Jelly Roll (singer)
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Jason Bradley DeFord, better known to the world as Jelly Roll, was born on December 4th, 1984. This American rapper, singer, and songwriter kicked off his musical journey in 2003, but it was the release of his 2022 singles, "Son of a Sinner" and "Need a Favor," that propelled him into the mainstream spotlight.
"Son of a Sinner" swept the 2023 CMT Music Awards, snagging three wins. That same year, he was honored as New Artist at the CMA Awards and earned a nomination for Best New Artist at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.
Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Jelly Roll's early life was marked by a complex family dynamic. His father was a meat salesman with a side hustle as a bookie, while his mother struggled with mental illness and addiction. Though baptized at 14, he soon found himself drawn to drugs and away from church. This period coincided with his first arrest, marking the beginning of a decade-long cycle of incarceration. Despite these challenges, he earned his GED at 23 while serving time.
Inspired by hip-hop giants like Three 6 Mafia, UGK, and 8Ball & MJG, Jelly Roll launched his career by selling mixtapes out of his car. His early releases, including "The Plain Shmear Tape" and the "Gamblin' on the White Boy" series, laid the groundwork. A 2010 collaboration, "Pop Another Pill" with Lil Wyte, garnered over 6.3 million YouTube views, leading to his involvement with the hip-hop group SNO. Over the years, Jelly Roll released numerous mixtapes and independent albums, collaborating with artists like Struggle Jennings, Haystak, and Tech N9ne. His 2013 mixtape, "Whiskey, Weed, & Women," famously had to be renamed from "Whiskey, Weed, & Waffle House" after a legal threat from the restaurant chain.
Jelly Roll made his iconic Grand Ole Opry debut in November 2021. By May 2022, he achieved his first number-one hit on rock radio with "Dead Man Walking." January 2023 saw him reach the pinnacle of country radio with "Son of a Sinner," a track co-written by himself, Ernest, and David Ray Stevens. This song, from his eighth studio album "Ballads of the Broken," also climbed the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. In February 2023, he shattered records, spending a remarkable 25 weeks at number one on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart. That December, he sold out Nashville's Bridgestone Arena to a crowd of 15,000, joined by an impressive lineup of fellow artists. The summer of 2023 was dominated by his 44-city 'Backroad Baptism Tour.' The 2023 CMT Music Awards were a triumph for "Son of a Sinner," earning him Male Video of the Year, Male Breakthrough Video of the Year, and Digital-First Performance of the Year.
His ninth studio album, "Whitsitt Chapel," featuring the hit single "Need a Favor," was released on June 2, 2023. In November 2023, he was crowned New Artist of the Year at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards. In a powerful moment in January 2024, Jelly Roll testified before the U.S. Congress in support of anti-fentanyl legislation, stating, "I was a part of the problem. I am here now, standing as a man that wants to be a part of the solution."
April 2024 brought a lawsuit from a Pennsylvania wedding band also named Jellyroll for trademark infringement, which was later settled. In June 2024, he appeared in the documentary "Rebel Country," which opened with a reenactment of his arrest. July 2024 saw him featured on Eminem's album "The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)" with the track "Somebody Save Me," which sampled his own song. He made his international debut in St. Catharines, Ontario, in July 2024. His tenth studio album, "Beautifully Broken," was announced in August 2024 and released in October.
September 2024 marked his debut as the first musical guest of the 50th season of Saturday Night Live, performing "Liar" and "Winning Streak." He also performed a Johnny Cash medley and joined Snoop Dogg on SNL50: The Homecoming Concert. In November 2024, he released the song "Run It" from the soundtrack of the film "Sonic the Hedgehog 3." In 2025, he collaborated with Brandon Lake on "Hard Fought Hallelujah," which won Song of the Year at the K-Love Fan Awards. He was also featured on Shaboozey's April 2025 track "Amen" and released the single "Holy Water" with Marshmello in August 2025.
Jelly Roll's acting debut came on the television drama series "Tulsa King" in September 2024, performing "I Am Not Okay." He also appeared in "Fire Country" as Noah.
His foray into professional wrestling began with a performance at SummerSlam 2024, where he delivered a chokeslam and a chair shot. He continued his WWE appearances on SmackDown in July 2025, setting up a rivalry with Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre, and forming an alliance with Randy Orton. He competed in a tag team match with Orton against McIntyre and Paul at SummerSlam 2025.
Jelly Roll has been married to his wife, Alyssa DeFord, known as "Bunnie XO," since 2016, and they renewed their vows in 2023. He has two children from previous relationships.
