Jelly Roll Geeked Out Over Gwen Stefani at the 2023 CMT Music Awards

Jelly Roll may have performed at the 2023 CMT Music Awards on Sunday night (April 2), but the performer he was most excited to see was none other than Gwen Stefani.

“My second concert ever was No Doubt,” he reveled to Entertainment Tonight on the award show’s red carpet. “We was at an amphitheater, it s–t storm rained, I mean just rain storm, we were mud sliding dancing to ‘Spiderwebs’ — it was awesome.”

Luckily for the rising country-hip-hop hybrid, he got a sneak peek of Stefani’s performance during rehearsals for the show, telling the outlet before her set, “I can’t say anything but I can say she looks like Gwen Stefani. What I seen was a real throwback.”

The throwback turned out to be the singer’s performance of No Doubt’s smash single “Just a Girl” from 1995’s Tragic Kingdom with help from Carly Pearce. For his own performance, Jelly Roll brought his song “Need a Favor” to the stage backed by a full gospel choir.

“This is my first everything,” he continued. “First live TV performance, first TV show performance, first award show nomination, first time I’ve done anything like this, this is a big night of firsts for me … I’m somewhere between nervous and cloud nine, so I’m just, I’m excited man. It feels so good, it’s like the return of the prodigal son, it’s like finally coming home, man.”

During the ceremony, Jelly Roll wound up taking home his very first awards show trophies as well, winning male video of the year, male breakthrough video of the year and the CMT digital-first performance of the year for “Son of a Sinner.”