Jelly Roll Speaks At Senate Hearing on Fentanyl

Jelly Roll spent two hours and thirty minutes in a Senate hearing this morning (1/11) in Washington D.C. before the Committee of Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The hearing was titled "Stopping the Flow of Fentanyl: Public Awareness and Legislative Solutions."

His wife Bunnie sat behind him at the hearing. Jelly Roll was one of three witnesses who spoke about the fentanyl crisis. He answered questions from a number of U.S. Senators.

Jelly said in his opening statement that he was a "little nervous" to be there. He began, "I think it's important to note before I start that in these five minutes that I'll be speaking, that somebody in the United States will die of a drug overdose. It is almost a seventy-two percent chance that during those five minutes, it will be Fentanyl related."

Jelly introduced himself with his given name, Jason DeFord. He said, "It is important to establish that I am a musician and that I have no political alliance. I am neither Democrat nor Republican. In fact, because of my past, my right to vote has been restricted. Therefore, I have never paid attention to a political race in my life."

He continued, "Ironically, I think that makes me the perfect person to speak about this. Because fentanyl transcends partisanship and idealogy."

During his opening statement, Jelly described how addiction has affected his life and the lives of so many others from an early age. He said, "I've attended more funerals than I care to share with you all. I could sit here and cry for days about the caskets I've carried and the people I have loved dearly, deeply in my soul. Good people, not just drug addicts (but) uncles, friends, cousins, normal people. Some people that just got in a car wreck and started taking a pain pill to manage it, and one thing led to another. How fast it spirals out of control, I don't think people truly understand."

Jelly touched on how, as a drug dealer, he used to be part of the problem. Today, he is there to be "part of the solution."

Several Senators asked Jelly questions during the lengthy hearing, and many complimented him on stepping forward to tell his story of struggle and hardship to help others in need.

Senator Sherrod Brown asked him his thoughts on the Senate coming together and putting aside their differences to battle the fentanyl drug use in our country. Jelly said, "From the outside looking in, we don't see nothing happening in D.C. except for fights. All we see is war, and all we see is division, and it makes us feel unheard and unseen. And it makes us feel like all our problems will always get caught in some kind of partisan issue, and you and Senator [Tim] Scott coming together is taking the first steps in what I think is the beginning of the change that is needed."

Many more members of the Senate talked to Jelly, asking him questions about his past. Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, who asked about how Jelly's felony record has affected his life still today.

Jelly replied, "I carry it anyway I can carry it, Senator, thanks for asking. There's so many countries I'm not allowed into, which I never thought would matter until I start having hit records in Canada and Germany, and I'm not allowed to go."

He continued, "I am not allowed to vote. Any core right has been restricted for me. I struggled to buy a home because homeowners' insurance were trying to charge me premiums because of my felony. I've even had neighborhoods where HOA's flat wouldn't let me live there because of my felony."

Jelly said that his state of Tennessee has a violent offender policy with zero forgiveness for violent offenses. He noted, "It's a crime I committed when I was fifteen; I'll never be able to get expunged."

As Jelly Roll celebrates his 39th birthday today (12/4), we celebrate him and the album that brought him to country superstardom, Whitsitt Chapel.

As a journalist who has lived for many years in Antioch, Jelly's hometown and a suburb of Nashville, when I saw the album cover and his tribute to Whitsitt Chapel, it looked pretty familiar to me. The family and I drive by it often on our way to Percy Priest Lake and the recreation area. If my husband wasn't a teacher in another county in Tennessee wanting his kids to go where he teaches, both of my children would have attended Antioch High School just like Jelly did.

When the album was released in June of this year (2023), Jelly Roll described it as "Real music for real people with real problems." He added that the project was "about growth and gratitude happening in my life." The album and his music struck a nerve with listeners, who quicky made it one of the most successful album releases in country music in 2023.

Jelly has been a top award nominee and often a winner. Last month (November), he won his first CMA Award for New Artist of the Year.

Just a couple of days after winning the New Artist award and in Nashville, Jelly Roll learned that he is a three-time GRAMMY nominee for the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which will air on February 4, 2024, on CBS.

Jelly posted a video on his Instagram; in the clip, he is openly weeping and wiping tears away. He says, shot on his phone at his Nashville area home, "I'm not sure if I'm gonna post this or not because I'm so emotional, but the greatest honor an artist can ever hear is that they've been nominated for a GRAMMY. I got to hear that this morning."

He paused for a moment to get even more emotional before saying, "I haven't cried like this since my daddy died. I tried to make this video seven times, ya'll."

We gathered five songs from the Whitsitt Chapel album that we believe stand out the most and everyone should know.

An album cut that Jelly co-wrote with Miranda Lambert. In January, Lambert posted to Instagram that she made a new songwriting friend, Jelly Roll. By the looks of it, the two had a great time writing songs. Miranda posted a couple of photos to her Instagram, one with her, Jelly Roll, and a songwriter named Telenitry. She wrote, "Made a new friend this week! Jesse was right when he said we go together like biscuits and gravy! Loved writing a tune with @jellyroll615 and @telemitry." See that post here.

While this song has not been released as a single to country radio, it's well-known by fans and got a massive response when Jelly performed it at his "Backroads Baptism Tour." The song kicks off the album, starting with a clip of a church preacher preaching, "Just save you because he gave his only begotten son." As the music starts, the preacher continues to preach; Jelly begins the song with the lyrics, "I'm a county jail revival / I'm a bottle and a Bible / I'm a rolling stone disciple / With a cross across my face."

Little did Jelly know when he recorded this song with his friend Lainey Wilson that the collaboration would be nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance. The song was also recently nominated for Musical Event at the 2023 CMA Awards. In early December 2023, the song hit the top of the country music charts. They also performed the song at the ACM Awards in May of 2023.

The first number-one country song from this project, but his second number one country song overall. The first number one was "Son Of A Sinner," which was his first country single release before he released Whitsett Chapel. The powerful and relatable lyrics include, "I only talk to God when I need a favor / And I only pray when I ain't got a prayer / So who the hell am I, who the hell am I to expect a savior, oh / If I only talk to God when I need a favor? / But, God, I need a favor,"