Jelly Roll Reveals His Surprising Connection to Taylor Swift — and Why He Was 'So Bad' When He Met Her (Exclusive)

The country star talks to PEOPLE in this week's issue about being starstruck by Swift

He may be a Grammy-nominated country star, but even Jelly Roll gets starstruck sometimes.

The “Winning Streak” singer, 39, opens up to PEOPLE in this week’s issue about his Taylor Swift meet-cute at the 2024 Grammy Awards, and how he was nearly rendered speechless by his run-in with the pop star.

Jelly says that upon seeing Swift, 34, he gathered up his courage to tell her about how he used to push his daughter Bailee, now 16, on the swings at a children’s playground that she helped fund in Hendersonville, Tenn.

“I take a ridiculous, probably abnormal, amount of pride in being from Nashville, so anytime I can link a Tennessee connect, it tickles me,” he explains. “Taylor lived in Hendersonville for a while, and she had bought a playground. I used to push Bailee on that swingset that Taylor donated to Hendersonville. I wanted to tell her that when I met her, but I was so nervous I couldn’t even remember what swingset it was.”

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In 2010, Swift — who went to high school in Hendersonville — teamed up with Little Tikes Commercial to rebuild the Kids Kingdom playground at Memorial Park, which had been destroyed by flooding. A press release at the time said the “Fortnight” singer donated $100,000 to the project to help bring it to completion. The playground now includes castle-inspired slides with flags bearing Swift’s signature.

Jelly says that even though Swift was the one to approach him at the Grammys, he was still left tongue-tied.

“My wife [Bunnie Xo] said, ‘I think Taylor’s coming over to holler at you.’ It was like the Red Sea parted for her,” he recalls. “I’m looking at Taylor Swift and I have a reason to explain to her why I like her so much, and I’m going, ‘You built the swingset somewhere, my daughter, I pushed her on it.’ I did so bad! Definitely was at a loss for words in that moment.”

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Their meeting was captured on video by Bunnie, who shared the moment to TikTok.

“When your hubby gets to meet his crush finally,” she wrote on the clip.

Jelly may have a chance to redeem himself at the 2025 Grammy Awards in February, as both he and Swift are nominated once more for several trophies. This year, his hit “I Am Not Okay” is up for best country and best country solo performance, while Swift is nominated six times.

For more on Jelly Roll, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.