Music

07 Jun 2023

Jelly Roll, Nate Smith Showcase Timeless Talent During ‘Billboard Live in Concert’: 5 Top Moments

Billboard cover star Jelly Roll headlined Billboard’s inaugural ‘Live in Concert’ event on Tuesday evening (June 6) at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works, leading a show that offered an electrifying performance, emotional catharsis and an uplifting message all in one — or as Jelly Roll calls it, “real music for real people with real problems.”

His blending of elements of rap, rock and country, melded with unflinching, brutally honest lyrics, gives a voice to the heartaches, struggles, hopes and dreams of a swath of the population that is often overlooked. The music — and the message — sparked a career surge for the artist from Antioch, Tennessee, one that garnered him No. 1 Billboard chart hits including “Dead Man Walking” and “Son of a Sinner.”

“As a young kid writing raps in his bedroom at 12 years old in Antioch, you dream of things like being on the cover of Billboard magazine,” Jelly Roll told the crowd Tuesday evening, eliciting cheers. “Today we can f–king say we did that,” he added, growing emotional. His performance was equally joyous and grateful; throughout, he praised fellow artists who have helped him in various capacities along the way, including Shinedown and Three 6 Mafia.

Earlier in the evening, as part of an industry-only event, Jelly Roll was honored as Billboard‘s country breakthrough artist of the year, while Jelly Roll’s fellow singer-songwriter ERNEST presented him with the honor.

Opening the show was rising artist Nate Smith, who earned his first No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hit earlier this year with “Whiskey on You.”

Below, we look at five highlights from the evening’s concert:

07 Jun 2023

As Drag Bans Proliferate, Maren Morris Goes Deep With Drag’s Biggest Stars on Why The Show Must Go On

Maren Morris downs a shot of tequila with a wince. “I love that we’re taking shots and then saying, ‘OK, so let’s talk about Ron DeSantis,’ ” Morris says with a chuckle.

The four drag luminaries she’s toasting with today — Eureka O’Hara, Landon Cider, Sasha Colby and Symone — grimace through their own post-shot puckers at the mention of the Florida governor’s (and now, presidential hopeful’s) name. It’s an otherwise cheerful weekday in Los Angeles: Pop jams ranging from ABBA to Doja Cat play in the background as the quintet gabs gleefully about everything from Three’s Company to O’Hara’s adorable dachshund puppy, Princess Pink, who makes occasional appearances nearby.

But the shadow of the world outside can’t stay beyond this room for long. The mention of DeSantis — who recently signed a batch of anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law that collectively amount to a full attack on the civil rights of queer and trans people in Florida — is just one reminder that in 2023 alone, over 450 bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights have been introduced by right-wing politicians into state legislatures across the country, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. That’s more than double the amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced in the same legislative session in 2022.

The five assembled today frequently, and fervently, use their respective individual platforms to speak against such attacks on the LGBTQ+ community. O’Hara, Cider, Colby and Symone are alums (and, in a few cases, winners) of some of TV’s most beloved drag reality shows, like RuPaul’s Drag Race and The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula. Morris, who’s moderating today’s discussion, has made a name for herself not only as one of country music’s brightest stars, but as an outspoken advocate — both onstage and off — for queer and trans people, calling out their mistreatment in the music industry and beyond.

The legislation leveled against those communities spans a wide range of issues — censoring discussions of gender and sexuality in public schools, banning best-practice medical care for transgender youth (and in some instances for adults, too), eliminating nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community. And another type of legislation has quickly captured national attention: so-called “drag bans.” In March, Tennessee became the first state to pass a bill into law prohibiting “adult cabaret” performances (the definition of which includes “male or female impersonators”) in public or in the presence of minors.

“It’s just now becoming public knowledge how horrible it is there,” says O’Hara, who grew up in Tennessee, her voice quivering. “It’s scary to be trans today and to be a drag queen.” Colby puts it simply: “It’s about controlling queer kids.”

After the state’s ban sparked a legal battle with Memphis-based theater company Friends of George’s, a federal judge temporarily blocked the law. Then, on June 2, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker ruled that the law violates performers’ First Amendment rights and deemed it unconstitutional. The ruling prevents the law from taking effect in Tennessee’s Shelby County and creates potential for further legal challenges elsewhere in the state. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has already said that he plans to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

“This ruling is a turning point, and we will not go back,” said GLAAD president/CEO Sarah Kate Ellis in a statement. “Every anti-LGBTQ elected official is on notice that these baseless laws will not stand and that our constitutional freedom of speech and expression protects everyone and propels our culture forward.”

But LGBTQ+ advocates in Tennessee point out that, overturned or not, the law’s initial passage still accomplished one goal: creating a culture of confusion and fear surrounding self-expression in the state. Due to the intentional vagueness of the law, its enforcement would come down to individual interpretation, sparking hypothetical questions like, “If Harry Styles comes and does a concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and has on a frilly shirt or a skirt or a dress…” posits Morris. “What do we do then? In a place like Tennessee, it’s obviously really meant to fearmonger.”

Maren Morris in drag as Willie Nelson photographed on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Maren Morris in drag as Willie Nelson photographed on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles. Hair by Laura Polko at PRTNRS. Makeup by Diane Buzzetta at Blended Strategy. Drag Makeup Consulting by Landon Cider. Manicure by Queenie Nguyen at Nailing Hollywood. Styling by Dani Michelle at The Only Agency. Vintage shirt and bolo tie, Our Legacy jeans, Nick Fouquet hat.

Munachi Osegbu

At least 15 other states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Texas, are either considering or have already passed legislation similar to Tennessee’s drag ban — and that’s creating an impending sense of dread that keeps the drag stars and Morris fired up. “If you don’t want to go to a drag show, don’t go to a drag show. If you don’t want to have your kids at a drag show, don’t take your kids to a drag show. But don’t put that on us!” Symone exclaims. Cider nods in agreement. “The only part of ‘grooming’ that I’m doing,” he says, “is grooming kids to find joy in their authentic selves.”

Maren Morris: How have you been coming to terms with the number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills passing through the state legislatures around the country? I live in Tennessee, and I feel like that’s unfortunately at the forefront for a lot of them.

