Today, February 16, 2026, Country Radio Broadcasters announced Jelly Roll as the recipient of the 2026 Artist Humanitarian Award. Jelly Roll has long been one of country music’s leading philanthropic figures, and just over the last year, he rasied $500k for ACM Lifting Lives and donated $250,000 to establish a recording studio for teenagers at the Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center.
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Established in 1990, CBR’s Artist Humanitarian Award honors “country artists whose philanthropic efforts have significantly improved the effectiveness and impact of the causes they support.” Concerning the selection, CBR wrote in an official statement, “This year’s award recognizes the triple Grammy-winning artist, whose deeply personal and far-reaching commitment to addiction recovery, mental health, and community extends far beyond his music.”
Past recipients of the award include Eric Church, Luke Combs, Kane Brown, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, and more. The award will be given to Jelly Roll during the Country Radio Seminar taking place on March 18–20 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Jelly Roles Past Philanthropic Accolades & Efforts
The reception of the Country Radio Broadcasters Artist Humanitarian Award isn’t the first and is certainly not the last philanthropy award Jelly Roll will win. In 2025, Jelly Roll won the ACM Lifting Lives Award, and in 2024, was the recipient of the Variety Hitmakers “Changemaker of the Year” award.
Ever since Jelly Roll took off and gained a platform, he has been an advocate for addiction recovery, mental health, youth reform, homelessness, and many other things. A frequent sight is to see Jelly Roll visit prisons and juvenile corrections, and he did so recently, as he paid a visit to the Adult Detention Center at Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office ahead of his concert in Minneapolis in May, 2025.
Roughly a year ago, Jelly Roll visited Riverbend Prison in Nashville and told prisoners, “Listen to what I’m fixing to tell you right now. Who you were is not who you are and who you are right now is not even a tenth of the man you can actually f— be. You can be thinking the wildest thing right now but whatever you’re dreaming of could be too small still,” and “I encourage you to dream bigger when you go back to your cell tonight.”
“When they close that door after last count time, I encourage you to start visualizing your future and believing that things can change for you in a way you never thought they would change for you. That you don’t have to go back to that bulls— anymore.” “We don’t have to spend the rest of our lives suffering, poor, and f–king addicted and struggling anymore. Today is the day to break the chains, gentlemen,” he concluded via Instagram.
Photo by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images
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