Jelly Roll has become a force within not just country music, but music as a whole. Having success in rock, pop and country, the sky is truly the limit for the “Save Me” singer.
Recently, Jelly Roll got to meet one of his idols, Eminem, and now they even have a song together. A really powerful song called “Somebody Save Me,” which borrows the hook from Jelly Roll’s hit song, “Save Me.”
The lyrics in Eminem’s verses are very deep and emotional, and they tell a tale of drugs, addiction and missed opportunities as a father.
Eminem’s daughter, Hailie Jade, had a pretty crazy childhood, and she can relive some of that through the lyrics of her dad’s songs and the videos that go along with them.
The lyrics in the first verse are sharp and blunt, and they get right to the point about how Eminem’s life would be, had he not chosen to get clean.
“Another pill as I start to spiral / Message to my daughter / I don’t even deserve the father title / Hailie, I’m so sorry / I know I wasn’t there for your first guitar recital / Didn’t walk you down the aisle / Missed the birth of your first child / Your first podcast, lookin’ down, sweetie / I’m so proud of how you turned out / Sorry that I chose drugs and put ’em above you.”
The music video is gut-wrenching to watch, featuring actual videos and stills of Hailie’s childhood as Eminem watches in pain that he couldn’t be there.
How Jelly Roll Made Eminem’s Daughter Cry
Recently, Hailie Jade took to her podcast, Just A Little Shady, to talk about the music video for “Somebody Save Me,” and she got very candid about the song and video.
Eminem’s daughter said about the music video with her dad and Jelly Roll, “I can’t. I audibly sobbed.”
Hailie Jade continued, “I will say watching the video back and listening to the song, I feel like my parents did such a good job, growing up, where I didn’t realize how bad things were.”
The song “Somebody Save Me” is performed by two former addicts who speak about their past addictions, and that’s what makes it so genuine.
Hailie Jade continued to speak about how it makes her cry seeing the video or hearing the song, saying, “But now, as an adult, in hindsight, it’s so scary to think about, and I think that’s why I get emotional so much just thinking that that could have happened, and obviously that’s the point of the song, but I’ll say if you’ve ever lost an addict, or loved one, I feel for you.”
She still appreciates the home videos in the music video, though.
“It’s a great video, and it’s fun to see clips of us when we were younger like that, but I can’t even listen to that song anymore without crying. The older I get, the less I can listen. It’s fun to see those clips, just not in that context.”
Evan Paul is the host of Taste of Country Nights, a syndicated radio show heard on more than 130 country radio stations nationwide, every night from 7PM to midnight. The radio show reaches over 21 million listeners per week. He plays the best new country music and interviews today’s top stars, like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Dan + Shay, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, + more!
Jelly Roll: 23 Stunning Facts About the ‘Save Me’ Singer
Jelly Roll is country music’s most fascinating character. His life has taken dozens of wild twists and turns, and he’s been honest about all of it. Here are 23 facts about the “Save Me” singer and his family.
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
Picture of Jelly Roll with a humorous graduation cap added
Matt Winkelmeyer, Getty Images
Jelly Roll is a college graduate
Jelly Roll always talked about dropping out of school before he could legally drive, so when he told Bobby Bones that not only did he get his GED in jail, he got an associates degree afterward, it was shocking. The singer has an associates in sociology from Volunteer State University. Go Pioneers!
Pictures of Jelly Roll and his mother
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Jelly Roll’s nickname is funny, but a little sad
Jelly Roll’s real name is Jason DeFord, but when he was young, his mother nicknamed him “Jelly Roll” because he was a “pudgy kid.” Sadly, he shares that all of his mental health struggles stem from obesity, making the name Jelly Roll a kind of double-edged sword.
Jelly Roll says weed kept him sober
Theo Wargo, Getty Images
Jelly Roll says weed kept him sober
Talking to Taste of Country in May of 2024, Jelly Roll said smoking marijuana has kept him sober: “I think a world without weed, Jelly Roll’s drinking codeine and popping Xanax and snorting cocaine again, but a world with weed, I’ll be alright.”
Picture of Jelly Roll, with golf attire added
Tasos Katopodis, Getty Images
Jelly Roll golfs!
It’s not clear how sharp Jelly Roll is on the golf course, but he’s confirmed that he plays.
Picture of Jelly Roll and the Rock
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The Rock is a fan
When Jelly Roll dropped the Whitsitt Chapel album, he got a great review from the Rock, who shared that, “Many years ago, before (Jelly Roll) blew up, his music helped me get through a rough patch in my life. I’ll never forget it.”
Jelly Roll says Dwayne Johnson reached out to him in like 2017, and they’re legit friends. Like, he has his phone number and everything!
