Jelly Roll Makes ‘SNL’ Debut Featuring Roosevelt Collier On Sacred Steel

Jelly Roll had a plum role as the musical guest on the first episode of Saturday Night Live’s 50th season. The country star led his full band, including sacred steel specialist and jam scene stalwart Roosevelt Collier, through “Liar” and “Winning Streak” for his SNL debut.

“Liar” and “Winning Streak” are featured on Jelly Roll’s highly-anticipated new album, Beautifully Broken, which is due on October 11. While the former was previously released as a preview single, the latter was a live debut for the 39-year-old singer and rapper.

Actor Jean Smart hosted the season premiere of SNL. Smart and her Hacks co-star Hannah Einbender introduced Jelly Roll’s performance of “Liar.” Jelly Roll previously premiered the song in May at the ACM Awards.

Jelly Roll returned towards the end of the episode to unveil “Winning Streak.” The Antioch, Tennessee native wrote the song about his experience at an A.A. meeting. Jelly Roll told the New York Times the following in regards to “Winning Streak”:

I was writing from the perspective of a story I’ve seen happen for real. So I’m sitting in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, and my deal is, I will have a cocktail every now and then and I’m a known weed smoker, but I got away from the drugs that I knew were going to kill me. It was really hard for me to get away from those drugs. Something I do to maintenance my relationship with those drugs is I still attend the meetings but I never share. I just quietly sit and appreciate the message and the meaning. This is the first time that I’ve talked about this publicly. I don’t tell people I go to meetings. So I just sit and I watch, and this kid, he’s going through it. You can tell. One of the old men sitting in there was like: “Look, man. It’s all good. Nobody came in here on a winning streak.” There it was. That was the beginning of “Winning Streak.”

Jelly Roll was surrounded by his band and backing vocalists for both performances. Roosevelt Collier played pedal steel on “Liar” and lap steel on “Winning Streak.” Collier has been part of Jelly Roll’s ensemble since 2023.

“SNL was an unreal experience! I got to perform ‘Liar’ and a song for those on the recovery journey ‘Winning Streak’ — it was important for me to represent those who have not traditionally been represented in pop culture! Wherever you are on your journey I hope this song finds you and helps you out!,” wrote Jelly Roll on social media.

Watch Jelly Roll’s Saturday Night Live debut performances below: