented the gospel in a digestible way. And it doesn’t seem as finger waggy and ‘You’re all going to hell,’ you know?”
“I really don’t care when the organized religions wave their finger at me,” he continues. “I’m just glad to see the message, the gospel getting presented.”
At the end of the day, he says, “I’m a broken dude that came from a broken place and like Humpty Dumpty, they put me back together, baby.”
He hopes his music can help others do the same.
The 68th Grammy Awards will be held Feb. 1, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The show will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+. For more coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards.
FILE - Jelly Roll arrives at the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas on May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
FILE - Jelly Roll performs "Heart of Stone" at the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas on May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE.- Jelly Roll arrives at the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas, on May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region killed at least four people and wounded at least 15 overnight into Saturday, according to the head of the regional administration for the Ukrainian capital.
Three of the wounded were in critical condition, of whom two were undergoing surgery, Mykola Kalashnyk reported on Saturday. The attack hit four districts, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions, enterprises and critical infrastructure, Kalashnyk added in a social media post.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the main target for the overnight strikes was "the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv region.” He said Russia launched around 430 drones of various types during the night, as well as 68 missiles.
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Saturday said the nighttime strikes targeted energy and industrial facilities serving Ukraine's armed forces, as well as military airfields.
The strikes came days after the U.S. postponed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine scheduled for this week, citing the war in the Middle East.
As U.S. and Israeli missiles and bombs rain on Iran, Russia has responded with words of indignation but no action to support its ally. Moscow’s failure to help another ally, after the 2024 ouster of former Syrian ruler Bashar Assad and January’s U.S. arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, highlighted the limits of its influence — but the Kremlin expects to reap benefits from the Iran war.
Russia is already profiting from a surge in global energy prices, and could hope that the Mideast war will detract attention from Ukraine and deplete Western arsenals.
Zelenskyy on Saturday called on Kyiv's Western partners to pay “one hundred percent attention” to the need to boost the production of air defense missiles.
“Russia will try to exploit the war in the Middle East to cause even greater destruction here in Europe, in Ukraine," he said in a post on social media.
"We must be fully aware of the real level of the threat and prepare accordingly, namely: in Europe, we need to develop the production of air defense missiles — especially those capable of countering ballistic threats — as well as all other systems necessary to truly protect lives,” he said.
Kyiv is also awaiting White House approval for a major drone production agreement proposed by Ukraine last year, Zelenskyy said Thursday, as countries scramble to modernize their air defenses after the Iran war exposed shortcomings.
Also on Thursday, Zelenskyy criticized the 30-day U.S. waiver on Russian oil sanctions amid the war in the Middle East, saying it is “not the right decision” and won’t help bring a stop to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
“This easing alone by the United States could provide Russia with about $10 billion for the war,” Zelenskyy said. “This certainly does not help peace.”
Overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery and port in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, local Russian officials reported.
Krasnodar authorities said three people were hurt in a strike on Port Kavkaz, a port opposite Crimea used to ship liquefied natural gas and grains. A service vessel and pier infrastructure were damaged, they said in a social media post. One person was hospitalized, they added in a separate post later.
Falling drone debris also sparked a fire at the region’s Afipsky oil refinery, authorities said in a separate Telegram post. They said no one was hurt, but did not immediately comment on damage.
Earlier this week, Russian and Ukrainian officials both claimed front-line progress, with Ukraine saying it pushed Moscow’s forces back across places on the front line and the Kremlin insisting Russia’s invasion of its neighbor is making progress.
Firefighters put out the fire at railway workshops following a Russia missile and drone attack, in Brovary close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Firefighters put out the fire at railway workshops following a Russia missile and drone attack, in Brovary, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Firefighters put out the fire at a residential neighbourhood following a Russia missile and drone attack, in Brovary, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint presser with France's President Emmanuel Macron, not pictured, following a bilateral meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, Friday March 13, 2026. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP)
