Jelly Roll Says He’s Having Trouble Booking International Tour Due to Past Felonies

June 6, 2024 E Jazz Reporter

Artistes

The star, who now uses his experiences to inspire others, has been to jail numerous times throughout his life.

Jelly Roll performs onstage at the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards from Ford Center at The Star on May 16, 2024 in Frisco, Texas.

Christopher Polk

Jelly Roll is hoping to bring his high-energy stage presence overseas, but he’s overcoming some “legal puzzles” first.

The “Need a Favor” superstar sat down with Jon Bon Jovi for a wide ranging Interview Magazine discussion, where he shared that he’s hoping to tour internationally. “It’s funny, America has finally agreed to let me leave and give me a passport, but some countries won’t let me come because of my felonies,” he explained. “We’re working on that. I think it’s going to work in my favor.”

Jelly Roll has been open about his past incarcerations, and uses his platform to help others overcome similar journeys. The star has been to jail dozens of times for various drug charges, stemming all the way back to his first arrest at age 14. Two years later, he was arrested for aggravated robbery and was charged as an adult, leading him to serve more than a year in prison and seven years’ probation. “I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime,” he previously recalled to Billboard. “This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old kid that made the worst decision that he could have made in life and people could have got hurt and, by the grace of God, thankfully, nobody did.”

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The star added that the birth of his daughter Bailee inspired him to change. At 23, while incarcerated for drug dealing, he recalled, “May 22, 2008. A guard knocks on my cell door midafternoon during lockdown. He goes, ‘You had a kid today.’ I’ve never had nothing in life that urged me in the moment to know that I had to do something different. I have to figure this out right now.”

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Since then, Grammy-nominated Jelly Roll has catapulted into superstardom. He’s notched three Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers to date with “Son of a Sinner,” “Need a Favor” and his Lainey Wilson collaboration “Save Me.” He will also perform a headlining set at Nissan Stadium during CMA Fest in Nashville on Saturday.

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