Candid about his past legal issues, Jelly Roll is having difficulty booking his first international tour.
Having served several jail sentences on drug related charges, starting with his first arrest at 14 years old, a number of countries refuse to let him play.
Speaking to Jon Bon Jovi for Interview Magazine, the superstar country musician said:
“We’re figuring out the final pieces of some legal puzzles for me to get overseas.” “And while he’s now able to leave the US and has his own passport, the 39-year-old musician is still facing a struggle.” “It’s funny, America has finally agreed to let me leave and give me a passport, but some countries won’t let me come because of my felonies.” “We’re working on that. I think it’s going to work in my favour.”
After being charged as an adult at the age of 16, the musician (born Jason Bradley DeFord) was arrested for aggravated robbery, and spent more than a year in prison with seven years’ probation. About the crime, Jelly Roll told Billboard:
“I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime.” “This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old kid that made the worst decision that he could have made in life and people could have got hurt and, by the grace of God, thankfully, nobody did.”
Having enjoyed success with his ‘Save Me’ collaboration with Lainey Wilson, the Grammy award winner stated that the 2008 birth of his daughter Bailee was the inspiration he needed to change when, at the age of 23, he got the news while in jail for drug dealing:
“May 22, 2008. A guard knocks on my cell door mid-afternoon during lockdown. He goes, ‘You had a kid today.’ “I’ve never had nothing in life that urged me in the moment to know that I had to do something different. I have to figure this out right now” added Jelly Roll.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Jelly Roll – Public Domain