Jelly Roll’s visit to Chesterfield County Jail took an unexpected turn when he handed the spotlight to the inmates, who impressed him with their talent. Known for connecting with incarcerated individuals through his music, Jelly usually performs at these events, but this time, the roles reversed. The inmates’ performance deeply moved him, showcasing their skill and determination. Jelly’s unique approach continues to reflect his personal journey and his mission to inspire others.
“Who’s this motherf–ker that’s been singing his a– off?” Jelly says in a highlights reel video he shared of his visit, before bringing up one man named Ejay, who delivered a soulful performance of Jelly’s song “Unpretty” for the singer and the rest of the inmates in the room.
Jelly took the time to just be a fan. One shot shows him holding up his phone, recording the performance. And after he left the jail to prepare for his Arena performance in Charlottesville, Va., he got a hare-brained idea to include the talented young men he met in jail in his show on a larger scale.
He made some phone calls to the sheriff, and quickly arranged to have four men from the jail facility come to the show, dressed in street clothes — not jail uniforms — to sing with him onstage. Watch the video below to see how it all went down.
“My hope with bringing these men out on stage with me is that they can see a larger picture of what life can become,” Jelly explained. “The place they’re in now is not the end, and the future can be so much more than their wildest dreams.
The musicians showing off their talents were members of the Helping Addicts Recover Progressively (HARP) program, which is a jail-based, peer-to-peer recovery model that requires participants to voluntarily commit to a six-month inpatient stay.
Jelly has been involved in the program in the past. In 2023, he made a stop at the same Virginia facility. During his time there, he told the crowd he was already a fan of the HARP program, which has a robust presence on TikTok.
Fan-filmed video shows the four HARP members hopping onstage with Jelly, showing off their unique talents as they sing “Unpretty” together. From an acoustic guitar to a rap verse to a sing-a-long of the chorus, Jelly’s idea to bring jail inmates to an arena stage turned out to be one of the most special moments of the show — not just for the singer and his musical guests, but for the crowd, too.
Jelly concluded his 2024 Beautifully Broken Tour at the end of October. Next up, he’s preparing for the 2024 CMA Awards, where he’s nominated in multiple categories, including Entertainer of the Year.