Symone: I don’t think I’ve come to terms with it; I think I’ve just realized that I am in a rage about it. Growing up, it wasn’t like it is now, and it’s frustrating to see all this hate, this vitriol for people who just spread love and only want to be seen and accepted. I cannot believe in 2023 we’re here. Especially after doing the respective [TV] shows that we’ve done and being embraced over all these years, for it to feel like such a backlash is insane to me. I won’t come to terms with it because we deserve everything that you think that we don’t deserve.

Morris: Have you seen it affect your own bookings or your friends’ bookings?

Sasha Colby: Right now, being in gigs with the other season 15 [Drag Race] girls, I feel like in our group chats we’re all very much on high alert and asking our friends, like Aura [Mayari] who’s in Tennessee, “How is it?” I think everyone’s just being very cautious.

Drag is so popular right now [because] it’s hitting a nerve with people, both good and bad. The bad is that they see how good we’re doing and how happy we’re making people and how out of the matrix we are. Kids are coming! It’s not grooming, it’s just making space for them to be themselves.

Landon Cider: When we were hiding and forced to create secret spaces, we found community. We were bonding and forging these relationships in this underground culture. Now that it’s celebrated in the mainstream, it backfired. It’s thrown in our face. We didn’t force it to be mainstream! They did!

Colby: We weren’t allowed in cis spaces. We weren’t allowed to be anything but outcasts. And then we share it with the world, and they just want to colonize our thoughts as well as everything else.

Symone: I think it does scare them because of the kids. The kids are seeing us, and they grow up saying, “Well, why would I need to be anything other than this?” That is scary for people who are not of this generation and who grew up a different way.

Sasha Colby photographed on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Sasha Colby photographed on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles. Hair by Jazlyn Simons. Makeup by James Michael Perez. Michael Ngo custom bodysuit, gloves, and boots.

Munachi Osegbu

Morris: There is not a “one size fits all” conveyor belt of parenting; everyone has a different thing. Saying that this is all “adult” — some drag is, absolutely! But I’ve seen the Mrs. Doubtfire reference made a lot, where it’s hilarious if it’s a cis [straight] male in drag. Then it’s OK for the kids to see, but God forbid you see someone truly expressing themselves, entertaining and just being free.

Eureka O’Hara: It’s OK if it’s a joke. But we take this seriously — this gives us inspiration and life. I come from East Tennessee, and I went through all of this times 10 living there. It makes me so mad — I have a trans Black sister who just moved in with me a few months ago, and she’s finally doing OK after 19 years of being abused. And that’s what this is.

You all know it’s not about drag. Let’s be real. These [are] scare tactics, and it just gets me so emotional. It’s about how we express ourselves, and it’s about the youth — because we have the queerest youth we’ve ever had right now. And that’s what they’re mad about. These kids are learning about who they are before they’re 18, 25, 30 years old and still have to deal with abuse like this.

Colby: The whole thing with being trans is they sexualize us. It’s funny when it’s a joke, but as soon as they sexualize us, then they’re going to want to control, like how they do with cisgender women, how they do with kids.

Cider: They’re projecting their own hatred and fear of their own community and their own small “safe” spaces.

Morris: What’s that saying? “Every threat from them is an actual admission.”

Colby: Exactly. It’s always them showing their cards.

Symone: I also just want to put out there that people may think now that it’s just the drag queens, it’s just trans people. But if they can do it to them, then they can do it to anybody else. Don’t think that just because they’re attacking us right now that y’all are going to be somehow exempt from it. We’re just the easiest targets. Just look at history.

That’s another thing that I cannot stand — the misinformation. Know what you’re speaking about, know what you’re saying before you speak. You don’t have to like a trans person. But don’t say things that you don’t know anything about. Educate yourself. Don’t put your stuff on somebody else. What did Madonna say? “Don’t hang your sh-t on me.”

Cider: Don’t push your legislature to take control and tell other people what they can or cannot do [with their bodies]. Usually, it is religious reasons why they’re doing all of this because their beliefs are binary. When we have this particular religious control, they want to put fearmongering into what has been celebrated because they don’t understand it.

Eureka O’Hara photographed on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Eureka O’Hara photographed on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles. Hair by Jaymes Mansfield. Makeup by Loris Volkle. Marco Marco custom dress.

Munachi Osegbu

Morris: The fact is, they don’t have solutions for actual problems — this is their niche thing that they get to go off on. I’m from Texas, I live in Tennessee, and I do love the community I have there, but these bills almost incentivize us to turn on one another. They’re rewarding us to turn each other in, which feels kind of like a Nazi Germany thing where we turn on our own communities.

Colby: And they call it “patriotism.”

Morris: With drag being more popular than ever right now, how do you think it ultimately influences pop culture?

Colby: We used to be a mirror — like in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, we would mirror pop culture. Now we get to be pop culture. We are who celebrities, designers, artists want to work with or are inspired by.

O’Hara: Obviously, there’s so much bad that comes from the hatred and the discrimination. But to have it be publicly talked about and having these discussions — like, how many celebrities have stood up for drag lately?

Cider: It’s interesting because it’s kind of the flip for me. As a drag king, I don’t see myself and my version of my art form celebrated the way that the art of drag queens is. So it’s bittersweet because I see my sisters being catapulted into this stardom, and I’m so excited and happy for all of them. But when are we going to understand that kings have been around for just as long, if not longer, in some cultures? Sexism and misogyny take over a lot, and that’s why trans women have been hidden in secret, too; it’s that same misogyny, the same sexism.

I am not trans, but when I see my trans siblings getting attacked… If you attack one of us, you attack all of us. And it’s the same when I see my siblings being celebrated — you celebrate one of us, you celebrate all of us. So I’m celebrating them, but I’m still waiting for us to be recognized and fully embraced. We see masculinity celebrated on the runway on RuPaul’s Drag Race all the time — in the Snatch Game or Victoria [Scone] and Mo Heart doing these very masculine looks — but we still don’t see kings.

O’Hara: You talked about the sexism and misogyny — it’s also the heteronormative culture of “Men are men, women are women,” and seeing a drag king is probably even harder for them to see.

Colby: Because they don’t know how to sexualize and objectify you.

O’Hara: Tea!

Morris: Piggybacking on that, these bills are so vague in their language that it’s intentionally hard to know where the line is between what is drag and what is not, and it’s obviously really meant to eradicate the existence of trans people. I mean, even a lot of these [male] country artists wear tighter jeans than I do.

