Grammy nominated singer Jelly Roll has urged Congress to pass anti-fentanyl legislation, invoking his past as a drug dealer and addict in an effort to stop the deadly opioid crisis.
Jelly Roll, 39, given name Jason DeFord, left his life of crime for a career in music and recently won the Country Music Association (CMA) award for best new artist of 2023.
The rapper turned country singer spent time in prison for various offenses, including aggravated robbery and drug possession. He battled drug addiction, suffers from depression and has described himself as a ‘broken man’.
Still haunted by his troubled past, the musician is determined to raise awareness about the drug and mental health crisis gripping the US.
Standing in front on Senators on Thursday, DeFord admitted he once was ‘part of the problem’ when it comes to the fentanyl crisis killing around 190 Americans every day and declared: ‘I am here now standing as a man that wants to be a part of solution.’
Rapper turned country music singer Jelly Roll, 39, given name Jason DeFord, urged Congress on Thursday to pass anti-fentanyl legislation, invoking his past as a drug dealer and addict in an effort to stop the deadly opioid crisis
DeFord, pictured performing during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2023 in New York City, left his life of crime for a career in music and recently won the Country Music Association award for best new artist of 2023
Jason DeFord, pictured with his wife former escort Bunnie XO, is still haunted by his troubled past and wants to raise awareness about the drug and mental health crisis gripping the US
DeFord, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, was incarcerated on and off for nearly a decade until 2008 when his first child, daughter Bailee Ann DeFord, was born.
He was first locked up at age 13, held in a juvenile facility, after being caught with marijuana. By the time he was 15, the musician had tried many drugs including pills, cocaine, acid, mushrooms and meth.
DeFord landed himself an 18-month sentence at 16 years old after being charged as an adult in an aggravated assault case that saw him attempt to steal marijuana from someone whilst armed.
During his teenage years and early twenties, he was in and out of jail for numerous minor offenses such as violating probation and failing drug tests. He was also jailed for possessing crack with the intent to resell.
He vowed to turn his life around after the birth of his daughter. DeFord, then 23, was in prison when he learned that Bailee Ann had been born.
The Son of a Sinner singer previously revealed: ‘I was incarcerated when a guard knocked on my cell door and delivered the news that my daughter had been born.’
Bailee Ann’s mother is his ex Felicia, a former drug addict who has also been in and out of jail. DeFord’s current wife former escort Bunnie XO helped him get custody of Bailee Ann in 2016, and the pair have raised her together ever since.
Jason DeFord has two children from a previous relationships: daughter Bailee Ann DeFord, who was born on May 22, 2008, and son Noah Buddy DeFord, who was born in August 2016. He vowed to turn his life around after Bailee Ann was worn
Bailee Ann’s mother is DeFord ex Felicia (pictured front left), a former drug addict who has also been in and out of jail. His wife Bunnie helped him get custody of Bailee Ann (pictured front right) in 2016
DeFord also shares a son, Noah Buddy DeFord, with ex Melissa, with whom he and Bunnie seemingly have a good relationship. He, Bunnie and Noah are pictured together
DeFord also shares a son, Noah Buddy DeFord, with ex Melissa, with whom he and Bunnie seemingly have a good relationship.
Bunnie made a post to her Instagram stories in July last year praising Melisa for being a ‘stand up chick’, Taste of Country reported.
She added: ‘We couldn’t imagine our lives with her…It takes a village to raise these babies and luckily we have her as a part of the family.’
DeFord met Bunnie at Fremont Street, Las Vegas at the Country Saloon in 2015, when she was a high-end escort. At the time, he was broke and living in a van.
They tied the knot on August 31, 2016 in Las Vegas on the same day the singer got down on one knee. He proposed to Bunnie on stage at a Yelawolf/Deftones concert, with the pair heading straight to the courthouse where they married that night.
The couple renewed their vows on August 31 last year at the very chapel where they tied the knot just seven years prior.
Bunnie is a model, podcast host and YouTuber who owns Dumb Blonde Productions, and self-proclaimed ‘trailer park Barbara Walters.’
DeFord is married to Bunnie XO, 42, is a model, podcast host and YouTuber who owns Dumb Blonde Productions. The couple are pictured together at the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas on May 11, 2023
Jason DeFord and Bunnie XO renewed their vows on August 31, 2023 at the very chapel where they tied the knot just seven years prior
Jason DeFord was in prison when he learned that Bailee Ann had been born. He is pictured with his daughter Bailee Ann
Jason DeFord (center) is pictured with his wife Bunnie XO (right) and daughter Bailee Ann (left) at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN
DeFord left prison for the last time at age 25 and began pursuing his career in music as Jelly Roll, the nickname his mother gave him when he was a young, ‘chubby kid’.
His debut album, Year Round, was released on April 19, 2011 via label Hypnotize Minds, but the musician struggled to land a proper record deal.
READ MORE: Jelly Roll gets candid about fentanyl and felonies
He recalled how multiple labels claimed his sound had too much rock influence to be classified as country, was too country for the rap genre and had featured too much rap for rock.
