Jelly Roll is taking charge of his physical health in 2023. The singer, who has been vocal about dealing with his mental health, says he is finally ready to lose weight, and be in the best shape, in every way, that he can be.

“I’m going to spend the first couple months of the year just focusing on family and health,” Jelly Roll told Music Mayhem. “I lost some weight this year in 2022, but in 2023 I wanna finally conquer the demon. I don’t leave for a big tour until about the middle of the year. So I plan on taking the first half of the year to tighten the album up and get some work in.”

Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, already has plans in place to make sure he is working on his health in the new year.

“I got a guy,” Jelly Roll reveals. “I’m [about to] start working with my boy, who owns a gym in Brentwood, [Tennessee], and we’re [gonna] start getting after it at the top of the year.”

Jelly Roll’s career is in full swing, after the success of “Son Of A Sinner,’ which hit No. 1 on the charts. The 38-year-old recently sold-out Bridgestone Arena, donating all of the proceeds to Impact Youth Outreach, to build a state-of-the-art recording studio at Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center in Nashville, where he was once incarcerated.

“You couldn’t have told that kid sitting in B pod and cell 20 that he was going to go on and sell out the arena downtown and give all that money back to that juvenile,” Jelly Roll told Music Mayhem. “That was when I realized – when I was standing there looking at my old cell. And I hope that, hopefully, this sheds light on a situation that is easily glossed over. If you don’t know a kid that’s been in trouble or had a tough upbringing like that, then you don’t think about the impact that it’s having on those kids.”

Jelly Roll previously said his untreated mental illness, including depression and anxiety, led him to pursue a life of crime, when his symptoms were largely ignored.

“I would have realized that my need for acceptance stemmed from feeling like I wasn’t good enough,” Jelly Roll said on Audacy’s I’m Listening podcast. “I felt like nobody accepted me…When you feel like nobody accepts you, there’s always that one group that will and it’s always the trouble. I feel like I might have made some crazy different life decisions if I could have sat down and felt vocal enough to say, ‘Hey, I’m leaning towards this because I don’t feel accepted anywhere else.’”

After the success of “Son Of A Sinner,” Jelly Roll is back at radio with “Need A Favor.” All of Jelly Roll’s music and tour updates can be found by visiting his website.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of BBR Music Group / John Shearer