Colby: And have bigger highlights! But that’s the thing: All the beauty in country music is always so good.

Landon Cider photographed on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Landon Cider photographed on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles. Hair by Wigs By Vanity. Makeup by Landon Cider. Fontasia L’Amour suit, ORTTU shirt.

Munachi Osegbu

Morris: It’s elevated, right? Dolly Parton famously said that if she wasn’t Dolly, she would be a drag queen. Especially when I’m going into glam for an event, I’m looking at a lot of y’all’s photos. Like, talk about culture and impact — it affects me, too! I want to sit and be beat for the gods! Even that language — I just said something that was totally born out of this community. I exist in this space of country music, where you don’t have to do much to be seen as a brave voice, unfortunately.

Symone: And that’s why it’s so important for you to be here, because country music — and I’ll also add in rap and hip-hop here — those genres need people to come out and say something more than any other [genre] because those are the ones that are the most heteronormative.

Colby: And they have a lot of people’s ears in America. They are two of the most listened-to genres in the country.

Symone: For you to be here and say those things is so important — we need all our divas. We need you to love us now.

Morris: Are there any specific examples of good, helpful allyship that you’ve seen from artists in the last few years?

Cider: Aside from you, I look at somebody like Lizzo and the show she did in Nashville recently [with drag performers].

Symone: Yes, completely. If you’re going to Tennessee this summer for touring, get the girls up there. Get some kings up there, too!

Colby: The local girls, too, because the local performers are the ones in danger here, especially in these small towns with a lot of drag. I’ve noticed that a lot of small Southern towns have these safe spaces for queer people, and they are the ones who are going to feel the impact of all this legislation first. We get to be the face and the voice and try to do our best, but it’s these small towns that we really have to be concerned about.

Symone photographed on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Symone photographed on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles. Hair by Gigi Goode. Makeup by RYLIE. Marko Monroe custom dress.

Munachi Osegbu

Morris: For anyone who may be reading this, what can people do to help?

Symone: Vote. That’s first and foremost.

O’Hara: Go to these organizations that work with lobbyists to watch out for the progression of these bills. Because it’s not just at a state and national level that we’re being harmed. It’s the small community governments, it’s the city governments, it’s these local places. We have organizations like ACLU and places of that nature, every state has those lobbyists — the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition would be a great one for anyone to donate to. Of course you have to vote, but we scream that all day every day. It’s not just about voting for the president.

A lot of times, I think the most important thing is to take care of the people around you who aren’t being looked after. Talk to the quiet queer kids that look scared, that aren’t being social. Go befriend the people that don’t look happy. Stop being mean girls, and that goes for gay people, too. Step up and be there for each other, for someone other than yourself and the people who make you feel cool.

Cider: Be an active ally when it matters. If you’ve shared a smile, a laugh, a memory with a queer person, don’t let that memory hide in the closet. Take that memory where it counts — to your pulpits, to your family reunions, to the locker rooms, to the places where you know you’re going to get sh-t on for speaking out for us. That’s where it matters the most because maybe it’ll open some eyes.

Colby: I always tell my cis-het friends who have children, “You don’t have to go to every protest and stand on your soapbox. What you do have control over is the kids you created. All you can do is leave this world a little better than you left it. Make those kids allies.”

Morris: Is there anything y’all want to ask me?

Cider: You’re using your platform beautifully already, and we appreciate you, we thank you for everything. But it’s also not a hard thing to do, to be an ally and to use your platform in the way that you do. How would you encourage your peers to do the same?

Morris: I have heard the term “Shut up and sing” more times than I can count — that’s always the cutesy little threat that they like to make. So I would say to my peers who are artists and to record-label heads, publishers, songwriters: I don’t think any of us got into this art form to be an activist, but that’s ultimately thrust upon you to exist in this space and to feel like you can sleep at night. You’re going to lose fans along the way — that is just part and parcel of being public-facing. But there is a lane that you’re widening; I see it year over year at my shows, the crowd feels so diverse and so safe. I know everyone likes money, but is it worth your biography saying that you never picked a side because both sides pay money to buy a T-shirt?

Maren Morris, Sasha Colby, Eureka O'Hara, Landon Cider, Symone, Pride Drag Roundtable

This story will appear in the June 10, 2023, issue of Billboard.

07 Jun 2023

What Do CMA Fest and Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ Have In Common?

“Them good ol’ boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye.”

In January 1972 — “a long, long time ago,” as Don McLean said in the opening salvo of “American Pie” — his eight-minute pop opus rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for four weeks, lamenting “the day the music died.”

Just a few months later — also a long, long time ago — the Country Music Association inaugurated Fan Fair, an annual Nashville music event now named CMA Fest. The festival’s music definitely hasn’t died, though the pandemic forced a pause for two years. It will be presented for the 50th time June 8-11.

“American Pie” wasn’t intended as a prelude to CMA Fest, though in some ways, McLean foretold its emergence. At the festival, them good ol’ boys drink whiskey on Lower Broadway, or they sing about it onstage. The event features a reported 80,000 music fans moving “helter skelter in the summer swelter.” And McLean’s whole “American Pie” football scenario — “The players tried to take the field/The marching band refused to yield” — parallels CMA Fest, too: Its marquee performances are hosted in an NFL venue, Nissan Stadium.

2023’s Nissan lineups include Luke Combs, Eric Church, HARDY, Dan + Shay, Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan and Ashley McBryde. There’s no Carrie Underwood this year — maybe the “Church Bells” all are broken? But the festival keeps bringing people back to Nashville in search of a good time.

Don McLean

Don McLean photographed in 1972.

David Redfern/Redferns

“One of my favorite lines [in “American Pie”] as relates to CMA Fest is ‘I can still remember when the music made me smile,’ ” CMA CEO Sarah Trahern says. “That’s what I always think about every year. I usually ask all of our young staff, ‘Tell me about an artist you saw for the first time,’ because one of the things I think we really value is the opportunity at the festival to have artists in all different stages of their career.”

That’s certainly true this year. The lineup includes current hitmakers Lainey Wilson, Jason Aldean, Jon Pardi and Jelly Roll. It has its share of heritage acts, including Reba McEntire, Tanya Tucker, Trisha Yearwood and Shenandoah. And it even features some new ones — for instance, Kidd G, Harper Grace, Avery Anna and Noah Thompson —who are so young that they were born after the last time the festival changed its location, in 2001.

