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Jelly Roll teased an upcoming TV special about his life as he delivered a powerful speech to a sold-out Grand Ole Opry crowd in Nashville, Tennessee. The Whittsitt Chapel artist took the legendary stage on Monday night (November 20) during the BIG 98 Friendsgiving, an event hosted by the Nashville-based country station benefitting St. Jude.
In a heartfelt moment on the Opry stage, Jelly Roll shared that he was filming a TV show earlier that day, though he couldn’t confirm which program or other details at this time. While working on the “docu-story” about his life, Jelly Roll returned to a local jail where he’d served time more than a decade ago.
“That was the last place I ever went to jail 15 years ago. I had a daughter,” Jelly Roll reflected as he shared his story on Monday night. “I was released 13 years ago, and I made a decision to do anything I could to be a father. I never wanted to risk my freedom. I wanted to be there for my little girl. I wanted to change my life. I wanted to be a dad. That is what I wanted to do. I walked out of there a four-time felon. They said I had no chance. The recidivism rate was 97% of men with my convictions went back to prison and ended up doing life. I broke a generational curse.
“And I’m only telling you this story because today was so humbling for me to walk back to the same cell I found out I was having a daughter, and just realizing how far my life has came, that when I left that jail today I came to the Grand Ole Opry on a Monday to a sold-out crowd.”
Jelly Roll, who previously shared details about his life in the documentary Save Me on Hulu, was one of several artists to take the Opry stage during the BIG 98 Friendsgiving event. Others in the lineup included Chris Janson, Riley Green and Anne Wilson. Watch Jelly Roll’s speech here: