Jelly Roll recently performed “Almost Home” with Craig Morgan on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Jelly Roll shared how the song impacted his life following incarceration and has inspired him as an artist.
“Shortly after I got out of jail, I sat right over there in row 7, and I remember thinking, ‘I want to make people feel the way [Craig Morgan] makes me feel right now,’” Jelly Roll reflected on the moment he heard Morgan sing “Almost Home” on the Opry stage after having been released from jail. “This is a true testimony that God is real, and all things are possible. Because that same kid that was in jail and struggling, his wife is sitting right there, and that kid is standing right next to Craig Morgan,” he added.
Prior to their performance of “Almost Home” together, Morgan praised Jelly Roll and his inspiring life story.
“If you haven’t seen it, you need to go back and pull up [Jelly Roll’s] first appearance… I happened to be out on the road somewhere and someone called me and said ‘Man you have got to see this Jelly Roll guy. He was just on the Grand Ole Opry and he don’t look like somebody who would be on the Grand Ole Opry, but he was talking about you,’” Morgan reflected on the first time he heard the “Son Of A Sinner” singer perform.
“And so I went back and watched it and he was standing there talking about how when he was in jail and struggling, how a particular song helped him get through it. And he mentioned the fact that he came to the Grand Ole Opry when he got out…and how I was there singing on the stage……and it moved me. It moved me,” he continued.
“It just proves exactly what he said, that music can change lives. So before I do the song that he says changed his life, I would love it if we can give him a big round of applause and get him to come out and sing this out here with us,” Morgan concluded, asking Jelly Roll to join him on stage to perform the song.
In addition to inviting him to sing “Almost Home,” Morgan also presented Jelly Roll with a framed, signed copy of the song’s lyrics for the star to take home and frame “next to his Platinum and Multi-Platinum plaques.”
After receiving the framed lyrics from Morgan, Jelly Roll tearfully told the crowd, “Ladies & Gentlemen, I’m sorry I ugly cried up here again, but I just… This song means so much to me. Make some noise for the power of music, thanks for having me Craig Morgan.”
Jelly Roll performed his chart-climbing single, “Son Of A Sinner” on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! in late June. He previously scored his first No. 1 radio hit with his song, “Dead Man Walking” on May 9 of this year.
Jelly Roll is currently touring with his duet partner Brantley Gilbert on the Son Of The Dirty South Tour. The pair released a duet of the same name.
Jelly Roll made his Grand Ole Opry debut last November, where he received a standing ovation.
