Jelly Roll boldly shares his faith in Jesus on ESPN: ‘God is everything, baby’ 

Singer and songwriter Jelly Roll is showing that his newfound faith isn’t a gimmick for music and awards, but a deep-down conviction that is reshaping him from the inside out.

Jelly Roll famously collaborated earlier this year with Christian artist Brandon Lake for the hit song Hard Fought Hallelujah, and then tallied three wins at October’s GMA Dove Awards, which is traditionally the highest honor in Christian music.

But Jelly Roll – whose birth name is Jason Bradley DeFord – isn’t done talking about Jesus. Asked by ESPN over the weekend to offer advice to young people and to share the secret behind his dramatic life turnaround, Jelly Roll immediately pointed to his faith. He spent time in prison as a young man on drug-related charges.

“I hope they don’t get mad at me saying it on TV, but first and foremost, God is everything, baby,” Jelly Roll said in his folksy tone. “None of this would work for me without Jesus Himself, and developing that relationship with Him.”

Jelly Roll was interviewed courtside during the Tennessee-Illinois college basketball game in Nashville, Tennessee, his home city. He said he follows the mantra, “What would Jesus do?” 

“I just say, ‘What would Jesus do?’ Man, get lost in them Gospels, and it will change your life. Man, that’s where I’m at right now. I’m somewhere between Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It is doing it for me, baby. I’m not pushing it on nobody. I’m telling you what worked for me.”

Themes of sin and redemption have long run through Jelly Roll’s songs, though they’ve become more pronounced in his recent music. He collaborated with country-rap singer Shaboozey on the 2025 single Amen.

He has climbed the charts while staying rooted in the same city, Nashville, that once defined his struggles. 

“It feels good for any artist that gets to that pinnacle of their career – but imagine you do it in the same city that you were incarcerated in, the same city that you used to tear down and sell drugs in, the same city that you hurt people in, that you’ve now been able to redeem yourself in front of the whole city, and heal in front of the whole city, and then have the city love you enough to buy tickets to watch you sing songs,” he told ESPN. 

“It’s a story only God could be the author of.” 

Meanwhile, Jelly Roll says he talks openly about his checkered past because he wants his story to inspire others to change. 

“I think it’s important for other people in the same situation to know they can change for the better. It’s important. I just want people to believe in themselves. Change is possible. You’re never too late for it. I didn’t get nominated for my first Grammy until I was almost 40 years old. I didn’t have my first No. 1 record until I was in my late 30s.”  

His renewed faith has coincided with a dramatic weight-loss journey that often draws the most attention. He has shed roughly 200 pounds over the past two years and jokes that he recently discovered two bones once hidden by fat – his hip bone and his collarbone. 

“You can get up today,” he told the ESPN audience, “and change.”