Cody Johnson Shares His Respect For Jelly Roll

Cody Johnson and Jelly Roll may seem like an unlikely duo. But as Johnson once told CMT, they have more in common than people think:

“You guys may not look at me and realize this, but I have a pretty jaded past as well,” Johnson said, referring to the fact that Jelly Roll has spent time behind bars. While Johnson did not have the same experience, he feels like he came close to it.

“There’s a few mistakes that I’ve made in my life — there’s a few decisions I’ve made in my life where I could have wound up here [as a country artist], or I very well could have wound up in jail,” he said.

“Whiskey Bent” Was Released In November On CoJo’s New Album, Leather

When Johnson spoke with CMT, there were rumors floating around that he and Jelly Roll had collaborated on a song. He addressed those rumors, saying, “Respect is mutual [between them], and real recognizes real. So absolutely, we’ve talked about working together.”

They followed through on those talks. The two singers ended up recording a song called “Whiskey Bent,” which Johnson included on his new album, Leather.

Johnson told Billboard Jelly Roll was originally supposed to sing on another track. But when he heard “Whiskey Bent,” he had an emotional reaction.

“He just started crying and was like, ‘Bro, I ain’t never heard a song like that. If I’m gonna be on a song, can it be that one?’ I gave him the entire second verse. It didn’t take him long to learn the song and he did incredibly.”

Jelly Roll Surprises RodeoHouston Crowd By Bringing Cody Johnson Onstage For “Whiskey Bent” Duet

Jelly Roll performed at the famous Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (also known as RodeoHouston) on Wednesday (March 6). The “Need a Favor” singer had an impressive turnout for his show. According to The Houston Chronicle, 73,494 people were in attendance.

This was Jelly Roll’s first time performing at RodeoHouston. So he was understandably blown away by the experience.

Jelly Roll pulled out all the stops for his show…including a surprise guest. And that guest was none other than Cody Johnson!

As a native Texan, Johnson is no stranger to the RodeoHouston stage. He’s performed there five times, and recorded a theme song, “Welcome to the Show,” that plays every night during the event.

Houston radio station 100.3 The Bull shared a video of the moment when Jelly Roll announced Johnson as his surprise guest. To say the crowd went wild would be an understatement.

The Bull shared another clip of the surprise moment, captioning it:

“That roar? Yeah that was @jellyroll615 bringing out @codyjohnson to sing ‘Whiskey Bent’ in Houston, Texas! One of the greatest rodeo Houston surprises of all-time!“

You can also check out the video below to watch Cody Johnson and Jelly Roll’s full RodeoHouston performance of “Whiskey Bent.” What a surprise that was for the audience!