Jelly Roll Bio, Wiki
Jason Bradley DeFord famously known as Jelly Roll is an American Singer, rapper, and songwriter. He has a couple of global hit songs including “Need a Favor” and “Son of a Sinner”.
Jelly Roll Age
Roll was born on December 4, 1984, in Antioch, Tennessee, U.S. He is therefore 40 years old as of 2024 and celebrates his birthday every year on December 4th.
Jelly Roll Height/Measurements
Roll stands at an approximate height of 6 feet 1 inch.
Jelly Roll Career
Before embarking on the singing and rapping field, he used to sell mixtapes at the back of his car and was inspired by several rappers like UGK, Three 6 Mafia, and 8Ball & MJG. Roll officially kickstarted his singing/rapping career in 2003 by releasing his The Plain Shmear Tape followed by the part Gamblin’ on the White Boy series from 2004 to 2011. In 2010, he collaborated with rapper Lil Wyte and released their song, “Pop Another Pill” which was super successful and hit over 6.3 million YouTube views. Later he released several solo mixtapes and albums with collaborations with several singers and rappers including Struggle Jennings, Lil Wyte, Tech N9ne, and Haystack.
In 2013, he released another mixtape named Whiskey, Weed, & Women which was previously named Whiskey, Weed, & Waffle House but after Waffle House threatened legal action over using their name and logo on the cover, he had to change the logo and the name to Whiskey, Weed, & Women. On November 9, 2021, he debuted his Grand Ole Opry and later on May 9, 2022, his track “Dead Man Walking” scored his first number one on rock radio. In January 2023, his song “Son of a Sinner” scored his first number-one song on country radio. Later in February 2023, he broke the record at number 1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart. On June 2, 2023, he released his 9th album named Whitsitt Chapel which featured the single “Need a Favor”.
Still, in 2023, he won the Male Video of the Year, Digital-First Performance of the Year, and Male Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2023 CMT Music Awards. In November 2023, at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards, he won the award for New Artist of the Year. Later in June 2024, he made an appearance on Rebel Country, a country music documentary, and later in July 2024, was featured on The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), Eminem’s twelfth album on the track “Somebody Save Me”.
In October 2024, he released his 10th album Beautifully Broken. In September 2024, he appeared on the TV drama series, Tulsa King alongside Sylvester Stallone with him performing a rendition of “I Am Not Okay”. Jelly released the song “Run It” on November 22, 2024, from the soundtrack of the upcoming film Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Jelly Roll Net Worth
In Roll career as a rapper, singer, and songwriter, he has been able to accumulate a net worth ranging between $1 Million and $3 Million.
Jelly Roll Parents and Siblings
Roll was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee by Donna and Horace “Buddy” DeFord. While growing Horace worked as in the meatpacking industry businessman at the time. However, Horace and Donna divorced when Roll was 13 years old. In an interview, Roll shared that his parent’s divorce played a part in his drug addiction and his struggle with the state’s judicial system.
Since 2009, he has not been involved with any serious case that led him to jail or prison. Unfortunately, Horace “Buddy” died in March 2019 from cancer at the age of 75. Jelly always shared that his late father motivated him when it came to giving back to the community by volunteering and helping the homeless, and sick. Horace also served as a church usher in his local church.
Jelly Roll Spouse
Jelly has been happily married to Bunnie XO since 2016. The two got engaged in 2016 after he proposed to her on stage in Las Vegas and soon after got married in a courthouse wedding and no friends or family knew till after they got married. Roll and Bunnie have no children together but during an interview with The Dumb Blonde, he stated that they are thinking of having a child together.
He further added that they are undergoing IVF. Bunnie XO has her own podcast which she launched in 2019 named Dumb Blonde. In this podcast, Bunnie interviews all sorts of celebrities including Priscilla Block, Brantley Gilbert, and so many more. On August 31, 2023, the couple had their wedding vows at the Las Vegas chapel and Bunnie shared the photos and videos on her Instagram on that day.
