Jelly Roll reveals he was court ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous at just 14-years-old

Jelly roll has revealed that he was court ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous at the age of 14.

The 39-year-old country megastar – born Jason Bradley DeFord – has once again opened up about his struggles with addiction and criminal past, as it has involved some 40 arrests, most of them as a young man on drug-related charges.

In his latest interview about the promotional tour of his new studio album – titled Beautifully Broken – the country-tinged singer and rapper admitted he was just a teenager when a judge “ordered” him to attend his first 12-step meeting. .

“Oh god, I can’t quite remember my first real meeting because I was court ordered at 14,” the Grammy winner told host Ania Hammar during an episode of SiriusXM’s The Highway.

“I don’t remember it as well as I should. But I definitely remember the first time I found comfort in those rooms, or the first time I was introduced to the concept of this,” the country star explained. “And how much stuff I took from those rooms.”

The Antioch, Tennessee, resident added that he had “never been more inspired” than when he “left an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting or a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.”

“I think everyone should experience one if you’ve never had a drink in your life,” the Somebody Save Me singer said during the interview.

Jelly thinks that almost everyone can take something away from a 12-step AA and NA meeting as a way to learn from it as it relates to their own lives.

“I still think there’s something in there, which is, you know, the good ones are like good theater,” he continued. “They make you listen, you learn, you laugh and you cry.”

His experiences with drug and alcohol use, as well as learning a thing or two at an NA and AA meeting, helped inspire his song I Am Not Ok, the lead single from his tenth studio album Beautifully Broken .

He also has a song from the new record, Winning Streak, which is actually inspired by AA and NA.

“It was very difficult for me to get off those drugs,” he said during an interview with The New York Times last summer. ‘Something I do [for] Maintaining my relationship with those drugs means that I will still attend the meetings even though I am not a textbook sober man – but I never share, I just sit quietly and appreciate the message and meaning.”

To mark the release, Jelly took to his Instagram page and shared a video of himself behind the wheel of his car with friends in the backseat.

‘We’re going to release an album. It’s all happening,” an excited Jelly said at the top of the clip. “Beautifully Broken is coming out tonight, man,” he said Friday. “Man, album nights are always big nights for us. I’m nervous so I’m digressing.’

“I’m nervous but all excited,” the father-of-two echoed, before boasting of his part in raising big money for charity recently.

‘By the way, we raised $850,000 for charity with the pre-sale. Thanks everyone, that’s like a million dollars, dude. I can’t even begin to understand what’s happening this year. Thank you all, sincerely,” he said as he turned to the camera.

Jelly started his career in 2003 and bounced around the southern rap circuit for years, but it wasn’t until he made some changes to his music to add more country elements to his songwriting that he saw his career take off.

He would achieve mainstream fame after the release of his singles Son Of A Sinner and Need A Favor.

The singer and rapper was inspired to take a more rural direction after seeing the success of Son Of A Sinner from his album Ballads Of The Broken (2021), which reached the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 but went to number one on the Country Airplay chart.

It was that success that he came up with the idea of ​​adopting an all-country sound for his ninth album, Whitsitt Chapel (2023), which featured the singles Need A Favor, Save Me featuring Lainey Wilson and Halfway to Hell.

He described his previous album as “real music for real people with real problems” and “about growth and gratitude in my life,” while also stating that he wanted to “create a project that felt hopeful.”

Just one look at his various album titles throughout his career: Sobriety Sucks (2016), Addiction Kills (2017), Whiskey Sessions II (2019), A Beautiful Disaster (2020), Self Medicated (2020) and Ballads of the Broken (2021) , and it’s easy to see that he really wears his emotions on his sleeve and in his music.

The new Beautifully Broken (2024) album certainly contributes to the consistency of its subject matter in its lyrics, which also exudes a positive atmosphere.

“I want to introduce you all to ‘Beautifully Broken (Pickin’ Up The Pieces)’, the luxury that adds five more songs,” the rapper shared on social media on Friday.

‘The idea behind this artwork comes from a Japanese practice called kintsugi. The idea is that if something breaks and it’s worth fixing, you fix it by filling the cracks with gold. I honestly don’t think anything personifies this record better.”

That amazing year Jelly referred to ended with a number of awards and accolades, including three CMT Music Awards for Male Video Of The Year, Male Breakthrough Video of the Year and CMT Digital-First Performance of the Year for Son Of A Sinner.

He also scored a New Artist Of The Year win at the Country Music Association Awards last November.

Jelly Roll has been married to his wife Alyssa DeFord, known as “Bunnie XO”, since 2016.