Jelly Roll was the headliner at the inaugural Country Calling Festival in Maryland on October 4, and the 39-year-old singer couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he hit the stage.
Born Jason Bradley DeFord, the superstar performed his hits including “Need A Favor’ and “Save Me” for the crowds, rocking his usual uniform of a black tee, shirt and pants, paired with chunky silver jewelry.
He also made an appearance during Riley Green’s set to sing their hit collaboration “Copenhagen in a Cadillac”.
Jelly once tipped the scales at over 500lbs, but in recent years he shed nearly 200lbs , and since January 2024 he has managed to lose another 70lbs.
The singer, who has been open about his health journey, has previously credited his transformation to “water and sleep,” and his desire to live to see his children grow up.
© Ed Rode“In late 2016 I started fighting to save my own life. I lost roughly 200 lbs. It wasn’t a fast journey, it was actually quite slow,” he told fans in 2018, adding that “earlier this year I began overeating and overdrinking again, and that “it’s so hard to balance life living out of truck stops and always running late to the shows, never getting adequate sleep and all the drinking”.