Jelly Roll has never been shy about his past—his struggles, his redemption, and how music saved his life. But at CRS 2025, during a raw and unfiltered conversation with Eric Church, he dropped a detail that even longtime fans might not know.
The first time Jelly Roll ever heard Eric Church’s music?
While sitting in a jail cell.
“I heard you on the radio for the first time in jail,” Jelly admitted to Church during their CRS panel discussion. The crowd reacted with a mix of laughter and awe, but Jelly was dead serious.
By the time Church’s debut album Sinners Like Me came out in 2006, Jelly Roll was in and out of correctional facilities, fighting battles that seemed impossible to win. But that voice, those lyrics—they stuck with him.
Years later, when Jelly Roll broke into country music himself, Church became a mentor of sorts. Their conversation at CRS was a full-circle moment, as two of country music’s most rebellious artists sat on stage together, talking about music, struggle, and success.
It just goes to show—country music finds people wherever they are. Even behind bars.