Today, Jelly Roll is one of the most talked-about stars in country music. His second country album, Beautifully Broken debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart and he is currently performing at arenas across the country on his Beautifully Broken Tour. While it would be easy to let his newfound stardom go to his head, the Antioch, Tennessee native uses his ever-growing platform to inspire those facing dark times. More recently, he performed a private concert for the survivors of the Apalachee school shooting in Winder, Georgia.

In September, a young gunman shot 11 people in Appalachee High School, killing two students, and two teachers, and injuring seven others. Since then, the community has been slowly healing. However, they still feel the impact of that dark day. Jelly Roll wanted to perform for the students, faculty, and the rest of the community in hopes of boosting their morale and assisting in the healing process.

Yesterday (October 27), Jelly took to social media to share a video featuring highlights from the day. “I had the absolute honor and pleasure of getting to sing for the Apalachee High School students, faculty, and community yesterday,” he wrote in the post. “Thank y’all so much for having me and for coming together for one another,” he wrote in the post’s caption.

A clip from the show shows the “Save Me” singer delivering an inspirational message to the crowd. “I have so much love and respect for y’all. I am simply a man with a microphone. Y’all are f-cking heroes,” he told the community of survivors. “I think the community needed to be reminded of how strong they were,” he said later in the video.

Jelly Roll Has an Impact on Apalachee High Students and Families

Atlanta News First reported on the concert. More importantly, the outlet interviewed members of the community who attended the show.

“It really messed up the community,” one resident said of the tragic shooting. “Everyone is trying to come together and Jelly Roll is really doing something nice. I’m really happy he’s come out and done this,” he added.

“I feel like my mood has definitely lightened a bit,” one area student said about the impact of the show. “But it’s still very sad about what happened,” she added.