There's no doubt about it, Jelly Roll is on a roll. The Nashville-raised rising star made the incredible leap from prison to No.1 and amassed millions of fans along the way.
Geli, as he likes to be called, was still humming things when he stopped Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday night (June 25) for a look at his upcoming Beautifully broken tourhis past and how music and family helped change his life.
Speaking to Martin Short, who fills in for Kimmel as a guest, Jelly admitted he's a lucky guy. “I always say that talent will take you very far, but if you don't have a horseshoe tucked away somewhere, you can be in a bit of trouble,” he explained. “Luckily for me, I had a rabbit's foot up my butt.”
Lucky and funny.
There was a time when suffering it could have been Jelly's middle name. Looking relaxed at Live couch, Jellie recounted how he was incarcerated as a juvenile and ended up in the “revolving door” of the system for a decade.
His songwriting blossomed when he was locked up, for crimes ranging from high profile robbery to drug trafficking.
“I had a lot of time,” he admits. “I thought, maybe I should invest this time in something positive.” His time inside left an indelible mark. he got his first facial tattoo while incarcerated.
Becoming a father changed his perspective and motivated him Advertising sign arrangement star, whose music crosses rock, rap and country. His moment was the result of “10 years of living in my van and selling mixtapes out of my trunk,” he continued.
Taking a break, “I just did it independently forever. I just kept writing songs, producing them myself, uploading them to YouTube, it started to grow and build.”
Jelly topped the Billboard charts last year when “Need a Favor” became the first song to enter the top 10 of both Country Airplay and Mainstream Rock Airplay. He's had a taste of the penthouse life, with “Dead Man Walking” (Mainstream Rock Airplay) and “Son of a Sinner” (Country Airplay) topping the Billboard charts.
Jelly will be playing these songs and more when he launches his own Beautifully broken tour late August, his first arena trek that just added 16 shows. Before hitting the road, Jelly warmed up with a world premiere performance of 'Burning'.
The Beautifully broken The tour is scheduled to kick off on August 27 with a concert at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City and include stops in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Antonio, New Orleans, Orlando, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis before ending with a concert on October 27th at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC
Watch his late night performance below.
