By Mark Gray
12:30pm PST, Jan 15, 2024
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With his tattooed face and a checkered drug past, Jelly Roll might not be the person you'd picture as an advocate for change in front of America's lawmakers. Then again, when it comes to the fentanyl crisis in America, he might actually be the best person — at least that's how he feels.
The Grammy-nominated country music singer (born Jason DeFord) spoke before Congress on Jan. 11, 2024, to urge lawmakers to pass anti-fentanyl legislation.
"I was part of the problem," he told senators. "I am here now standing as a man that wants to be a part of solution."
The Congressional visit is just one of the many ways Jelly Roll has turned his life around. Click through to read more about his life, his 40 jail stints and his Capitol Hill plea…
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While speaking to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on Jan. 11, Jelly Roll said he doesn't align with either major political party and isn't allowed to vote due to his past felony convictions.
"Therefore I have never paid attention to a political race in my life," he said. "Ironically, I think that makes me the perfect person to speak about this because fentanyl transcends partisanship and ideology."
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Jelly Roll noted that during the course of his five-minute speech, someone in America would die from a drug overdose, and odds are likely that the death would be fentanyl related. He told senators that 190 people a day die from overdoses in America. "That is about a 737 plane," he said. "Could you imagine the national media attention it would get if they were reporting that a plane was crashing every single day and killing 190 people? But because it's 190 drug addicts, we don't feel that way."
He continued, "America has been known to bully and shame drug addicts instead of dealing and trying to understand what the actual root of the problem is."
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Jelly Roll was once a drug user and drug dealer but he was happy to address the elephant in the room.
"I think it's important for me to tell you all that I'm not here to defend the use of illegal drugs, and I also understand the paradox of my history as a drug dealer standing in front of this committee," the Country Music Association Award winner said. "But equally, I think that's what makes me perfect to talk about this."
"I stand here as a regular member of society," he later added. "I am a stupid songwriter, y'all, but I have firsthand witnessed this in a way most people have not. I encourage you all to not only pass this bill, but I encourage you to bring it up where it matters — at the kitchen table."
The Hill reported that anti-fentanyl legislation passed the Senate in July 2023 but has yet to make it through the House. Jelly Roll urged Congress to be "proactive and not reactive."
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Jelly Roll has seen death up close too many times.
"I've attended more funerals than I care to share with y'all. This committee, I could sit here and cry for days about the caskets I've carried of people I loved dearly, deeply in my soul," he told the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. "Good people, not just drug addicts. Uncles, friends, cousins, normal people — some people that just got in a car wreck and started taking a pain pill to manage it. One thing led to the other… how fast it spirals out of control. I don't think people truly, truly understand."
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Over the years, Jelly Roll estimates he's been in jail about 40 times, and he also spent 18 months in prison for aggravated assault after he attempted to steal marijuana from someone while armed.
While being locked up many, many times between the ages 13 and 25, Jelly Roll wrote songs, many of which are about substance abuse and overdosing. By the time he left prison, he focused on music and managed to build a sizable YouTube following that eventually translated to a music deal.
At 39, Jelly Roll has now been nominated for two Grammys and in 2023 took home the Country Music Association Award for best new artist.
"At every concert I perform, I witness the heartbreaking impact of fentanyl," he told senators. "I see fans grappling with this tragedy in the form of music, that they seek solace in music and hope that their experiences won't befall others. These people crave reassurance that their elected officials actually care more about human life than they do about ideology and partisanship."