CMA Fest launched at the Municipal Auditorium downtown in April 1972 and stayed there until 1982, when it moved to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. It returned to Lower Broadway downtown in 2001, and McLean appeared that year with a performance of “American Pie” at the Riverfront Stage — appropriate, since it coincided with the festival’s move from the racetrack to the riverfront. Or, better put, from the “Chevy to the levee.”

It’s doubtful that anyone who heard “American Pie” in 1972 thought the song, or McLean, would have country connections. But it didn’t take long for them to build. Pop singer Perry Como recorded one of his songs, “And I Love You So,” in Nashville exactly one year after “American Pie” hit No. 1. Before the ’70s were over, McLean recorded Roy Orbison‘s “Crying” in Music City with The Jordanaires on backing vocals, and it brought him a country hit in 1981. McLean became close friends with producer-guitarist Chet Atkins (who, ironically, died June 30, 2001, just 17 days after McLean played CMA Fest). And “American Pie” had a huge influence on Garth Brooks, who said it “could quite possibly be the greatest song in music history” in a 2022 documentary, The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s “American Pie.”

“That song was about that undeniable chorus — you hear it once, and it’s stuck in your head forever,” says Charlie Worsham, who will play June 9 at CMA Fest’s The Cadillac Three & Friends concert at Ascend Amphitheater. “It was a story, and you kind of had to listen to the words to get the full value of the song. And it was a song that could be delivered with an acoustic guitar and a voice on the back of a truck.”

Since those are the kinds of songs that Brooks was frequently attracted to, his penchant for “American Pie” influenced the generations of country artists who have followed him. He has occasionally dipped into mortality in hits such as “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” “Papa Loved Mama” or the long version of “The Thunder Rolls,” and “American Pie” is famously built around the deaths of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper in a plane crash.

“Just writing a song about that shit — can you imagine?” asks Jaren Johnston, who founded The Cadillac Three with Neil Mason and Kelby Ray. “It’s like, ‘Hey, I got an idea, Neil.’ It’s me and Ashley Gorley and Neil, let’s say. ‘Man, you remember that [Lynyrd] Skynyrd crash? Dude. Let’s do that today for Tuesday. That’d be fun.’ It just doesn’t exist anymore.”

Of course, there’s the “pink carnation and a pickup truck” line in “American Pie” — that pickup truck is still big business in country music: “wait in the truck,” “Heart Like a Truck,” “Truck Bed,” “I Drive Your Truck,” “New Truck,” “Out of That Truck,” etcetera.

But not to be forgotten is McLean’s reference to the spirit world with “the three men I admire the most/The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost.” Many of the artists who were crucial to that first Fan Fair are gone, including Ernest Tubb, Tom T. Hall, Roy Acuff, Porter Wagoner, Skeeter Davisand Marty Robbins. Like the genre itself, the festival is built on those memories, which is why Johnston skipped it last year. His father, former Grand Ole Opry drummer Jerry Ray Johnston, frequently took him to Fan Fair in the ’80s and ’90s at the fairgrounds. When the senior Johnston died, it made the thought of playing CMA Fest an emotional trap.

“Everything’s a memory there when you get into that world of grief and loss,” Johnston says. “You kind of stop yourself from going places where you think something might be triggered, and Fan Fair — CMA Fest — is definitely one of those for me.”

His father’s death affected each member of The Cadillac Three, which is why the group is appearing at the festival this year in a different form, joined by boundary-pushing acts such as Boy Named Banjo, The Randy Rogers Band, Tenille Townes and Elvie Shane, plus some unannounced guests who will likely demonstrate the wide-reaching net of the genre.

“CMA should be the big tent,” says Trahern. “And in the big tent, there is space for mainstream country music, and there’s space for Americana and space for bluegrass. If you think about it, the Country Music Hall of Fame has Emmylou Harris, who identifies as an Americana artist as well as a country artist, and has Flatt & Scruggs and Bill Monroe, who identify [as bluegrass]. So I’m really excited about that Ascend show.”

Oddly enough, that “American Pie” reference to “the three men I admire the most” could translate in CMA Fest history to Merle Haggard, George Jones and Johnny Paycheck. The three traditional country singers performed a group show at the festival in 1997 — the only time they would do so. Given their checkered pasts, it could easily be considered sacrilege to place them next to a line about the Christian Trinity. Worsham disagrees.

“I would argue that George Jones and Merle Haggard and Johnny Paycheck are the perfect country music examples to hold up as a story of redemption, of grace, because they all walked through the fire, and they all had their come-to-Jesus moment,” he reasons. “For them to stand on that stage together, and at a later time in their journey, I feel like is very spiritually accurate to the point of Christianity. And because gospel music is one of the parents of country music, country music has always been found in that path from the bar to the church and back, and those guys blazed that trail quite literally.”

McLean’s American Pie album featured the stars and stripes imprinted on the singer’s thumb, creating a metaphor that’s particularly useful to country music in 2023. Critics continue to debate — thumbs up, thumbs down — what constitutes country, and this year’s festival arrives at a time when some Americans are having a difficult time giving a thumbs-up to democracy.

“Country music’s real message is Willie Nelson going, ‘Good morning, America. How are you?’ ” Worsham says. “You lock arms and sing along and literally reach to the person in the concert sitting next to you who canceled you out in the voting booth, point your beer cans together and sing along to that. That’s what we need so badly right now, and that’s what country music has to offer right now, like it always has.”

“American Pie” may have lamented the “day the music died,” but despite the song’s surprising similarities to modern country, CMA Fest’s 50th installment serves as a symbol for a genre that’s willing to ponder the grave without actually stepping into it.

“Country music was alive and well in 1972,” says Trahern. “And certainly it’s alive and well today in 2023.” 

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07 Jun 2023

Maren Morris on Why Being Inclusive is ‘Good For Business’

I grew up being a huge country music fan, especially of people like The Chicks. Watching their career spiral in such a ridiculous, unfair way was always in my mind — it doesn’t leave your brain once you witness these idols of yours being so unfairly criticized and their careers, at least at the time, ending just for exercising their rights. There is this pressure to stay silent in country music, I think, because of what happened to The Chicks. Artists just look at it like, “It’s good for business to shut the f–k up.” And that just never really sat well with me.

