Jelly Roll reveals he's struggling to book international tour due to his past felonies
Jelly Roll's checkered past has come back to haunt his musical career as he and his team try to book an international tour.
The Son Of A Sinner star revealed he has had difficulties in booking some shows in certain countries due to his past felony convictions.
During a new interview with Jon Bon Jovi for Interview Magazine, the singer and rapper seemed to surprise the Livin' On A Prayer star when he asked him if he had taken his show overseas yet.
'Not yet. I'm so excited,' he told the News Jersey rocker. 'We're figuring out the final pieces of some legal puzzles for me to get overseas.'
He proceeded to elaborate: 'Yeah. 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 favor.'
Jelly Roll (born Jason Bradley DeFord), 39, revealed to Jon Bon Jovi in an conversation with Interview Magazine that he and his team have had a hard time booking an international tour due to his past felonies
Shocked by his revelation, the Keep The Faith singer-songwriter shared his support in seeing the issue get cleared up in a timely manner.
'I hope so. Those are some really archaic rules,' the New Jersey icon, 62, said. 'Entertainers should be able to go and do their job.'
'For the record, I'm a kind from Antioch, Tennessee, whose father never left the southeastern region until he was in his 50s,' Jelly (born Jason Bradley DeFord), 39, said while explaining just how far he's come in his life and career.
Over the years, Jelly has been very open and honest about his past run-ins with the law that started when he was a teenager.
In all, Jelly admitted to being in jail around 40 times, most of which were for drug-related charges as a young man. One of the incidents, which happened when he was just 16, had an aggravated robbery charge attached to it.
'We robbed a couple of guys for some weed,' he confessed during a conversation on the popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. 'It was a heinous crime, admittedly,' she explained, before adding, 'it was an armed robbery, we went in there with a gun.'
Despite being a teenager and nearly two years away from being an adult, Jelly ended up serving more than a year in prison.
After serving out his time, prison records show that his probation period officially ended on December 16, 2016.
'We're figuring out the final pieces of some legal puzzles for me to get overseas,' the singer and rapper told Bon Jovi, before adding, 'Yeah. 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 favor'
Jelly also revealed he lost more than 70 lbs since January after committing to the 2 Bears 5K at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on May 7
Music would end up being his savior, as it allowed him to unload any thoughts, feelings and emotions in his mind and put it down into words and storytelling.
He would first launch his artistry as a hip-hop artist after being inspired by the likes of Three 6 Mafia, UGK and 8Ball & MJG.
Jelly went on to release 18 studio albums, either as solo artist or as collaboration with Lil Wyte or Haystak.
The singer and rapper bounced around the southern rap circuit for years, but it wasn't until he made some changes to his music to add more country elements to his songwriting that he saw his career soar.
He got the inspiration to go in a more country direction after seeing the success of Son Of A Sinner off his album Ballads Of The Broken (2021), which reached the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 but hit number one on the Country Airplay chart.
It was that success that he got the idea to take on a full country sound for his latest studio album, Whitsitt Chapel (2023), that contains the singles Need A Favor, Save Me with Lainey Wilson and Halfway to Hell.
Jelly Roll described his latest release as 'real music for real people with real problems' and 'about growth and gratitude happening in my life,' while also stating that he wanted to 'create a project that felt hopeful.'
Jelly has been happily married to wife Bunnie XO (Alisa DeFord), 44, since August 2016, which was followed up by the couple renewing their vows in 2013; they are pictured in April
In another life-changing period of his life, the Almost Home star has also been focused on prioritizing his physical health in recent months.
He shared how he dropped 70 pounds since January in preparation for a 5K run in Pasadena, California on May 7.
'I'm doing two to three miles a day, four to six days a week. I'm doing 20 to 30 minutes in the sauna, six minutes in a cold plunge every day,' he revealed to People in mid-April, before sharing that he also changed up his diet and is 'eating healthy right now.'
After meeting backstage at one of his concerts in Las Vegas in 2015, Jelly and Bunnie XO (Alisa DeFord) went on to get married in August 2016. They have since renewed their vows last year.