Cover of Jelly Rolls Whiskey, Weed & Waffle House album
Agame/Crashout Music
Waffle House is not a fan of Jelly Roll
Around 2013, Jelly Roll was sued by Waffle House and had to pay $10,000 to settle. They had a case, legally speaking — here is the cover of his free mixtape called Whiskey Weed and Waffle House, later changed to Whiskey Weed and Women. They took exception to how he used the logo, to which Jelly Roll basically said, have you ever been in a late-night Waffle House?
Picture of Jelly Roll with his son, Noah
Instagram/JellyRoll615
Jelly Roll has a son, too
Jelly Roll’s son’s name is Noah, and he lives with his mom, but Jelly is a part of his life. He shared that on vacations, they shoot pictures around him to respect his mother’s request, but from time to time she’s given the go-ahead to post photos or video. Bunnie Xo is often is the source for these.
Jelly Roll has tried acting
Brian Douglas/Paramount+
Jelly Roll has tried acting
During Season 2, Ep. 2 of Tulsa King, Jelly Roll makes his acting debut. He plays himself, and in the episode, he’s just traveling through Tulsa to play an arena.
Somehow he hears about a party going down at Bhodi’s marijuana dispensary and joins in, soon singing a song for Dwight, Mitch and the gang.
Picture of Jelly Roll after an arrest
Jelly Roll Mug Shot
Why did Jelly Roll go to jail?
Jelly Roll says he went to jail 40 times, mostly for drug-related crimes or petty robbery. At 16 he was slapped with strong-armed robbery and charged as an adult, which meant serious jail time. As he tells this story, one understands why he feels his life could have turned out differently if the judge would have showed leniency. In 2022 and 2023, he’s turned that regret into action by helping young men and women in his same position.
Picture of Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson
Theo Wargo, Getty Images
Jelly Roll’s “Save Me” was born from darkness
Jelly Roll dropped “Save Me” and didn’t spend a dollar on promotion. The song spread virally, and by 2021 he was fielding offers from every record label in town.
Lainey Wilson came to the radio single late, but the roots of this song go back to the pandemic. “I mean, we were spraying boxes with Lysol,” he told Apple Music. His father had died a year earlier and he was grieving that, plus being driven out of his mind with boredom. It was born from a very dark space and is still very difficult to sing.
Older picture of Jelly Roll
Ed Rode, WireImage / Getty Images
Jelly Roll’s life could have gone much differently
Jelly Roll’s early years are described as fairly normal, but as he tells his mother’s story, it becomes clear how it bleeds into his own. Jelly Roll’s mom began to slip away before Jason was a teenager and would remain in one particular room of the house for days at a time. Doctors prescribed drugs for pain and anxiety, and this led to an addiction. Eventually his parents divorced and they lost the house. This, Jelly Roll says, is what started the spiral.
While Jelly Roll’s father died more than a decade ago, he still cares deeply for his mother. A poignant moment in the documentary comes late when he casually mentions that he’s always written songs for her.
Picture of Jelly Rolls wife Bunnie Xo
Matt Winkelmeyer, Getty Images
Bunnie Xo’s real name is Alisa DeFord
Jelly Roll says that if anyone ever made a documentary about his wife Bunnie Xo, it’d blow your mind, and we don’t doubt it. She was raised in Las Vegas and was an escort for several years. Like Jelly, she’s battled addiction and helped people through it. Like Jelly, she uses a fake name.
It’s not clear how Bunnie Xo became Bunnie Xo, but her real name is Alisa, and she’s between 40 and 45 years old. They don’t use real names in their house, either.
Older photo of Jelly Roll with wife Bunnie Xo
Johnny Nunez, WireImages / Getty Images
About Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo’s wedding night
Jelly Roll’s wife Bunnie becomes a main character during the second half of his documentary, with the last third zooming in on their love story. We learn they lived a wild life together early in their marriage, with her supplying him with drugs as he needed them. Jelly Roll was blackout drunk the night they got married, but they beat the odds to remain married and recognized that they needed to slow down. “It’s not a party if it happens every night. It’s an addiction,” she says.
Picture of Jelly Rolls wife Bunnie Xo
Jason Kempin, Getty Images
Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo actually broke up!
Jelly Roll and his wife celebrated seven years of marriage in August 2024, but they almost didn’t make it through year one!
During this video viewers see Bunnie packing up her house as she prepares to sell it and move back to Las Vegas. She really goes into the grief of it all, but never really says what happened. This is the one area of the couple’s life they haven’t shared.
Picture of Jelly Roll performing live.
Leon Bennett, Getty Images
Jelly Roll went 0 to 60
To show just how fast Jelly Roll climbed from obscurity, consider this fact: The “Need a Favor” singer recalls being happy to sell 1,000 tickets in Connecticut in January 2022. By December he had sold close to 20,000 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
Picture of Jelly Rolls brothers, Roger and Scott
Caption
Jelly Roll has two older brothers
And they look just like him, to an extent. Older brothers Roger and Scott are important parts of the Save Me documentary, and there is quite a bit of resemblance, save for tattoos on their faces.