Jelly Roll Children
Before being with Bunnie XO, Jelly had two children Bailee Ann and Noah Budy. Roll and Bunnie XO were granted primary custody of Bailee after Bailee’s mother, Felicia fell into drug addiction in 2017. When she was born on May 22, 2008 Roll was incarcerated at the time and he found out that his daughter was born after a guard in the cell he was n told him. During an interview with Billboard, he stated that he had never had anything in life that urged him at the moment to know that he had to do something different and that his daughter’s birth inspired him to change for the better.
He was released in 2010 just in time for Bailee’s 2nd birthday and the two have been inseparable since then. Felicia has also been clean and off drugs for several years now and she has a pretty good relationship with Bailee. His son Noah Buddy was born on August 23, 2026, and he is staying with his mother Melisa. He often posts photos and videos of him and the rest of the family on vacations and spending quality time together.
What were Jelly Roll felonies?
In his teens and early 20s, he was always in and out of prison over 40 times for drug charges of felonies including aggravated robbery and possession with intent to distribute drugs. Moreover, he earned his GED at the age of 23 while he was still in prison. In 2013, he released a mixtape named Whiskey, Weed, & Women which was previously named Whiskey, Weed, & Waffle House but after Waffle House threatened legal action over using their name and logo on the cover, he had to change the logo and the name to Whiskey, Weed, & Women.
Jelly Roll Tattoos
Roll has many tattoos with some on his body, face, and back. His first tattoo was the cross on his right arm which he got when he was 14 years old which honored a woman who died of AIDS in his neighborhood. He also has a cross on his face which he got after he reformed and started changing for the better leaving behind a thug life and a life of crime. On his forehead, he has a “Music Man” tattoo which was inspired by his wife’s leg tattoo. He also has a “Noah” tattoo above his eyebrow which is his son’s name. During an interview, Jelly stated that he regrets 98% of his tattoos and has done several extensive cover-ups. Some of the tattoos he has covered up include The Nashville, Tennessee skyline and a baby smoking a blunt.
Jelly Roll Weight Loss Journey
Over the years, Jelly has been vocal about his weight gain and loss journey. Moreover, in 2018, Jelly publicized that in 2015, he weighed more than 500 pounds/227KG and his doctor told him to go to a truck stop and meat processor to exactly know his actual weight. He immediately started working on losing weight in 2016 and lost around 200 pounds.
In 2018, he relapsed and went back to overeating and overdrinking which made him gain 60 pounds back. He decided to go back to losing weight and even hired a health mentor. Through a post he made in February 2023 on his X account, he stated that he is still keeping his promise and is working out daily. In 2024, he was more serious than ever to lose weight and was able to lose 100 pounds.
Jelly Roll Studio albums
- The Big Sal Story (2012)
- Sobriety Sucks (2016)
- Addiction Kills (2017)
- Goodnight Nashville (2018)
- Whiskey Sessions II (2019)
- A Beautiful Disaster (2020)
- Self Medicated (2020)
- Ballads of the Broken (2021)
- Whitsitt Chapel (2023)
- Beautifully Broken (2024)
Jelly Roll Collaborative albums
- Year Round (with Lil Wyte and BPZ) (2011)
- Strictly Business (with Haystak) (2011)
- No Filter (with Lil Wyte) (2013)
- Business as Usual (with Haystak) (2013)
- No Filter 2 (with Lil Wyte) (2016)
- Waylon & Willie (with Struggle Jennings) (2017)
- Waylon & Willie II (with Struggle Jennings) (2018)
- Waylon & Willie III (with Struggle Jennings) (2018)
- Waylon & Willie IV (with Struggle Jennings) (2020)
Roll’s Awards and nominations
- Country Music Association Awards
- CMT Music Awards
- Grammy Awards
- iHeartRadio Music Awards
- People’s Choice Awards
- People’s Choice Country Awards
- MTV Video Music Awards
Jelly Roll Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
He is vocal on his social media accounts where he posts frequently. On his Twitter account, he has about 389.3K followers, around 5.1M followers on his Facebook page, and about 3.7M followers on his Instagram account.