Jelly Roll has already exceeded some of his biggest dreams for himself, and he’s just getting started. The “Save Me” singer knew he wanted to make a better life for himself and his daughter Bailee, which is what motivated to him to stay out of prison, but he never imagined that he would set records with his music, sell out large arenas, and have a No. 1 all-genre album with Whitsitt Chapel.
But now that all of those things have happened, Jelly Roll is determined to not only reach for more, but to inspire others that nothing is impossible, if they are willing to work for it.
“I would have never been confident to dream this big,” Jelly Roll tells Audacy’s Katie & Company. “That’s why now, my pitch to kids is, ‘Whatever you’re dreaming right now is too small, man. You have no clue.’ Things that I thought were mountains, God made look like speed bumps. It’s so funny how that works. I couldn’t have even of dreamed the success that’s happened in my life right now.”
No one is more elated than Jelly Roll to be able to share his success with others. The three-time CMT Music Awards winner knows that people look to him, people who might feel that there is no way out of their current situation — as he once did — making his achievements and accolades have an even bigger meaning.
Courtesy of Getty Images for CMT
“It just feels like I’m living a purpose, “Jelly Roll maintains. “It’s a constant reminder. ‘Cause some days you get so muddled with the stuff in the business that even as you get more successful, sometimes your purpose can get lost. I’m one of the lucky artists that gets to constantly be reminded of my purpose and my reasons, which is why when I write songs it’s so fresh in my mind, because I think of that woman that just told me that story backstage, or I think of the sign at the Valparaiso [Indiana] Porter County Fair …A woman held up a picture of her daughter who died of a fentanyl overdose, an accidental fentanyl overdose. The sign that the one next to her held said, ‘We had tickets to your show, she couldn’t make it, we came.'”
Jelly Roll has already achieved some of his biggest dreams, which have only fueled him to dream bigger than ever. While he currently crosses the country on his Backroad Baptism Tour, the 38-year-old dreams of, someday, playing one of the biggest and most prominent venues in the United States.
“Madison Square Garden. I keep thinking about going to MSG,” Jelly Roll reveals. “I just keep having this dream of being like a fat Billy Joel. He just has so many iconic Madison Square moments. I want to play the stadium in my hometown one day. It’s a big dream. I grew up going to that. Getting to play CMA Fest gave me the bug. Just getting to go out there and stand in the middle of 65,000 [people] and go, ‘This is crazy. This is my home stadium too, as a Titans guy.’ I want to do films and movies and stuff too.”
As for what he has already accomplished, including setting a new record with his debut single, “Son of a Sinner,” and selling out Bridgestone Arena, no one is happier thatn Jelly Roll that he is living a life he once could have never even imagined.
“I’m elated,” he says. “These moments, they keep getting more unreal to me. Every day when I think this thing can’t get no bigger, something crazy happens.”
Find Whitsitt Chapel and all of Jelly Roll’s music and upcoming shows at JellyRoll615.com