Playing iconic country music festival CMA is big in itself. But when one of the genre’s current biggest stars rushes towards your set because he loves what he’s hearing so much? That’s just the cherry on top.
This exact scenario happened to Kaylee Bell this week.
While the Aotearoa country-pop star was playing CMA 2026 — her 16th year attending the event — at midday yesterday on the Dr Pepper Stage (in front of a sizeable crowd, no less), Jelly Roll heard her set all the way from his hotel room.
As soon as he heard the first notes of Bell’s song “Keith” being strummed, he sprinted as fast as he could — unbeknownst to Bell — to the stage so he could get up and duet with her.
In the end, Jelly Roll missed the opportunity by mere seconds, but the pair warmly embraced backstage after Bell’s set came to a close (see below).
Credit: Rachel Deeb Photography and Design
An insider told Rolling Stone AU/NZ that plans are also afoot to get Bell and Jelly Roll onstage together during the latter’s own set. Stay tuned.
Credit: Rachel Deeb Photography and Design
Bell’s CMA performance follows her recent release of not one but two new singles.
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“Me for Me” and “Once in a Lifetime” were both performed live for the first time at the historic debut concert at Ōtautahi Christchurch’s brand-new One New Zealand Stadium, where Bell played alongside Six60, Synthony, and more.
“Once in a Lifetime” was created so that Bell had “something to mark the night — something that would outlive it.”
“The song and the video together are a time capsule — a moment in time we can hold onto forever,” she said.
Bell was inducted into the NZ Gold Guitar Awards Hands of Fame at the end of May.
The prestigious Hands of Fame, established by the Gore Country Music Club in 1992, recognises individuals who have made outstanding contributions to country music in New Zealand, with Bell‘s handprint joining a distinguished list of inductees including Tami Neilson, Jodi Vaughan, Kylie Harris, and The Warratahs.
Bell’s most recent album, Cowboy Up, featured in our year-end New Zealand albums list in 2025.
Jelly Roll, meanwhile, became the inaugural winner of the Best Contemporary Country Album award at this year’s Grammys, where he gave one of the most memorable speeches of the night.
After thanking his wife, Bunnie Xo (“I’d have killed myself if it wasn’t for you and Jesus,” he said) the singer recounted his time in prison, in a “6 by 8 foot cell,” and how that tough time informed his winning album, Beautifully Broken. “There was a time in my life when I was broken. That’s why I wrote this album,” he said. “I was a horrible human.”
Jelly Roll continued: “I believed that music had the power to change my life and God had the power to change my life. Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by one political party… Jesus is Jesus. Anybody can have a relationship with him.”
