Jelly Roll has been very open about his mental health struggles, and the steps he takes to overcome them. The Nashville native believes that it was his early struggles with anxiety and depression, left untreated, which led to his years in and out of prison. But now that he has a new lease on life, as one of the reigning superstars in country music, Jelly Roll is more determined than ever to make taking care of his mental health a top priority for him.
“One of the main tools I use to work towards my mental health is finding presence of mind, finding gratitude, anchoring myself in things like this, constantly listening, and trying to learn,” Jelly Roll explains on Audacy‘s I’m Listening podcast.
“And I use music to navigate my mental health as a way of therapy,” he continues. “I don’t mean writing it — that’s very therapeutic as well — but, to this day, if I need to sort through some thoughts, I’ll still get in that old truck and hit up a back road and turn up the radio.”
Courtesy of CMA / Ashley Osborn
In an earlier conversation with Audacy, Jelly Roll regrets that he was told when he was young to brush off his feelings, forcing him to find acceptance wherever he could, even from unhealthy crowds.
“I would have realized that my need for acceptance stemmed from feeling like I wasn’t good enough,” Jelly Roll previously said. “I felt like nobody accepted me…When you feel like nobody accepts you, there’s always that one group that will and it’s always the trouble. I feel like I might have made some crazy different life decisions if I could have sat down and felt vocal enough to say, ‘Hey, I’m leaning towards this because I don’t feel accepted anywhere else.’”
Fortunately, his days of struggle seem to be largely a thing of the past for him. The 38-year-old is headlining his successful Backroad Baptism Tour, has five CMA Awards nominations, and has a Top 30 single with his “Save Me” collaboration with Lainey Wilson.
“Everything’s changed,” Jelly Roll tells Audacy’s Katie & Company. “In every good way possible. A couple of bad ways possible, but that’s cool too. I expected that. You can’t expect God to give you this much of a blessing without a small burden. That’s kind of how that works. Even Paul complained about what he called the thorn in his side, whatever that affliction was that Paul had. But it’s been nothing short of incredible.”
Earlier this year, Jelly Roll said he was also working on his physical health as well, which for him means working out and losing weight.
I’m going to spend the first couple months of the year just focusing on family and health,” Jelly Roll told Music Mayhem. “I lost some weight this year in 2022, but in 2023 I wanna finally conquer the demon. I don’t leave for a big tour until about the middle of the year. So I plan on taking the first half of the year to tighten the album up and get some work in.”
Find Jelly Roll’s Whitsitt Chapel and all of his music and upcoming shows at JellyRoll615.com