At the age of 39, DeFord returned to his Christian faith, inspired by his daughter's interest in baptism. He described his return to church as a rediscovery of "genuineness," "humanity," "compassion," and "love." He openly shares his faith, acknowledging that his expression may differ from others, but emphasizing his "heart for God" and "heart for Jesus."
In 2024, he testified before the U.S. Senate in support of the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, sharing his personal experience with drug distribution and his commitment to being part of the solution.
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Jason Bradley DeFord (born December 4, 1984), known professionally as Jelly Roll (originally stylized as JellyRoll), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Beginning his music career in 2003, he rose to mainstream prominence following the release of his 2022 singles "Son of a Sinner" and "Need a Favor".
"Son of a Sinner" won three CMT Music Awards in 2023. That same year, he won the award for New Artist at the CMA Awards, and was also nominated for the Best New Artist award at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.
== Early life ==
DeFord was born and raised in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee. His father was a meat salesman and worked as a bookie on the side; his mother suffered from mental illness and addiction.
DeFord was baptized at age 14, but says around that time he began "dabbling" in drugs and stopped going to church. "The same year that I got baptized, I got arrested, and that started what would be a 10 year cycle of incarceration in and out," he said. From his teenage years into his twenties, DeFord was arrested several times and spent time in jail for various charges and felonies including possession with intent to distribute and aggravated robbery. While imprisoned, he earned his GED at the age of 23.
== Career ==
=== Music ===
Jelly Roll launched his career in hip-hop after being inspired by rappers such as Three 6 Mafia, UGK, and 8Ball & MJG. He sold mixtapes out of his car, starting with a string of releases from his first project, The Plain Shmear Tape, in 2003 then following with the four-part Gamblin' on the White Boy series from 2004 to 2011. His 2010 collaboration "Pop Another Pill" with Memphis rapper Lil Wyte reached over 6.3 million YouTube views. This song led to the album Year Round by the hip-hop group SNO, of which Jelly Roll was a member. Over the next few years, Jelly Roll released many mixtapes and independent solo albums including collaborations with Lil Wyte, Struggle Jennings, Haystak, and Tech N9ne. Jelly Roll's 2013 mixtape Whiskey, Weed, & Women was originally named Whiskey, Weed, & Waffle House, but was later changed after Waffle House threatened legal action over the use of their name and logo on the cover. The replacement cover featured a "cease and desist" stamp in place of the restaurant's logo.
Jelly Roll made his Grand Ole Opry debut on November 9, 2021. On July 7, 2022, he was invited by fellow country singer Craig Morgan to join him on stage at the Opry to perform "Almost Home". On May 9, 2022, Jelly Roll scored his first number one on rock radio with the track "Dead Man Walking". In January 2023, Jelly Roll scored his first number-one song on country radio with his debut country single "Son of a Sinner", written by himself, Ernest, and David Ray Stevens. The track was the second single from his eighth studio album, Ballads of the Broken, and also peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. In February 2023, he made history with a record-breaking 25th week at number 1 on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart. Jelly Roll sold out Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on December 9, 2022, to 15,000 fans and was joined by Chris Young, Sam Hunt, Riley Green, Shinedown, Ernest, Struggle Jennings, Tech N9ne, and Krizz Kaliko. In the summer of 2023, he completed a 44-city 'Backroad Baptism Tour'. At the 2023 CMT Music Awards, Jelly Roll won for Male Video of the Year, Male Breakthrough Video of the Year, and Digital-First Performance of the Year, all for the song "Son of a Sinner".
Jelly Roll released his ninth studio album, Whitsitt Chapel, featuring the single "Need a Favor" on June 2, 2023. In November 2023, Jelly Roll won the award for New Artist of the Year at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards. In January 2024, Jelly Roll testified before the U.S. Congress, in support of anti-fentanyl legislation. Explaining his perspective as a former distributor of illegal drugs, Jelly Roll stated before the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, “I was a part of the problem. I am here now, standing as a man that wants to be a part of the solution".
In April 2024, Jelly Roll was sued by Pennsylvania-based wedding band Jellyroll for trademark infringement. The case was later settled out of court. In June 2024, he appeared in the country music documentary Rebel Country. The film opens with a reenactment of his arrest in Tennessee. In July 2024, Jelly Roll was featured on Eminem's twelfth album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), on the track "Somebody Save Me", which sampled his song "Save Me". He appeared in its music video released the following month. On July 8, Jelly Roll made his first international appearance at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario. On August 23, 2024, Jelly Roll announced his tenth studio album, Beautifully Broken. It was released on October 11, 2024.
