Jelly Roll Grows Emotional as He Visits His Old Cell in a Nashville Detention Center: 'I Never Thought I'd Lay Down Here'
Jelly stars in 'Rebel Country,' which premiered June 10 at Tribeca Film Festival, alongside Lainey Wilson, BRELAND, Sam Williams and more
Kevin Winter/Getty
Jelly RollJelly Roll is taking a trip down memory lane.
In Rebel Country, which premiered Monday, June 10, at the Tribeca Film Festival, the "Son of a Sinner" singer reflected on his frequent run-ins with the law as he visited his old detention center.
"Holy s---," Jelly Roll, 39, says as he's walking into the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility in Nashville.
“At the age of 14 I started making a series of decisions that led to what I call the revolving door of the judicial system," he adds. "So I would say from 14 to 24, I spent eight, eight and a half of those incarcerated. Come home for six months and go back to jail for a year."
A cameraman then follows the country star into his old cell and he sheds tears as he looks around: "This is the house."
“I never thought I’d lay down here [again]," he says as he sat down on his bunk bed.
Then, Jelly Roll details his upbringing in Antioch, a neighborhood in Nashville.
"For many years I looked back at my childhood and the only emotion I thought of was anger," he says. "I'd be angry at the situation. The establishment. The lack of resources. Not just for us — everybody," he says.
Back in the cell, he looks out the window and says: "It’s crazy man. When I started to get my head on straight and started dreaming, I quit looking out these windows and seeing barbed wire. I started seeing success."
Jelly Roll stars in Rebel Country, which explores how a diverse group of artists are challenging the culture of country music, alongside Lainey Wilson, BRELAND, Sam Williams and more.
In a recent Interview Magazine conversation with Jon Bon Jovi, the "Need a Favor" singer revealed that he hasn't toured internationally because of his past run-ins with the law.
"I’m so excited [to perform outside the United States]. We’re figuring out the final pieces of some legal puzzles for me to get overseas," said Jelly.
"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," added the Grammy-nominated artist. "We’re working on that. I think it’s going to work in my favor."
Jelly Roll was arrested for the first time at age 14, two years before he was arrested for aggravated robbery, charged as an adult and served over a year in prison — plus seven years' probation.
"I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime," he told Billboard last year. "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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