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I think that’s why I’ve become a little bit of a rebellious adolescent in country. In some ways, there’s good in that; you want things to be better, you want everyone to be on the same page, you want everyone to be equally treated. There’s this passion there. But there’s also that sort of insanity and delusion of thinking you can do it all yourself. It’s ridiculous and kind of an almost white savior complex way of thinking: “I’m going to change it all from the inside — me, myself and I.” I’ve had to really take a step back and realize how to not center myself in this conversation every f–king time.

There’s always going to be this nugget of ego in all of us, but I think particularly for someone that looks like me, the education of the last few years has been to shut up and listen to those who are living these horrors every day. I’m shutting up to listen to people that are smarter than me. I am not some torch-carrying savior of country music.

I have not been pulled from the radio — at least not as a reaction to my actions. I’ve certainly lost fans along the way. But I think that’s sort of like spring cleaning. I don’t want to make three albums and go away forever; this is it for me. I don’t love anything else as much as I love performing and writing songs. So, with the effects of the “punishment phase” of speaking out, I couldn’t give a sh-t because I’m going to be doing this for the long haul. You lose some people along the way, but you solidify those that you had from the get-go.

The way the country music industry has treated LGBTQ people has been awful — there’s been almost no representation. There are people like Ty Herndon, who wasn’t able to come out until he was basically not in the industry anymore. But there is progress being made: T.J. Osborne, one of my closest friends, came out a couple years ago, and there’s such support behind him because it’s like, “Yeah, it doesn’t matter.”

In my career, I have been pretty clear with my values and putting my money where my mouth is, and over time, I’ve achieved a larger audience. So to anyone who’s a juggernaut of the industry or to new artists just trying to break right into this: I have worked bit by bit to build my business to where it is. When you speak out or you show up to a rally, you’re going to gain fans and you’re going to lose fans. Even if it’s for a piece of legislation that’s going to affect people’s bodily autonomy, or their way of making a living, or who they can marry, it is going to be political to the other side. You’re going to lose some people, but you’ll also gain some that never looked in your direction before. On a moral level, as a fan, wouldn’t it be so nice to know that you’re paying for a ticket or a T-shirt of somebody that isn’t a sh–ty person? Being inclusive is good for business because you open yourself up to the world.

When I was a guest judge on Drag Race, I did feel like I just wanted to speak from my heart and apologize [for country music’s treatment of the LGBTQ community] as an artist that comes from the genre. I felt like country music in some ways gets overlooked in that community because they rightfully assume it’s not a welcoming community. No “sorry” is going to undo the decades of harm that the country music industry has done to LGBTQ people in terms of representation. I was trying to say that there’s a lot of good people in this genre, and I hope that you don’t write it off forever because of what some artists said on their stage.

We live really close to the Covenant School [where a mass shooting took place in March], and that feeling of being swallowed by this grief, as a mother, has been really tough. My heart is just broken every day, having to pass the entrance of that school. But weirdly, I have never felt more connected to this town than in the last two months. When I went to one of the protests after the shooting, I saw mothers that I’ve had wine and disagreements with, and everyone was so emotionally raw at that moment. It’s awful that it took something so horrible to make that happen, but something in me switched, and I felt like, “I’m really lucky to live here right now.” Community like that is happening on the battlegrounds of these protests. It all comes back to the community that you’ve got to go out and build for yourself. It’s not going to come to you.

And there really is no community like here in Nashville. I’ve heard other songwriters from other places say they’ve been to L.A., they’ve been to New York, they’ve done writing trips abroad, but there’s just something different about Nashville. My heart is country music, and it’s writing songs that are stories, and it’s the collaboration of Nashville writing. It’s a lot harder to try and start over in some other way. I’ve just decided that you have to till the soil you’re on. Don’t get into the greener pastures complex.

For myself, I’m getting out of the sort of game of being the hall monitor of country music, even if I’m probably setting myself up for failure. Everything I’ve done has not been in vain; I’ve been so bowled over by the acceptance and positivity from the LGBTQ community. But I feel like I cannot look at the bad apples anymore. I’m done giving into what they want, which is attention. I think the whole “When they go low, we go high” thing is applicable here. Sometimes I fall into that trap of saying, “No, beat them at their own game. Sink to their level because they don’t operate on the high road.” There’s absolutely truth to that, and sometimes, yeah, you need to ruffle some feathers and not do this whole “Kumbaya” hand-holding thing. But clapping back on Twitter and expecting a different result doesn’t work for me anymore. I’m going to look to where the people are helping and just Mister Rogers this b-tch. —AS TOLD TO STEPHEN DAW

This story will appear in the June 10, 2023, issue of Billboard.

07 Jun 2023

Mary Boquitas’ ‘En Boca Cerrada’: 5 Explosive Revelations from the Podcast

In her new podcast, the revealing En Boca Cerrada: Lo Que Nunca Se Nunca Se Dicho Sobre El Caso Trevi-Andrade, María Raquenel Portillo (formerly known as Mary Boquitas) tells her story for the first time about the teenage sex cult that shocked the world in the ’90s.

For those who do not remember the case and its protagonists, Portillo — who eventually had a brief career as a singer and actress — was married to Sergio Andrade, the manager, producer and artist promoter who “discovered” Gloria Trevi in the late ’80s and was instrumental in her stardom. But Andrade was later indicted and jailed on sordid charges of corruption of minors, as were Trevi and Portillo, who were later exonerated of all charges against them.

Portillo, however, continued to be singled out by many as an accomplice in the case. Now, for the first time, she details her life with the disgraced Mexican hitmaker, and the changing relationship they had over the years: teacher and student, husband and wife, divorced couple, boss and employee, manager and artist, and master and maid.

Portillo would share with Trevi her husband, the world stage and, later, a prison cell. Billboard Español contacted Trevi’s representatives for comment on the podcast, but received no response. Trevi was acquitted of all charges against her in 2004 and has repeatedly said that she too was a victim of abuse. For his part, Andrade has not commented on the case. He received a sentence of 7 years and 10 months in prison, and was released in 2007.

Produced by Uforia and Pitaya Entertainment, the first season of En Boca Cerrada reveals heartbreaking details about the disturbing case, reminiscent of the Jeffrey Epstein and R. Kelly scandals. The presenter alleges that she was brainwashed into marrying Andrade in the mid-’80s when she was only 15 years old; he was twice her age. She also claims to be the first victim of the Trevi-Andrade clan. 