In September 2024, Jelly Roll was the first musical guest of the 50th season of Saturday Night Live performing "Liar" and "Winning Streak." Jelly Roll also appeared on SNL50: The Homecoming Concert backed by The Roots, performing a Johnny Cash medley consisting of "I Walk the Line," "Folsom Prison Blues," and "Ring of Fire" and joining Snoop Dogg for "Last Dance with Mary Jane."
In November 2024, Jelly Roll released the song "Run It", from the soundtrack of the film Sonic the Hedgehog 3. On December 3, 2024, a music video for the song was released, featuring clips from the film and original footage in the style of its end credits sequence.
He collaborated with Brandon Lake on a version of Lake's single "Hard Fought Hallelujah", which was released in 2025. This version won the "Song of the Year" award at the 2025 K-Love Fan Awards, which is voted on by fans of Christian music.
Jelly Roll is featured on the song "Amen" by American musician Shaboozey, released on April 25, 2025. The track is included on the complete edition of Shaboozey's third studio album, Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going.
On August 8, 2025, he released the single "Holy Water" with Marshmello.
=== Acting ===
Jelly Roll made his television debut on the television drama series Tulsa King with Sylvester Stallone. The episode was released in September 2024 and featured Jelly Roll performing a rendition of "I Am Not Okay". He also appeared in Fire Country as Noah, a nursing home worker who gives Vince Leone positive advice. His song "Dreams Don’t Die" was used as background for the episode.
=== Professional wrestling ===
Jelly Roll started making appearances for the American professional wrestling promotion WWE with a performance at SummerSlam 2024, after which he delivered a chokeslam and a chair shot to both Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. On July 11, 2025, Jelly Roll performed on WWE SmackDown where he was interrupted by Logan Paul, setting up a rivalry with Paul and Drew McIntyre and an alliance with Randy Orton. Jelly Roll appeared at Saturday Night's Main Event XL the next night, aiding Orton in his match against McIntyre and attempted to fend off Paul, establishing himself as a babyface. It was subsequently announced that Jelly Roll would compete in a tag team match with Orton against McIntyre and Paul at that years SummerSlam. On Night 1 of the event on August 2, Jelly Roll and Orton lost to McIntyre and Paul.
On August 31, Jelly Roll was seen as a spectator for Clash in Paris.
== Personal life ==
Jelly Roll has been married to his wife Alyssa DeFord, known as "Bunnie XO", since 2016. The couple renewed their wedding vows in 2023.
He has two children from previous relationships, a daughter, over whom he and Bunnie have full custody, and a son.
=== Religion ===
DeFord returned to his Christian faith when he was 39 and his daughter, who was 14 at the time, expressed an interest in being baptized. "I should go see what kind of cult she's going to," he recalled thinking, "because that's kind of how I looked at church at that time. And then I went, and I was reminded of the genuineness that can be in those walls, too. I was reminded of the humanity and the compassion and the forgiveness, the love and the community, more than anything watching her and all of her friends there." In 2025, he said, "I might wear it a little different than other people, I might say things that other Christians don't think are right to say, but ultimately, I have a heart for God and I have a heart for Jesus”.
=== Politics ===
In 2024, DeFord testified before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in support of Sen. Tim Scott's Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act. "I was a part of the problem. I am here now, standing as a man that wants to be a part of the solution ... I brought my community down. I hurt people. I was the uneducated man in the kitchen playing chemist with drugs I knew absolutely nothing about, just like these drug dealers are doing right now when they're mixing every drug on the market with fentanyl and they're killing the people we love," he said.
== Discography ==
Studio albums
The Big Sal Story (2012)
Sobriety Sucks (2016)
Addiction Kills (2017)
Goodnight Nashville (2018)
Whiskey Sessions II (2019)
A Beautiful Disaster (2020)
Self Medicated (2020)
Ballads of the Broken (2021)
Whitsitt Chapel (2023)
Beautifully Broken (2024)
Collaborative albums
Year Round (with Lil Wyte and BPZ) (2011)
Strictly Business (with Haystak) (2011)
No Filter (with Lil Wyte) (2013)
Business as Usual (with Haystak) (2013)
No Filter 2 (with Lil Wyte) (2016)
Waylon & Willie (with Struggle Jennings) (2017)
Waylon & Willie II (with Struggle Jennings) (2018)
Waylon & Willie III (with Struggle Jennings) (2018)
Waylon & Willie IV (with Struggle Jennings) (2020)
== Awards and nominations ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website
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