Jelly Roll is giving back to his fans.
In a social media post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday, the country music star posted a video of himself in front of Gus’s Fried Chicken in Little Rock, Arkansas, announcing he was offering free food to all who visited the restaurant that day.
“Free food for anyone in downtown Little Rock,” he captioned the video.
The “Need a Favor” singer started the video by recalling the early days of his career when he would come to Little Rock to play shows at small venues, namely Stickyz Rock’n’Roll Chicken Shack, saying he was “so proud” to sell out the 200-person venue.
JELLY ROLL RIPS X FOR BEING ‘THE MOST TOXIC NEGATIVE APP’ WHERE PEOPLE ARE ‘SAFE’ TO SAY ‘MEAN S—‘
“The next time I came I played a place called the Rev Room right here behind me. Right next to it is a place called Gus’s Chicken. We ate Gus’s Chicken every time we played the Rev Room. I played that place ten times. If you come to Gus’s Chicken in Little Rock, Arkansas today, the food is on me, baby. Come get you a meal.”
Looking back on how far he has come, Jelly Roll told his followers he chose to offer the community in Little Rock free meals in order to “to honor our sold out show in Simmons Bank Arena,” which seats 18,000 audience members.
Later in the video, he encouraged all artists who are still in the early days of their careers to keep going, using himself as an example of someone who was able to make it out of that stage in his career.
“So all y’all artists playing Stickyz and playing the Rev Room, I played Stickyz 10 times,” he said. “I played the Rev Room 20 times. Keep playing, baby. Keep playing, baby!”
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Jelly Roll has been open about his past struggles in previous interviews, recently telling Martin Short on a June 2024 episode of “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon,” he spent a lot of time writing songs while in jail as a young man.
He told the actor, who was guest hosting the talk show in Fallon’s place, “I was incarcerated as a juvenile for some horrible decisions,” and got caught in the cycle, going in and out of prison for a decade. He told Short the birth of his daughter made him want to change his life.
“I had a daughter, and it changed my entire life, man. It was almost like the Damascus Road experience where Saul turned to Paul for me,” he explained. “I was incarcerated, and they knocked on my door and told me she was born. And I just wept. It’s the first time I’d cried, and I can’t quit crying now,”
The musician began to focus on his music career in 2003, working steadily until his breakthrough in 2022 with his singles “Son of a Sinner” and “Need a Favor.” Since making it big, Jelly Roll has won three CMT Awards, one CMA Award, a People’s Choice Award and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
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Most recently, Jelly Roll was nominated for entertainer of the year, male vocalist of the year and album of the year at the 2024 CMA Awards.
