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Audiences and Executives Agree: Jelly Roll
The country-music superstar, whose 2024 Emmys appearance surprised many, is playing SNL’s season-50 premiere this weekend. How did he get here?
That includes commercials (Uber Eats and Amazon Web Services), TV shows (Taylor Sheridan’s Tulsa King), and brand tie-ins (his song “Get By” was selected as ESPN’s 2024 college-football season anthem). To those in the know, Jelly Roll’s story is the stuff of legend: After his first arrest at age 14, the Nashville artist spent years in and out of the local prison system struggling with addiction, nurturing a talent for rap, and getting the first of his many face tattoos. Everything changed for the artist, born Jason Bradley DeFord, with the release of his viral 2020 ballad “Save Me.” The song’s lyrics, about the relationship between addiction and hopelessness, resonated with a pandemic-addled country-music audience he hadn’t reached previously.
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