“There is no definite time to tell a story. However before I did it was vital to heal my wounds, get my life back and have the strength to make it happen,” she tells Billboard Español 19 years after being acquitted of charges of corruption of minors. “God’s timing so perfectly aligned with mine and the opportunity came so clearly and precisely.” The presenter invites journalist María García, psychologist Francia Piña, Rubén Aviña, author of the book Aline: La Gloria por el Infierno, her mother, her sister and more people who bring their own knowledge and experiences about the case.

“In the first recordings I swear I almost regretted it — because they say that to remember is to live again,” she continues. “Through my emotions at the time, I discovered how I really went through this and was able to tolerate it.”

According to a press release, in its first week En Boca Cerrada was the most listened to Spanish-language podcast in the U.S., reaching No. 52 on Spotify’s Top Podcasts list, while in Mexico it reached No. 1 on both Spotify and Apple.

While stunningly entertaining, the uncensored podcast ultimately serves as a cautionary tale, a deep dive into the lurid world of a serial child molester and those unfortunate enough to cross his path, in the voice of one of the survivors. Here are five revelations from En Boca Cerrada.

The Tactics of a Child Molester

Over the course of ten chapters, the host reveals increasingly atrocious scenarios. Portillo does not hold back when talking about the warning signs that were present from the beginning, but that neither she nor her family saw. From their first meeting, she describes how Andrade made her wait hours for his appointments, when the then-respected producer had scheduled her for a casting at 4:00 p.m. and was not seen until midnight. According to Portillo, it was a tactic Andrade used to detect his prey and see how far a potential victim and her family were willing to go for the mere possibility of having a better life. 

When he formed the all-girl teen group Boquitas Pintadas, Portillo says the girls were not allowed to talk or “gossip” with each other. He reinforced manipulation with extreme jealousy, tender words, long rehearsal days and tons of gaslighting. The gang of five later grew into dozens of aspiring artists who adored and idolized Gloria Trevi’s star power (who was considered the Mexican Madonna and the biggest pop star in Mexico and beyond) and Andrade’s star-making gift. He made the girls believe were all his family, according to Portillo, but instead they “were all one in his eyes,” she says in the podcast.

With the help of his guests, Portillo reveals the profile of an antisocial narcissist, who exercised absolute power over weak victims. He did not foresee consequences or take responsibility, and constantly blamed the girls for the slightest thing, even for eating a can of tuna without permission. “Please sir,” “thank you sir,” and “I’m sorry sir” were a must at the end of every sentence, the narrator says. 

“If I Can’t Marry Her, I Will Steal Her”

Portillo says that when she was 14 years old, Andrade began to ask her to marry him. When her parents discovered that their daughter was in love with the producer, he assured them that it was something platonic and fleeting. When the relationship became more serious, Andrade responded to her parents by saying that they also married young. “Yes, but Pepe (Raquenel’s father) was also a child and not a grown man,” exclaimed her mother. “If I can’t marry her, I will steal her. You choose,” Andrade threatened her, something that was not uncommon in rural Mexico at the time. Portillo was about to turn fifteen. Her parents threw her a quinceañera — without chambelanes, at Andrade’s request — in hopes that their daughter would change her mind. It didn’t happen.

Portillo explains that in her time almost all women aspired to marry and raise a family. And rather than to marry a person of lower economic status, Andrade convinced her parents that the only way for their daughter to succeed was to marry a well-positioned man like himself. That, coupled with religion to enforce obedience, became a dangerous mix — because “this man felt he was God,” Portillo says in the podcast.

Normal or Normalized?

“Everything Sergio said sounded logical… that was his power,” Portillo says in the podcast. Andrade had absolute control over his victims because he made sure it was so. The day of their marriage ended their romantic phase and the violence began, according to Portillo. The narrator says she was violently, physically and sexually assaulted on her wedding night. After punching her, he allegedly fondled her and raped her. “I’m doing it for your sake so you’ll be perfect,” he often told her, she recounts. Wired beatings accompanied by sex became the norm for her and other victims, she says.

When she was still a teenager, Portillo became pregnant and he arranged her abortion without her knowledge, she says, a procedure she believes left her sterile for life. “One is taught that love can do anything and that for love everything is endured,” she tells Billboard Español. “In any type of love relationship where you don’t immediately identify a red flag… that’s where the dangerous thing happens, when we love for love, out of affection or compassion and we put up with [abuse] over and over again. And suddenly these types of relationships become addictive. Addiction is co-dependence on something that even though you know it’s wrong, you’re there.”

Andrade was untouchable, Portillo says, noting that people who knew of his misconduct remained silent, including famed television host Raul Velazco, who died in 2006. Velazco was never accused of misconduct or linked to Andrade. Somehow, says the narrator, the disgraced producer — who years later was convicted — managed to normalize the most atrocious behavior.

Gloria Trevi’s Feminist Rebellion

Gloria Trevi was Sergio Andrade’s golden goose, says Portillo in episode 8, “El fenómeno Trevi, un anzuelo perfecto” (or “The Trevi Phenomenon, a Perfect Hook”). She says that the “Pelo Suelto” singer’s success was rewarded with privileges such as eating at fancy restaurants (with the help of the superstar’s hard earned money) that the other girls didn’t have access to, even though many were part of Trevi’s team — Portillo was her backup singer. She also alleges that Trevi’s gigantic hair was not her idea but Andrade’s — allegedly, she liked to keep her hair very neat — as well as her famous ripped pantyhose and sensationalist statements to the press, like how she would run for the presidency. Her feminist artistic rebellion, shockingly, was masterminded by her abuser, according to the podcaster. 

The Hierarchy of “The Favorites”

Being among the producer’s “favorites” was something the girls in the clan aspired to — they all wanted to be at the top of the chain, and the younger they were, the more likely they were to get it, according to Portillo. Under Andrade’s control, the 12- and 13-year-olds were “easier” to mold for “maximum results,” while the older ones (18 and up) had a shorter lifespan within the clan, which kept them away from him and the possibility of stardom. Being a favorite, however, did not exclude the girls from physical punishment, Portillo says, but guaranteed them a better standing before the master and occasional small luxuries: a better meal and a couple of compliments. 

For most of her two decades with the clan, Mary Boquitas stayed lower on the list of favorites because of her growing age, she says. She was, however, the most loyal, and while that didn’t earn her special treatment, it did earn her Andrade’s trust, a relationship she says she’s not proud of.

Gloria Trevi, however, “was never just one more, she wasn’t like the rest, like them or like me. Without denying that Gloria was not 100 percent free, we all knew that when the time came she would sit down to propose punishments with the teacher, or make decisions that would make it clear that she was not just one more,” narrates Portillo in episode 10. Andrade knew how to manipulate each of the girls to provoke distrust among them, the narrator continues, comparing the dynamics to a reality show, to awaken that pressing need to please him and be able to climb a place in his ranking.

Portillo mentions the National Human Trafficking Hotline at the end of each episode. If you are at risk or know someone who may be, call 1-888-373-7888, or visit https://humantraffickinghotline.org.

The first season of En Boca Cerrada consists of 10 episodes that are available on Uforia. The first nine episodes can be heard on all other podcast platforms. The second season of En Boca Cerrada is currently in production.

07 Jun 2023

Dave Grohl Thanks Fans For Lifting Foo Fighters Up During Difficult Time in Touching Note: ‘We’ve Always Done This Together’

It’s been an emotional few weeks for the Foo Fighters as the band has played its first run of shows without longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins. After a year of privately mourning their late timekeeper and emotional heartbeat — who died at age 50 last March while the band was on tour in South America — singer/guitarist Dave Grohl posted a heartfelt message to fans on Tuesday (June 6) thanking them for not just showing up, but for lifting up the band during a difficult re-launch.

“Hey, it’s been awhile. Now that we’ve returned from our first run of shows, I felt compelled to reach out and thank you all for being there for us,” Grohl said in the Instagram post. “Every night, when I see you singing, it makes me sing harder. When I see you screaming, it makes me scream louder. When I see your tears, it brings me to tears. And when I see your joy, it brings me joy. But, I see you… and it feels good to see you, churning up these emotions together. Because we’ve always done this together.”

While Grohl hasn’t spoken publicly about the impact of Hawkins’ death, the Foos’ new album, But Here We Are, has earned widespread praise for what Pitchfork said in a review was its spilling of “arena-sized grief, reckoning and resolve” on a moving collection that balances raw emotion with the band’s signature determination to see the light through the darkness.

The note ended with the phrase, “time and time again,” and a “see you soon,” another testament to the Foos’ indomitable” keep on keepin’ on spirit.

The band launched their first tour with new drummer Josh Freese on May 24 in Gilford, N.H. and paid tribute to Hawkins once again during their Boston Calling headlining set two nights later by inviting Hawkins’ teenage son, Shane, to join them on stage for “I’ll Stick Around”; the talented high schooler stole the show in September when he smashed “My Hero” with the Foos at their Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium in London.

The band’s next scheduled date is on June 14 at the Walmart AMP in Rogers, Arkansas.

See Grohl’s note below

07 Jun 2023

Biden Administration Says Roger Waters Has ‘Long Track Record of Using Antisemitic Tropes’

The Biden administration is weighing in on the controversy over Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, saying his recent performances in Germany were antisemitic, an assessment shared by many in Israel and the pro-Israel community.

The State Department said Tuesday (June 6) that Waters has “a long track record of using antisemitic tropes” and a concert he gave late last month in Germany “contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust.”

The comments came in a written response to a question posed at Monday’s State Department press briefing about whether the administration agreed with criticism of Rogers from the U.S. special envoy to combat antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt.

“Special Envoy Lipstadt’s quote-tweet speaks for itself,” the department said.

“The concert in question, which took place in Berlin, contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust,” the department said. “The artist in question has a long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people.”

In a May 24 tweet after the concert in Berlin, during which Waters appeared on stage in a costume reminiscent of Nazi-era Germany, Lipstadt denounced the musician by echoing comments from EU antisemitism envoy Katharina von Schnurbein, who is German.

“I wholeheartedly concur with @EUAntisemitism ’s condemnation of Roger Waters and his despicable Holocaust distortion,” Lipstadt wrote in reply to a tweet from von Schnurbein.

Von Schnurbein had taken issue with Waters’ performance in Berlin as well as his previous comments related to Israel and the Holocaust.

“I am sick & disgusted by Roger Waters’ obsession to belittle and trivialize the Shoah & the sarcastic way in which he delights in trampling on the victims, systematically murdered by the Nazis,” von Schnurbein wrote. “In Germany. Enough is enough.”

Shortly after the concert, police in Berlin said they had opened an investigation of Waters on suspicion of incitement over the costume he wore. Images on social media showed Waters firing an imitation machine gun while dressed in a long black coat with a red armband. Police confirmed that the costume could constitute a glorification, justification or approval of Nazi rule and therefore a disturbance of the public peace.

Waters rejected those accusations in a statement on Facebook and Instagram, saying “the elements of my performance that have been questioned are quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice, and bigotry in all its forms.”

He claimed that ”attempts to portray those elements as something else are disingenuous and politically motivated.” Waters has also drawn the ire of the pro-Israel community for his outspoken support of the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts and sanctions against Israel.

07 Jun 2023

Ernest Presents Jelly Roll With Breakthrough Artist Of The Year Award at Billboard’s 2023 Country Power Players

The Nashville music industry gathered Tuesday (June 6) to celebrate its most influential members and several of its brightest stars.

Hosted by Billboard to celebrate the recently published 2023 Country Power Players list, the event took place at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works, with execs, artists, agents and others mingling in the chic, industrial space.

Billboard’s executive editor, West Coast and Nashville Melinda Newman opened the evening’s awards presentation, first acknowledging Seth England of Big Loud, the recipient of the first ever Billboard Country Power Players Choice Award. Newman then introduced Ernest, who recounted the story of his first time meeting Jelly Roll when a mutual friend of his was selling the singer a truck. “Not long later,” said Ernest said, “he was charting on Billboard.”

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Jelly Roll then took the stage, noting in a funny, impassioned speech that “there’s a story my daddy used to tell that you could work harder than everybody, you can put in more hours than everybody, you can be more talented than everybody, you could be nicer than everybody, you could care more than everybody, but if a little luck don’t show up with you, you are screwed in this world, and I can tell you that God blessed me to be lucky to have friends like Ernest and Hardy and Ashley and these people that have came through and helped me put out my first debut country album that was commemorated by my cover on Billboard.”