The singer may also have a sister, but we couldn’t confirm. Watch our Jelly Roll Facts video for a great R-rated story about his family.
Picture of Jelly Roll with his daughter Bailee Ann
Taste of Country
All about Jelly Roll’s daughter Bailee
Bailee Ann DeFord is central to Jelly Roll’s turnaround, but not in the way you may have believed. He repeats a story he’s told before about learning he’d become a father in jail and pledging to live right by his daughter. During this documentary, one learns that he wasn’t a great father at first and would go weeks without seeing his little girl while touring and partying like a bachelor.
Bailee’s mother’s heroin addiction forced Jelly Roll (and Bunnie) to step up to save her. The mom was out of her daughter’s life for four years as she fought an addiction that started when she was trying to treat fibromyalgia. Jelly Roll’s turnaround came in about 2016.
Picture of Jelly Roll speaking to the U.S. Senate in January 2024
Kent Nishimura, Getty Images
Jelly Roll’s “She” is about family
Jelly Roll tells Taste of Country that the addiction he describes in his powerful song “She” was inspired by people like his mother and his daughter’s mother.
Picture of Jelly Roll with wife Bunnie Xo
Amy Sussman, Getty Images
Bunnie had the hookup!
Jelly Roll didn’t exactly get clean and sober after prison. He’s been honest about using cocaine when he would drink until very recently, but before that, he did not discriminate.
Where did he get the drugs? In the Save Me documentary he talks about how wild he and Bunnie were early on, and she describes getting the drugs he needed. At the time he was flat broke, which he says makes him laugh extra hard when internet trolls call her a gold digger.
Picture of Jelly Roll
Getty Images
He’s not that far removed from that life
Beyond just having friends and former associates still dying on the streets of Nashville, Jelly Roll admits to a concerning level of drug and alcohol use in 2023. These days, it’s a once-in-awhile thing, but combined with his depression, outside stresses and his poor physical health (another topic he discusses candidly), one can imagine a worst-case scenario.
Picture of Jelly Roll
Neilson Barnard, Getty Images
Jelly Roll has read the Bible and the Koran
Talking to Bobby Bones Jelly Roll revealed what he learned from both books. He made it clear that he’s ultimately not a whole-hog believer in either, but appreciates the teachings. How many other country singers do you think have read the Koran?
Picture of Bunnie Xo kissing Jelly Roll
Amy Sussman, Getty Images
Jelly Roll and his wife are very … open
The rumor on the CelebWives of Nashville Reddit thread is that Jelly and his wife have an open marriage, and that’s just not true. During an interview on the 247HH podcast in 2019 he talked about a night in Lansing where Bunnie brought three women on a bus for them to play with. The video is literally titled, “Jelly Roll – my wife and I openly invite women to join us, it’s been great.”
Additionally, he’s shared that they’ll go on Tinder together, but there’s no reason to believe either carries on a separate emotional relationship outside of their marriage. Does this mean they have an open relationship? That they’re swingers? Or that they just believe three’s company in life and love?
picture of Jelly Roll
Hulu
Jelly Roll once smoked meth out of a lightbulb
Growing up, Jelly Roll says there were drugs everywhere, and everyone did crack. He once smoked meth out of a lightbulb, which just doesn’t sound like a very bright idea.
Picture of Jelly Roll talking to the U.S. Senate
Kent Nishimura, Getty Images
Jelly Roll spent how long in solitary?!
Tennessee prisons have “23 and 1” punishments, where you spend 23 hours in a room without windows and one hour outside in a cage. It’s the equivalent of solitary confinement, or “the hole.”
When Jelly Roll was in prison, he once did six months straight in the hole. That deserves repeating: He spent six straight months in 23/1 and somehow came out brimming with positivity.
Picture of Jelly Rolls wife Bunnie Xo
Jason Kempin, Getty Images
Jelly Roll and Bunnie still feel like outsiders
Watching Jelly Roll and Bunnie prepare for the CMA Awards last year was fascinating. They were both very nervous and feeling out of place on the 2023 CMAs red carpet. Talking to the camera, Bunnie Xo called them “outsiders” without a hint of humor or sarcasm. That’s hardly the case a year later.
20 Totally Adorable Pictures of Jelly Roll and His Wife, Bunnie Xo
Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunnie Xo, never shy away from public displays of affection. The pair have shared numerous photos together sneaking kisses or engaged in deep belly laughs. Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo married in 2016 and are closer than ever today.
Jason Kempin, Getty Images
Jason Kempin, Getty Images
Jason Kempin, Getty Images
Read More: How Jelly Roll Made Eminem’s Daughter Cry | https://tasteofcountry.com/jelly-roll-eminem-daughter-cried/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
