Jelly Roll was sitting in jail when he found out he was a dad. That moment changed everything.

You'll likely know Jason DeFord as Jelly Roll — the mastermind behind country hits like 'Need A Favour' and 'Son Of A Sinner'.

The 40-year-old is selling out arenas, is a Grammy-nominated artist and was even crowned one of Billboard's greatest pop stars of 2024.

But this remarkable success doesn't even begin to tell his full story.

More than 21 million people turn to his music each month on Spotify, finding parts of themselves in his songs about faith, guilt, addiction and redemption.

The themes mirror his own journey.

At just 14 years old, he was incarcerated for the first time. He spent the next decade cycling in and out of the system — selling mixtapes out of his car and trying to forgive himself for a life he thought he couldn't escape.

Then, he turned it all around.

Mamamia's Kate Langbroek sat down with Jelly Roll for No Filter just moments before he stepped onto the stage at his sold-out Sydney show to talk about how he found the light and the work it takes to stay there.

First, listen to Jelly Roll on No Filter. Post continues below.

Where the chaos began.

As a boy, his mother gave him a nickname that stuck: Jelly. His friends and family all called him Jelly Roll — and now millions of people around the world do, too.

Growing up in the small town of Antioch, about 19km outside of Nashville, Jelly Roll never pictured himself having a normal career.

His father, Horace 'Buddy' DeFord, was a meat dealer who moonlighted as an illegal bookie. His mum, Donna, struggled with her extreme depression and anxiety.

While he always felt loved, his parents divorced when he was 13. His father moved out of the family home — a major change that sent the teen spiralling.

Suddenly, Jelly Roll found himself trying to care for his mother.

Jelly Roll and Donna bonded over music. Image: Instagram/jellyroll615.

It was music that brought Donna and Jelly Roll together.

The musician has previously shared that his mother rarely left the house, often only leaving her bedroom to put a record on.

Those moments together are what taught him the healing power of music.

"When my mother presented music to us, it was like watching a movie that nobody talked through, and you listened intently, and then you discussed," he told Mamamia.

She loved "really deep cuts" — painful, storytelling music that Jelly Roll believes was her showing her soul to her children.

Looking back, Jelly Roll realises how much his older siblings shielded him from the true extent of his mum's struggles. But still, he knew something wasn't right, and he had no idea how to fix it.

"I'll tell you who couldn't help her was the children," he said. It's a warning he feels compelled to share with others.

Trying and failing to help his mum out of the darkness made Jelly Roll feel like a failure in life before he'd even had the chance to figure out who he was.

Jail and the road to redemption.

The chaotic environment quickly manifested as destructive behaviour. It wasn't long before Jelly Roll started having run-ins with the law — drug possession, drug dealing and armed robbery.

He's previously said that, at 14, he started making a series of decisions that led to "the revolving door of the judicial system."

"From 14 to 24, I spent eight, eight and a half of those incarcerated. Come home for six months and go back to jail for a year," he said in the documentary Rebel Country.

The most significant came at just 16 when he was arrested for aggravated robbery for attempting to steal weed, armed with a gun and was charged as an adult. He was facing a potential 20-year sentence, but ultimately served over a year for the charge, plus seven years of probation.

He doesn't shy away from admitting the severity of his crimes.

"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."

Music was the one thing that remained a constant — with Jelly Roll writing songs in his cells.

But his wake-up call came at age 24, when he was serving time for drug dealing. While incarcerated, Jelly Roll learnt that his daughter, Bailee, had been born.

After his release, he met Bailee on her second birthday. That moment turned his life around and led him back to his faith.

Jelly Roll and his wife Bunnie. Image: Getty.

The philosophy of 'the work'.

Though his redemption story seems impossible, Jelly Roll refuses to see himself as an extraordinary talent destined for fame. He has a "hot take" on talent, arguing that success comes not from magic, but from sheer dedication.

"I don't think any of us are born extraordinary, like, at all," he said.

He argues that his success wasn't due to some divine "sprinkle of music," especially considering he showed "no early signs of being a good musician."

Instead, he believes people succeed because they find something they love "earlier than everybody else, and that they were willing to do it and be bad at it and bored with doing it good for longer than everybody else."

This philosophy is the foundation of his healing journey, and it's what he calls 'the work'.

Music was an outlet for him. Narrating stories felt therapeutic at first, but over time, he realised he was connecting to something bigger than himself.

"This is becoming our story," he said. "I was so hyper-focused on telling my story, that I didn't realise how powerful our story was becoming."

Now, his music isn't so much about his personal pain, but more about how to move through difficulties.

Jelly Roll is, by his own admission, a man who "loves the work." Not just the work of touring or writing, but the internal work that comes with healing.

"I think it's a thing where, if you're willing to put in the work, and you're willing to give God a little glory, that he'll meet you exactly where you are," he said.

Jelly Roll and Taylor Swift. Image: Getty.

The singer has spent a lot of time exploring the "cracks and crevices" of his own story. It's created a brutal honesty that millions of people relate to.

It's why his concerts are more than just a performance. For Jelly Roll, his shows are therapy.

"I realised that my music transcends into the cracks and crevices of people's story, so it's this kind of really beautiful thing that we're all kind of meeting each other exactly where we are," he said.

Even now, at the height of his success, the internal battles haven't stopped.

While he's finally found peace with his inner child, the fame, travel and relentless pace of country stardom all bring a fresh set of anxieties.

"I kind of made peace with that part of my shadow and we're cool, but current Jelly Roll, I'm constantly trying to figure out where he fits in this whole f**king thing," he said.

This feeling of displacement runs deep.

"I still struggle with my mental health and feeling alone in a room full of people," Jelly Roll continued.

"I can be around a room full of people that I think I connect with in a certain way, but still not feel fully connected at times."

For Jelly Roll, the stage is where he finds the ultimate release.

"I always leave feeling a little lighter, a little more tired and a little more hopeful every show," he said.

The rush to repair.

Another safe space is his relationship with his wife, podcaster Bunnie XO.

For years, Jelly Roll wasn't one to commit. He was always "looking for the first reason to go" in relationships.

The singer admits it was a "super unhealthy, very selfish" way to live, but he knew things were different with Bunnie when he stopped running.

"When I found a relationship I rushed to repair, that was when it all started," he said.

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A post shared by Bunnie Xo. (@xomgitsbunnie)

Bunnie came from her own troubled past. She wasn't one to judge; she just understood.

"It was like what appeared to be two completely broken pieces were actually meant for each other the whole time," Jelly Roll said.

"Every other puzzle board, it looked like we didn't belong."

The greatest gift.

For Jelly Roll, becoming a father was the greatest gift.

"I would say Bailee has single-handedly impacted my life, probably more than any other individual, except for my wife," Jelly Roll said.

"Watching her grow in her faith, watching her unapologetically find out who she is, watching her go through all the high school girl drama… watching her come through all this stuff, it's been special."

Jelly Roll also has a son, Noah 'Buddy' DeFord, 9, with his ex-girlfriend Melisa Ann Cowell. While Jelly Roll and Bunnie are involved in his life, Noah is kept primarily out of the public eye, as per his mum's wishes.

Now, Jelly Roll and Bunnie hope to grow their family and hope to have a baby.

"We are working hard on it," he said. "It's a big journey… it's definitely a bigger undertaking than I anticipated."

It's a full circle moment for the boy who once thought he'd never get out of jail. Now, he's raising kids with the love of his life and using his platform to pull others out of the same darkness he once lived in.

Feature image: Getty.