Next up was Hardy, who presented the Rookie Of The Year award to Bailey Zimmerman. “I tried singing two and a half years ago and my life completely switched,” Zimmerman said in his speech. “I went from digging ditches and building pipelines to being an artist…Enjoying the moment is something I’ve really been focusing on, and I’ve never had a moment like this.”

Terri Clark then took the stage to present the Groundbreaker award to her friend, Ashley McBryde. “I’ve had the privilege of watching her build a career that will stand the test of time. She came up to me [once] and said, ‘You know when I was a teenager I was looking to women in country music who I felt like i could relate to, people who were a little bit different, and when I looked to you, I saw that. And now Ashley’s doing that very thing to many little girls and girls with a dream all over the place who want to be country singers.”

McBryde then gave an emotional speech about how when she first moved to Nashville, she was told her hair was too curly, that she had too many tattoos, that she needed to lose weight and that she should be writing different kinds of songs. “It means a lot to receive this,” she said with tears streaming down her face, “because it means betting on yourself is the right thing to do.”

Finally, Newman presented the Executive of the Year award to Rusty Gaston of Sony Music Publishing Nashville, which has earned the top spot on Billboard’s Country Radio Airplay Publishers list for the last three quarters.

“I love this community,” Gaston said in his speech, “and what I love most about country music is that we are a community — we are a group of friends who get to work together to help each other succeed, but we aren’t work friends, we’re life friends.”

06 Jun 2023

ENHYPEN Break Down ‘Fantasy-Like’ New Mini Album ‘Dark Blood’: Exclusive

ENHYPEN‘s series of albums have detailed the septet’s road to becoming an arena-filling boy band with four entries on the Billboard 200 after just two-and-a-half years together. The results speak to the connection the K-pop stars have made with fans, inspiring a magical musical experience for their latest release.

Instead of taking direct inspiration from their professional and personal lives, the K-pop stars to watch used inspiration from meeting their fans—affectionately known as ENGENEs—during their Manifesto World Tour to deliver an elevated emotional experience for DARK BLOOD, which entered World Albums at No. 14 last week and is expected to make a major splash on the Billboard 200 next week after the physical album dropped last Friday, June 2.

“While our previous albums were largely influenced by our personal experiences, DARK BLOOD takes our experience and emotions of having met our fans in person through our tour a step further by incorporating fantasy-like elements to enhance the enjoyment of ENGENEs and listeners alike,” explains group leader Jungwon.

The six-song EP takes inspiration from ENHYPEN’s fantasy novel/webtoon series DARK MOON : THE BLOOD ALTAR, which stars vampire characters inspired by the seven group members. Described in a press release as “a new roadmap for K-pop,” DARK BLOOD rolls ENHYPEN’s growing creative world and IP into its musical, visual and dance world.

“It’s truly a delight to see ENGENEs fully immersed in DARK MOON : THE BLOOD ALTAR and genuinely enjoying the story,” Jake reflects. “With many connections between the webtoon and our album, paying attention to these aspects will definitely make the listening experience more fun.”

Sunoo adds, “Seeing characters based on ourselves was really cool, and it felt like we’re the actual characters in the webtoon. This kind of experience doesn’t come around often, so it’s been a fun and refreshing opportunity for us to connect it to our album and bring something new.”

As new of an experience DARK BLOOD marks for ENHYPEN’s career, the band is also taking the time to remember where they began.

To celebrate the EP’s release, ENHYPEN held a “special showcase” concert for fans in Seoul, where they performed “Into the I-Land,” the theme song of the boy band competition show I-Land that ultimately created the group. Alongside their new single “Bite Me,” plus tracks “Bills” and “Karma,” the performance acted as a reminder that ENHYPEN is as thankful for the ENGENEs with them from the start as those with them today.

“It was a very special performance that served as a reminder for all of us to stay grounded and never forget where we all started,” Ni-ki says before Sunghoon adds, “We knew how much our ENGENEs wanted to see this song performed live, so we especially prepared it just for them; kind of like our way of saying ‘thank you.’”

ENHYPEN will continue to pay it back to fans when they head out on their upcoming FATE World Tour, kicking off next month in Seoul before landing Stateside in October. In the meantime, the guys tell Billboard that they’re hard at work prepping their biggest show yet while also keeping an eye on which songs fans are using across their accounts.”

“I’m on social channels pretty often so I really enjoy seeing how our music is received by the wider audience as well as our fans,” Jake says. “It’s fun and rewarding to watch our fans take part in our challenges or use our music to create their own content.”

Ni-ki is sure to mention that “We are set to begin our second world tour ‘FATE’ this coming July with shows in Seoul and we will be continuing to Japan to host dome concerts an’s full d our U.S. leg includes a stadium venue, so we’re very much looking forward to meeting a bigger number of ENGENEs in one place this time. We’ll be giving it our all to prepare, so please look forward to it!”

Read on for ENHYPEN’s full track-by-track breakdown of DARK MOON including studio stories, song reflections and more.

06 Jun 2023

Jelly Roll Makes Teen Fans’ Week With $1000 Tip

Jelly Roll knows the value of hard work, and that’s why he helped out some fans while stopping for a meal at Whataburger.

In a viral TikTok video, the “Need a Favor” country superstar is seen rolling up into the drive-thru with two friends, when he asks the teenager in the window how many people are working with him. When the young fan says there are five people total working, Jelly Roll explains that he’s going to send him $1000, and he must give each of his coworkers $200.

“My dude don’t believe me y’all, but we’re gonna hit ’em with the big ol’ bank roll,” Jelly Roll joked to the camera before a follow-up video in which the group of teenagers are seen receiving the money and promptly freaking out.

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“New playground, new playmates,” the country star recently told Billboard of his life today, as he graced the cover of the Country Power Players issue. “I live in a totally different space. But I’m always conscious of keeping in touch with where I’m from. My heart is to help.” 

On fans who comment on his social media that his songs have saved their lives, he added, “Who in life can say they really helped somebody in the darkest moment of their life that was fixing to kill themselves? I look at that as something that inspires me to do more.”

See the video of the teens receiving their $1000 tip below.