Label execs also didn’t like his criminal history, tattoos and overall appearance, DeFord said, telling The Guardian: ‘I was told nobody’s gonna buy a 400-pound man singing sad songs. It’s just not in the bingo card for what the climate of music is.’
The performer built a ‘sizeable’ fan base on his YouTube channel, alleging he had ‘a billion views before I signed a record deal’.
But his career really took off in 2020 with the release of Save Me, a cry for help amid his battle with addiction. The song received hundreds of millions of views on YouTube and he was approached by record labels.
Since then he has released two successful albums, Ballads of the Broken, released on September 17, 2021, and Whitsitt Chapel, release on June 2, 2023. Both albums were produced via the label BBR Music Group.
DeFord explained that Whitsitt Chapel was a raw album, filled with ‘aching distillation’, ‘hopelessness’ and ‘torment’.
DeFord left prison for the last time at age 25 and began pursuing his career in music as Jelly Roll, the nickname his mother gave him when he was a young, ‘chubby kid’. He is pictured performing at the Power to the Patient Event on January 10, 2024 in Washington, DC
Jason DeFord, aka Jelly Roll, celebrates his New Artist of the Year win with his wife Bunnie XO at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards on November 8, 2023
Jason DeFord is investing his energy into philanthropic efforts, which includes rallying lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass the FEND Off Fentanyl Act. He and his wife Bunnie XO are pictured walking into a Senate hearing on Thursday
He told the news outlet: ‘I see myself as a broken man that’s trying to put the pieces of the puzzle back together. I looked at the whole experience as a cry for help. And it was heard. The music represents so many people that haven’t felt heard.’
READ MORE: Who is Jelly Roll? Meet the convict turned star
Last year, DeFord earned several accolades for his musical contributions and received nominations for two Grammys, including in the prestigious category of best new artist.
He won three Country Music Television (CMT) Awards including Male Video of the Year, Male Breakthrough Video of the Year, and Digital-First Performance of the Year. He also received the CMA award for New Artist of the Year.
‘There’s something that’s kind of brokenly beautiful about this almost 40-year-old man making his way, you know,’ he said of his success.
‘I’m the real Cinderella man.’
Now, the Need A Favor singer is investing his energy into philanthropic efforts, which includes rallying lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass the FEND Off Fentanyl Act.
The bill tackles the root of the fentanyl crisis – Mexican cartels and Chinese suppliers – who are trafficking the deadly drug into the US.
The former drug dealer spoke to senators in emotional testimony Thursday in which he highlighted the need for the legislation.
‘I’ve attended more funerals than I care to share with y’all. This committee, I could sit here and cry for days about the caskets I’ve carried of people I loved dearly, deeply in my soul,’ said the Grammy-nominated singer.
DeFord talks with Patrick Yoes, National President, Fraternal Order of Police before the start of a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee hearing on January 11, 2024 in Washington, DC
Jason DeFord and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), stop to talk to the press outside of the hearing room of a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee hearing on January 11, 2024 in Washington, DC
Owner of Dumb Blonde podcast, Bunnie DeFord aka Bunnie XO, listens to her husband testify before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing entitled, ‘Stopping the Flow of Fentanyl – Public Awareness and Legislative Solutions’, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on January 11, 2024
Ranking member Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) greets Jason DeFord before the start of a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee hearing on January 11, 2024
‘Good people. Not just drug addicts. Uncles, friends, cousins, normal people — some people that just got in a car wreck and started taking a pain pill manage it. One thing led to the other…how fast it spirals out of control,’ DeFord continued.
‘It’s hard to move forward when your past is in your back pocket,’ he says about his previous felony conviction.
The performer said he considers himself a perfect spokesperson for the fentanyl epidemic because he’s not a politician and does not consider himself political.
‘I am a musician and that I have no political alliance. I am neither Democrat nor Republican,’ he stated.
He lamented his past criminal activities that have forever taken away his right to vote. As a result, ‘I have never paid attention to a political race in my life,’ he said.
‘Ironically, I think that makes me the perfect person to speak about this because fentanyl transcends partisanship and ideology.’
Bunnie XO and Jelly Roll pose onstage during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2024 in Times Square on December 31, 2023 in New York
Jelly Roll (right) accepts the New Artist of the Year award from Gerry Turner (left) onstage during the 57th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 8, 2023 in Nashville, TN
Jelly Roll attends the Billboard Country Power Players event held at Marathon Music Works on June 6, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee
DeFord is hoping to erase the negativity surrounding drug addiction, by working on solutions.
‘America has been known to bully and shame drug addicts instead of dealing and trying to understand what the actual root of the problem is,’ he continued.
The musician has also been involved in other charitable ventures. After selling out a show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena in November, DeFord donated the estimated $400,000 in profits to a charity that supports at-risk kids and built a recording studio inside a youth center.
In December he donated a semitruck full of with toys to The Last Minute Toy Store, an organization that provides gifts to children in middle Tennessee during the holiday season.