Could Jelly Roll really walk away from his country music career? From this latest interview, it sure sounds like the “Save Me” singer would be perfectly content with hanging it up and doing what God wants him to do next.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a year for the artist whose actual name is Jason Bradley DeFord. In February of this year, the country star took home three Grammy awards. Then in June, he and his now ex-wife – Bunnie Xo – filed for divorce. If you’ve felt as though you haven’t seen as much of Jelly Roll this year, that’s been an intentional move by the artist.
During one of his last live performances in Salt Lake City, Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium, he told the crowd that he was planning on taking some time off in order to heal:
“This has truly been a lifetime experience for me. And in a couple of nights, I go to Colorado Springs and do my last show for a year or two. I’m fixing to take some time off and heal. Thank you for the opportunity.”
And he’s done just that.
Of course, he made a ton of negative headlines hosting Jimmy Kimmel for a few days, and really leaning into the political banter.
But aside from that, it’s been pretty quiet on the Jelly Roll front… until he sat down with Kelly Sutton on Y’all Access Radio and stated that he’s waiting for his next direction from God. Could the Big Man Upstairs direct the country singer to abandon his music career and pour into something else entirely? He’s not ruling it out.
It’s no surprise that Jelly Roll is going to God during this time off. He’s been known to take audiences to church during his live shows and acceptance speeches, and almost every time he’s in front of a microphone, he’s preaching the Gospel and telling the world how instrumental Jesus has been in turning his life around. And by all accounts, God has worked a pretty miraculous transformation in his life. We’re talking someone who went from the streets, to jail, to turning it around and becoming a Grammy Award-winning artist. Of course, we don’t know the ins and outs of his personal life, and nobody is perfect, but it’s really hard not to root for this man’s faith journey.
Jelly Roll followed the Lord’s direction and it got him to where he is now… so it’s very on par for him to say that he’d be perfectly fine with walking away if that was God’s will:
“Everything that Jason or Jelly Roll wanted to do in the music business, I’ve done now. So at this point, I really need to go talk to God and see if he wants me to stick around and what He wants me to do next.
If God tells me to go work at a homeless shelter in Paducah, Kentucky, I’m out of here. Y’all will never see me again… He gave me everything I ever wanted man. Grammys, ACMs, CMAs, I’m a member of the Grand Ole Opry. God has done it.”
Do I expect Jelly Roll to actually walk away from his country music career? No, I don’t. But could he go away and do something else… like working at a homeless shelter in Paducah, Kentucky (shoutout Quilt City, U.S.A.)? I wouldn’t put it past him. And going away for a while could always lead to fans wanting more from him, and that could lead him back to music when the timing is right.
Regardless of how you feel about Jelly Roll or his music, it’s cool to see a guy with his story (quite literally a living testimony to the power of God) using the platform that he has to praise the Lord for everything that He’s blessed him with, while also doing his best to inspire others to follow Jesus and make positive changes in their lives.
He sat down and said, “If God tells me to go, I’ll go,” and that right there is an inspiring message.
