Before he became one of country music\u2019s most beloved and raw voices, Jelly Roll \u2014 born Jason DeFord in Antioch, Tennessee \u2014 lived a life shaped by addiction, incarceration, and despair. Arrested as early as age 14 and ultimately jailed roughly 40 times for various drug-related and violent offenses, his early years were far removed from the spotlight of the stage.<\/p>\n
He has spoken openly about using and selling substances like cocaine, Xanax, and cough syrup, and how the turning point for him came when he became a father while behind bars.<\/p>\n
In his own words: \u201cI had to learn that you could drink alcohol without doing cocaine. \u2026 There was a long time where I just assumed \u2026 we only drank to do cocaine.\u201d It was through music \u2014 writing, rapping, singing \u2014 that he found the possibility of hope. He told\u00a0American Songwriter<\/em>: \u201cMusic gave me hope when I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d ever\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before he became one of country music\u2019s most beloved and raw voices, Jelly Roll \u2014 born Jason DeFord in Antioch, Tennessee \u2014 lived a life shaped by… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45767,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-45766","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n