As country star Jelly Roll skyrockets to fame, the musician admits he’s facing mounting pressure to maintain his success.
“I was never afraid of not making it. I’m petrified of losing it,” he told People. “That is the pressure I feel. I was okay with this thing not working. But since it worked, now I’m petrified of it not working.”
While Jelly Roll basked in his newfound success, he opened up about how he struggled to reach fame and how he “hurt” people along the way.
JELLY ROLL GIVES PRINCE HARRY NECK TATTOO AS ROYAL JOKES HE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN IT ON HIS A–
“I’m rounding third on my amends list, and I think when I get there, I’ll feel a little better. I was hitting some stone walls with people that wouldn’t forgive me, and I was like, ‘God, maybe this has something to do with the fact [that] I haven’t forgiven myself either,'” he added.
“I brush over 10, 12, 15 years of living an extremely crazy, narcissistic, selfish lifestyle in a two-second sentence in an interview. The truth is, there was a lot of pain in there. I hurt a lot of people. No matter [how] much I’ve changed, they still watch and are mad that I’m successful. I understand that. But I’m doing better at letting go of the past and realizing that I don’t owe that part of me anything.”
Jelly Roll, born Jason DeFord, first went to juvenile detention at age 13 and was in and out of jails for years.
During his time in jail, he earned his GED and enrolled in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. He also founded a Christian program called Jericho that connected him more deeply with his faith.
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The Grammy-nominated country singer has expressed his troublesome past through his soulful lyrics as he desperately sought salvation for his sins.
The “Save Me” crooner is nominated in three major categories at the 2024 CMA Awards this year – male vocalist, album of the year and entertainer of the year. Jelly Roll described his nominations as a “huge” moment in his music career.
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“You don’t get no bigger,” he said. “We went from only being qualified to walk the carpet, didn’t even have a seat for us in the building, to winning new artist of the year. And then to being nominated for the big three. I’m in a category with people that I was watching win CMAs on TV when I was incarcerated. That’s crazy.”
“I wouldn’t be the man I am today if it wasn’t for what I went through. I think it empowered me. I think it gave me my voice,” he told Fox News Digital at the 2023 CMAs. “It taught me a lot about overcoming. It taught me a lot about changing and the ability to change.
“I was a horrible human for decades, and to just be able to turn that around and give a message in the music and help people… and just try to give back as much as I can in every way I can is very indicative of where I came from and how important it is to me to always reach back.”
