Jelly Roll weighs in on his first ACM Entertainer of the Year nod

Jelly Roll may be a first-time ACM Award nominee, but he's already earned a nod in the coveted Entertainer of the Year category. 

While he's grateful for the recognition, he's also aware that he's up against his fellow country superstars — all of whom he deems deserving of the award.

"It would mean a lot. You know, it's hard to deny. But it's also a category packed with people that deserve it. I think, if you took my name out of it, you could play spin the bottle and you wouldn't be wrong," Jelly tells ABC Audio. "You could hit anybody else on that list and you'd be right."

Nonetheless, the "Halfway to Hell" singer's looking forward to a big ol' country music party surrounded by the genre's biggest stars.

"What I'm excited about is when you say all these superstars' names and nominated, 'The nominees are Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson, Kane Brown, Chris Stapleton,' and then just randomly, 'and Jelly Roll.' It's going to be like, 'We snuck in, baby, we're with the big dogs,'" he shares in jest.

Jelly, Luke, Morgan, Lainey, Kane, Chris and Cody Johnson are up for Entertainer of the Year at this year's ACM Awards. Jelly's also vying for wins in the Male Artist, Single and Music Event categories.

You can stream the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Reba McEntire, live Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video.

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