The night before he won his very first Grammy award, Shaboozey pulled Bunnie Xo aside for a moment of, as she describes it, “manifesting.”
During that conversation he also mentioned that he’d written an acceptance speech, and said why it meant so much to him to be Grammy-recognized specifically for a Jelly Roll duet.
Jelly and Shaboozey’s “Amen” won Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the awards show last Sunday (Feb. 1), marking the first Grammy trophy for either of them (Jelly would go on to win two more that same night.)
Read More: Shaboozey Dedicates His First Grammy to Immigrants Like His Mom
But his conversation with Bunnie happened the night before, while both of them were attending the Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala on Saturday (Jan. 31.)
What Did Shaboozey Tell Bunnie Xo Before the Grammys?
Bunnie recounted the moment in a new episode of her Dumb Blonde podcast saying that Shaboozey — or Shaboozle, as she calls him — is “the cutest thing.”
Essentially, he wanted to check and see if Jelly had a speech prepared in case they won.
“He was like, ‘Does Jelly have a Grammys speech already written?’ I was like, ‘No. You know my husband is Freestyle Roll. He doesn’t write anything,'” Bunnie remembers. “He was like, ‘Well, I have. I wrote a Grammys speech.'”
“And I was like, ‘Boozle, you are manifesting,'” she continues with a laugh.
Shaboozey said during his time onstage that he doesn’t usually pre-write acceptance speeches at awards shows, but for this one he made an exception.
What Else Did Shaboozey Tell Bunnie Xo About His Grammys Acceptance Speech?
That speech turned out to be a big moment for Shaboozey for a lot of reasons — not just because it was first time accepting a Grammy.
Matt Winkelmeyer, Getty Images
In it, he shared support for immigrants and spoke about his mother, a Nigerian immigrant who worked multiple jobs in order to provide for him and his siblings when he was growing up.
Many winners or attendees at the 2026 Grammys spoke out against the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during their time onstage or wore “ICE Out” pins on their outfits. Shaboozey didn’t mention ICE, but he did support immigrants in his speech, saying “Immigrants built this country.”
Read More: Shaboozey Responds to Backlash About His Grammys Speech
If he mentioned to Bunnie beforehand that he planned to include that subject matter in his speech, she didn’t say so on her podcast.
But she did say that he spoke about how powerful it was for two artists of different races to be nominated together in the Best Country Duo/Group category.
“He goes, ‘I feel like the world needs us, you know, Black, white.’ I was like, ‘Ebony, ivory.’ He’s like, ‘Yes,'” Bunnie recounted.
Why Didn’t Jelly Roll Give an Acceptance Speech For His Best Country Duo/Group Grammy Win?
Jelly attended the Grammy Awards, where he gave a faith-filled acceptance speech after winning Best Contemporary Country Album.
Read More: Jelly Roll’s Grammys Acceptance Speech Might Be His Best One Yet
But most of the country-specific awards, including the Best Country Duo/Group Performance award, was given out during a pre-show Premiere Ceremony. This event was streamed live, but not broadcast on television. Jelly wasn’t there for that event; he and Bunnie were still getting ready for the show.
Bunnie shared video of Jelly learning that he won Best Country Duo/Group offstage.
Shortly after Jelly and Shaboozey won their Grammy together, Jelly won another in the Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song category, for his Brandon Lake duet “Hard Fought Hallelujah.”
What Did Jelly Roll Say When a Reporter Asked Him to Comment on ICE/Immigration at the 2026 Grammy Awards?
Jelly did not mention politics onstage, and when a backstage reporter asked him to comment on what’s going on in the country right now, he declined. He said he wasn’t informed enough to do so.
Read More: Why Jelly Roll Didn’t Talk Politics at the Grammys
The singer reminded fans that he went without a smartphone for 18 months, and that he grew up in poverty in a household touched by addiction, where world politics wasn’t a common topic.
But he acknowledged that fans want to hear his opinion, and promised to learn more and share his opinion soon.
19 Country Stars Who’ve Never Won a Grammy, Ranked
These 19 country singers have never won a Grammy Award, but it’s worse than that. Collectively, they’re 0-118!
This list includes two Country Music Hall of Famers and five more destined to get invited one day. Commercial success doesn’t equal Grammy success. Remember that. This list was updated after the 2026 Grammy Awards.
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes