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)
Artificial-intelligence stocks are falling again on Friday, but smaller U.S. stocks and other areas of the market that used to get left behind by Big Tech are picking up the slack. That’s keeping Wall Street indexes near their record heights.
The S&P 500 edged down by less than 0.1% in early trading, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was adding 91 points, or 0.2%, to its own record, while the weakness for tech had the Nasdaq composite down 0.2%, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time.
Broadcom fell 7.7% even though the chip company reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Analysts called the performance from the AI heavyweight solid, and CEO Hock Tan said strong 74% growth in AI semiconductor revenue helped lead the way.
But investors may have been concerned with some of Broadcom’s financial forecasts, including how much profit it can squeeze out of each $1 of revenue. The chip company may also have simply run out of momentum after its stock came into the day with a surge of 75.3% for the year so far, more than quadruple the S&P 500’s gain.
Broadcom’s stumble came a day after Oracle plunged nearly 11% despite likewise reporting a bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Doubts remain about whether all the spending that Oracle is doing on AI technology will end up being worth it. Such questions are weighing on the AI industry broadly, even as many billions of dollars continue to flow in.
It’s a return toward Earth for AI superstars, which earlier had been the main engine sending Wall Street higher and appeared to be nearly unstoppable. Other stocks that used to struggle with uncertainty about the U.S. economy’s strength and what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates, meanwhile, are climbing.
The smallest U.S. stocks in the Russell 2000 index have leaped 2.8% so far this week, much better than the 0.2% dip for the Nasdaq composite, which is packed with tech stocks.
The blue chip stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has much less of an emphasis on tech, have also been beating the rest of the market. Visa, which rose 0.7%, was again one of the strongest forces lifting the Dow.
Now, investors are feeling more optimistic about interest rates. The Fed earlier this week cut its main interest rate for the third time this year and indicated another cut may be ahead in 2026. Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they can boost the economy and send prices for investments higher, even if they potentially make inflation worse.
The Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, did hint on Wednesday that interest rates may be on hold for a while. But he helped soothe nerves when his comments appeared less harsh than some investors expected in shutting off the possibility of more cuts in 2026.
Strong profit reports from companies have also helped to support their stock prices.
Lululemon Athletica jumped 12% to for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the three months through Nov. 2 than analysts expected. It also said its CEO, Calvin McDonald, plans to step down at the end of January following pressure to boost revenue.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across most of Europe and Asia.
Stocks jumped 1.7% in Hong Kong and rose 1.4% in Tokyo for two of the world’s bigger gains.
In the bond market, Treasury yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.18% from 4.14% late Thursday.
AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.
Trader William Lawrence works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
