Country star Jelly Roll says he’s ready to take his case to the Tennessee legislature. The chart-topping artist, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, wants a narrowly written change to state law that would let him legally own a rifle — and get back to hunting.
The country artist discussed the limits of his parole during a recent appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” He said his criminal record bars him from possessing or firing a firearm, a restriction Rogan questioned, prompting DeFord to explain where his case stands.
“I am up for a pardon this year,” he said. “My paperwork has been sent to my governor, and he considers pardons every December. So every day, I’m just kind of praying.”
Even with a pardon from Gov. Bill Lee, he noted, Tennessee law would still classify him as a violent offender. “I’d be pardoned, but I wouldn’t be exonerated. The charges aren’t completely gone.”
If he does receive clemency, DeFord said he wants to approach lawmakers with a focused request: the ability to hunt again. He described hunting as important for his mental and physical health.
“My goal is to reach out to legislation eventually and go, ‘Hey, if nothing else, I’d like my right to hunt.’”
DeFord added that he believes there should be a legal path back for people with past convictions. “I understand if you’ve ever raped somebody or killed somebody, but there should be some path to redemption. Even if it takes 30 years.”
He also said the inability to carry a firearm affects his personal safety. DeFord told Rogan he spends more than a million dollars a year on security and could reduce that cost if he were legally allowed to carry a weapon.
Rogan agreed that public safety concerns matter, but said Christianity’s focus on forgiveness aligns with DeFord’s own beliefs.
DeFord has spoken openly about his past, including in the 2023 documentary Jelly Roll: Save Me, where he said he had been jailed 40 times. His most serious charges came at age 16, when he was tried as an adult for aggravated robbery and possession with intent to sell. He faced up to 20 years, but served a little over a year and then seven years of probation.
“I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime,” he told Billboard in 2023. “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.”
His heavily tattooed appearance still leads to awkward encounters. During a recent visit to a Louis Vuitton store in Sydney, he said employees watched him as if they suspected he might steal something.
“I have never been looked at more like a crim,” DeFord posted on social media. “The last time I was looked at like a criminal this bad… I was an actual criminal this bad.”
His past has also complicated his ability to travel overseas. In an Interview magazine conversation with Jon Bon Jovi last year, the “Son of a Sinner” singer said he now has a passport but still faces hurdles in some countries because of his convictions.
DeFord has said that the difficulties of his past have indelibly marked how he sees his life now. “I wouldn’t be the man I am today if it wasn’t for what I went through,” he told Fox News Digital at the 2023 CMAs. “I think it empowered me. I think it gave me my voice.”
A large part of his conversation with Rogan focused on his dramatic weight loss. DeFord said he has shed about 300 pounds and believed he was “six to 12 months” away from dying when he was at his heaviest. At times, he weighed more than 500 pounds while flying hundreds of times a year.
Near his 39th birthday, he realized he had never met a 500-pound 40-year-old. He said he had dealt with several heart issues and felt as though he was running out of time.
DeFord took a different approach to weight loss than he had in the past. Instead of treating overeating as a moral failing, he saw it as “a biological loop that I didn’t know how to interrupt.” Guided by an expert, he started with daily cold plunges and walking 10,000 steps. He said his family’s encouragement kept him going, even as his size strained his marriage.
Diet changes followed. He said he hasn’t eaten bread for two years except on Thanksgiving. Therapy also became part of the process as he worked to understand his relationship with food.
“I never planned on living,” he told Rogan, saying that even when success arrived, he assumed his life would be short. What comforted him was knowing his children would remember what he built.
The podcast ended with a surprise. Rogan played a recorded message from country musician Craig Morgan inviting DeFord to join the Grand Ole Opry.
“Jelly Roll, you’re officially invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry,” Morgan said.
Jelly Roll removed his headphones, put his head in his hands, and asked Rogan for a hug as he fought back tears.
“It don’t get no bigger in country music, bubba,” he said afterward. “That’s as big as it gets.”
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As you do unto others, so shall it be done to you, and it matters not what form the “others” may take.
“Every time you do intentional harm to another being, it reflects back on you tenfold. EVERY. TIME.”
Better check your Karma, dude. You’re already living through part of it. Don’t make it any worse.