Jelly Roll reveals that he attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings
Jelly roll
WWE/Getty ImagesJelly roll has opened up about his ongoing health journey, revealing that he regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings.
The country star, whose real name is Jason DeFord, spoke candidly about his proactive approach to his health during an interview with The New York Timespublished on Saturday, August 17.
Jelly Roll explained how an unreleased song, “Winning Streak,” will appear on the artist’s upcoming album. Beautifully brokenwas inspired by his experiences and lessons learned from AA meetings.
He told the outlet that he is attending the meeting “for my demons” and that the track was written “from the perspective of a story I had seen happen in real life.”
Jelly Roll may consider himself the son of a sinner, but he has found an angel in his wife Bunnie XO. After two prison sentences – Jelly Roll (real name Jason Bradley DeFord) was arrested for aggravated robbery at age 16 and served a year before being locked up for drug trafficking at age 23 – […]
Jelly Roll, who has spoken in the past about his historical struggles with addiction and substance abuse, shared more details about how AA meetings continue to help him.
“It was very hard for me to get off those drugs,” the “Save Me” singer said. “Something I do [for] Maintaining my relationship with those medications means that I will still attend the meetings even though I am not a textbook sober guy – but I never share, I just sit quietly and appreciate the message and meaning.
Jelly Roll, who is married to social media star and podcast host Bunnie XOadded that he still “drinks a cocktail every now and then” and that he remains a “known pot smoker.” But he is determined to stay away from more harmful drugs.
“I got away from drugs that I knew would kill me,” Jelly Roll told the newspaper before adding that he hadn’t previously talked about attending AA meetings because he didn’t want to overshadow the program’s work , or the work of his fellow visitors.
He may have had an uncontroversial start to fatherhood, but Jelly Roll has always prioritized his family. The country singer welcomed his first child, daughter Bailee Ann, with ex-girlfriend Felicia in 2008. At the time, Jelly (real name Jason DeFord) was serving a prison sentence for a drug trafficking conviction. ‘A guard knocks on me […]
“I don’t tell people I go to meetings,” Jelly Roll explained. “It’s not part of my story that I share because I have so much respect for the men and women in that program who actually get completely sober that I never want my stuff to get in the way of them.”
In May, Jelly Roll revealed that using marijuana has helped him avoid harder drugs.
“I get into trouble all the time for this, but my position on marijuana will always be the same,” he said in an interview with Taste of the country which was published on May 24. “I believe marijuana has helped me in so many ways, with my anxiety. This is a hot topic, but really, marijuana has kept me sober.”
Jelly Roll continued at the time: “I think a world without weed, Jelly Roll’s drinking codeine, popping Xanax and snorting cocaine again. But in a world with weed, everything will be fine.”
Before Jelly Roll became famous in the country music world, he was imprisoned for drug trafficking. While behind bars, he learned he had become the father of daughter Bailee Ann, now 16.
After Jelly Roll heard about his little girl, he did his best to get on the right track. He obtained his GED and was released by the time Bailee turned 2.
Since then, Jelly Roll has been advocating to help others stay away from deadly drugs. In January, the artist spoke before the U.S. Senate to voice his support for the bipartisan Fend Off Fentanyl Act.
“I was part of the problem. I stand here now as a man who wants to be part of the solution,” he said during his speech. “I have brought down my community. I’ve hurt people. I was the uneducated guy in the kitchen playing chemist with drugs I knew absolutely nothing about, just like these drug dealers are doing now when they mix every drug on the market with fentanyl and they kill the people we love.
