Cody Johnson And Jelly Roll ‘Gravitated To Each Other’

Cody Johnson and Jelly Roll are good buddies and have a song together on Cody's latest album, Leather, called "Whiskey Bent."

Photo - Chris Douglas

Johnson told us in a recent interview that he and Jelly are close and have some real similarities. He said, "I've said this in a few interviews over the last six months: Jelly's Roll face tattoos are as authentic as this cowboy hat. That's him unapologetic."

He continued, "One of the first times I came to Nashville, they said I could have a record deal if I ditched the cowboy hat; that's something I live in every day. Last night, we were on the ranch breaking new cattle and training. I mean, it's something that I do."

Something Jelly Roll told Cody when they met sticks with the real Texas cowboy. He told us, "Jelly Roll wears his walk on his face for everyone to see, and I wear this hat unapologetically. When we met, we just hit it off, and we both recognized what was real. He told me one of the very first times that I met him, 'I modeled my career after you.' He said, 'I wanted to stay indecent because I wanted to be myself. I didn't want anybody to change me.' He said, 'I wanted to go through the ups and downs and the hardships of trying to do it on your own the way you did it.' He said, 'Because I feel like it instills more of an appreciation.'"

Johnson added, "I'm not knocking anybody, but I didn't come off of TikTok and get a record deal and go straight to stadiums and play. I know what it's like to starve, and so does he."

Cody worked as a prison guard in the past, and Jelly was incarcerated for several years. He said the two are similar: "As far as prison, when you do a lot of time working in the prison, it can be the same as being locked in. The only thing is you get to go home at night. So, we understand a lot of those facets, and he's just a good person. I want to be surrounded by positive, good people, not negativity, so we gravitated to each other."

Johnson told us of the song the two did together for his Leather album, "He heard the song 'Whiskey Bent,' and it put him to tears. He and I both have the [same] kind of past. Whether it's whiskey or a different substance, whatever it is, I think he and I really related to the fact that that's something in our lives at a time that made us hurt other people, and we regret it, and that's real. When you hear that on the track, that's real passion, that's real emotion."

Cody is currently on his "2024 The Leather Tour." He will be hitting dates in the US and Canada now through the middle of August.

Cody Johnson has been moving to country superstar status with the release of his new album Leather and the announcement of the accompanying tour.

Cody recently told us that early on in his career, before he signed with Warner Brothers Nashville, industry people wanted to change his style. He said, "You just have to stand your ground. I had a big fat record deal sitting in front of me when they asked me to take my hat off, and I turned it down. At the time, I was starving. My wife and I didn't have anything, and that was a hard pill to swallow. This is not an easy thing to do to stand up and say, 'I know who I am already. I don't need you to tell me who I am. This is who I am, musically and personally.'"

Johnson added, "It gets easier over the years because the bigger you get, the more people accept that. I think it's a hard road, and that's why a lot of people don't take it. They will let people influence them to change their name, change the way they dress, or change their producer because that producer had a lot of hits."

Cody told us he's glad he stood his ground, "It's been a hard road, but I'm thankful for it because I feel like I've earned everything. When you get to it good, it tastes so much sweeter. And that's really who I am, so I'm never gonna change that. I am not arrogant about it because I know who I am musically. I know who I am personally."

As Johnson expands his popularity in country music and becomes a major star, we decided to take a deep dive and give some details on the Cody Johnson songs everyone should know by now.

This was Johnson's first song released by his then-new label home, Warner Nashville. The song cracked the top 15, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot Country Song chart. The lyrics include, "All the stars I've seen/ All the songs I've sung / All the beers I've drank / All the damage done / I was just passin' time / Kinda just passin' through / On my way to you."

This amazing song won the Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year and Video of the Year at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2022 and the Grammy Award for Best Country Song at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023. Johnson did not write the song but told the message in it, "In our world today, we could use more positivity."

While Johnson did not write this song either, he said that it is his most autobiographical song. It was released in 2011 and made the Billboard Country Airplay chart's top ten, peaking at eight. It is also the title track to his double Human album, which was also released in 2021.

Cody teamed up with Reba McEntire for a duet version of his song "Dear Rodeo." Johnson wrote the song as a very personal tribute to his previous career in bull riding, which struck a chord with Reba, who grew up on a family ranch competing in barrel racing.

Reba said then, "It was a thrill to sing 'Dear Rodeo' with Cody because we're both from the rodeo world. I grew up in a rodeo family; I'm a third-generation rodeo brat. So, the song means a lot to me because I did leave rodeo to be in the country music business. I sure miss it."

This song is bound to be a big hit. Even though Johnson did not write the song himself, it's about his marriage. He said, "My favorite lyric in 'The Painter' is 'For every wall I built, she saw a canvas.' If there's anything that describes my marriage with my wife, Brandi, it's that line. And that's why we've been together for 15 years."

Johnson added, "I hope my fans are encouraged to take the time to appreciate the people they have around them. The ones who make their life beautiful and bring all the beautiful colors to their world when it could just be black and white and dark. Remember them and tell them you love them."