It’s not that uncommon to hear people thank God when they win these trophies — but this was something else.
Check the video at the bottom of the post to see how Jelly Roll accepted the Grammy for Best Contemporary Country Album Sunday night.
From his Wikipedia biography:
Jason Bradley DeFord (born December 4, 1984), known professionally as Jelly Roll (originally stylized as JellyRoll), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter.
DeFord was born and raised in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee. His father was a meat salesman and worked as a bookie on the side; his mother suffered from mental illness and addiction. When he was young, his mother nicknamed him Jelly Roll for his fondness for doughnuts. A school friend began calling him that as well, and it became the name he was known by.
DeFord was baptized at age 14, but says around that time he began “dabbling” in drugs and stopped going to church. “The same year that I got baptized, I got arrested, and that started what would be a 10-year cycle of incarceration in and out,” he said. From his teenage years into his twenties, DeFord was arrested several times and spent time in jail for various charges and felonies including possession with intent to distribute and aggravated robbery. While imprisoned, he earned his GED at the age of 23. He received a pardon for his previous convictions from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on December 18, 2025.
DeFord returned to his Christian faith when he was 39 and his daughter, who was 14 at the time, expressed an interest in being baptized. “I should go see what kind of cult she’s going to,” he recalled thinking, “because that’s kind of how I looked at church at that time. And then I went, and I was reminded of the genuineness that can be in those walls, too. I was reminded of the humanity and the compassion and the forgiveness, the love and the community, more than anything watching her and all of her friends there.” In 2025, he said, “I might wear it a little different than other people, I might say things that other Christians don’t think are right to say, but ultimately, I have a heart for God and I have a heart for Jesus”
