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Jelly Roll, Grammy-winning country artist, transformed from a troubled past of drugs and jail to a life of faith, music, and public praise for Jesus Christ.

Jelly who? Yep, I never heard of him either. But it seems he just won a Grammy award for the best contemporary country album, and it seems he is an outspoken Christian. So I did a quick internet search about him. It seems a life of alcohol and drugs and the like was part of his past, but now he is a Christ follower.

From Jail Cells to Grammy Stage

A Beliefnet article says this:

Singer Jelly Roll has had a shady past, having spent about 40 times behind bars for drug charges. However, he said it was his daughter’s birth in 2008 that forced him to rethink his life, comparing the moment to Paul’s Damascus Road encounter in the Bible. For the 39-year-old, whose birth name is Jason DeFord, arrests started when he was just 14 years old. His struggles ran deep, with drug use plaguing his life.

He told People Magazine, “I had to learn that you could drink alcohol without doing cocaine. It took me a long time to learn that. I’ve never said that, but that’s real.” Addressing the severity of his issues, he added, “There was a long time where I just assumed, when people told me they drank without doing cocaine, I was like, I thought we only drank to do cocaine.” The artist said he was in jail for crack cocaine when his daughter, Bailee, was born.

That moment seemed to have a profound impact on Jelly Roll, who compared it to the “Christian Scripture of when Saul turned into Paul on the Damascus Road.” A few decades later, Jelly Roll is on top of the musical world, producing hit songs and nabbing Grammy nominations, as reported by People Magazine. His album “Whitsitt Chapel,” which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard all-genre chart in June, is a collection of pop-rock anthems with flourishes of country, and it spawned a pair of hits — the introspective “Need a Favor” and the new version of his viral breakout “Save Me,” featuring Lainey Wilson.

That song can be heard here:

Another song, “Beautifully Broken”, includes these lyrics:

We’re all beautifully broken, scarred, but still alive
Every crack lets the light in, keeps the hope inside
I’ve been shattered into pieces, put back wrong and right
But I’m beautifully broken, and I’m gonna be alright…

Lyrics from “I Am Not Okay” include these words:

I am not okay
I’m barely getting by
Losing track of days
And losing sleep at night

I am not okay
I’m hanging on the rails
So if I say I’m fine
Just know I’ve learned to hide it well

I know I can’t be the only one
Who’s holding on for dear life
But God knows, I know
When it’s all said and done
I’m not okay
But it’s all gonna be alright
It’s not okay
But we’re all gonna be alright

Faith and Music Intertwined

An article from Crosswalk says this:

The country singer known as Jelly Roll is opening up about his faith, telling CCM artist Brandon Lake in a new video that he believes God is working on him and that he tries to follow Jesus in his daily walk. Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, also told Lake he wore a WWJD bracelet as a teenager.

“We should bring those things back,” he said, smiling.

“It was such a good way to be like, ‘What would that Dude do?’”

This month, Lake and Jelly Roll released a collaboration of Lake’s hit song “Hard Fought Hallelujah”. Jelly Roll is a four-time Grammy nominee and eight-time Country Music Association (CMA) Awards nominee who won New Artist of the Year for 2023.

Lake posted a conversation between the two singers on YouTube.

“I think God put you in my life for a reason,” Jelly Roll told Lake. “I think God’s been circling my wagon for a while, and I think He’s kind of starting to pick at me a little more every day.”

Jelly Roll said he fell in love with “Hard Fought Hallelujah” and didn’t realize at first it was a Christian song. Lake later invited him to collaborate.

Exalting Jesus in the Spotlight

I still know next to nothing about him. But when I saw this video of him giving a brief talk at the recent Grammy Awards, I was somewhat impressed:

The Hodge twins said this about the award:

BREAKING: Jelly Roll is a breath of fresh air at the Grammys. He just stole the entire show! While the rest of celebrities are giving speeches defending illegal aliens, Jelly Roll used his time on stage at the Grammys to praise and give thanks to Jesus Christ.

Jelly Roll: “First of all, Jesus, I hear you and I’m listening, Lord. I am listening, Lord!

Second of all, I want to thank my beautiful wife. I would’ve never changed my life without you. I would’ve ended up dead or in jail. I would’ve killed myself if it wasn’t for you and Jesus. I thank you for that.

I thank you for my label, Bunnk and Bo, country radio, baby! What’s up, y’all?!

Oh, Republic, John Meneilly, we did it, baby!

There was a time in my life, y’all, that I was broken. That’s why I wrote this album. I didn’t think I had a chance, y’all. There were days that I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human. There was a moment in my life that all I had was a Bible this big and a radio the same size and a 6-by-8 foot cell.

And I believed that those two things could change my life. I believed that music had the power to change my life and God had the power to change my life.

And I want to tell y’all right now, Jesus is for everybody! Jesus is not owned by one political party! Jesus is not owned by no music label! Jesus is Jesus, and anybody can have a relationship with him.

I love you, Lord!”

As I keep saying, I still know nothing much about him. Maybe some of my readers know much more. But it is good to hear Jesus being exalted in public like this. So at the very least, we can keep him in our prayers.

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Republished with thanks to CultureWatch. Image via YouTube.