Jelly Roll Tops Billboard’s Emerging artists

What a difference a year makes. In 2021, Jelly Roll played a sold-out show to just over 2,300 fans at Nashville’s revered Ryman Auditorium. This Friday (Dec. 9), the Stoney Creek Records/BMG artist is headlining the nearly 19,000-capacity Bridgestone Arena.

The moment will prove a triumphant homecoming for an artist (real name: Jason DeFord) who has gone from selling mixtapes out of his car in his hometown of Nashville suburb Antioch, and releasing over a dozen independent albums, to becoming a genre-fluid hitmaker with a No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart (“Dead Man Walking”) and a Top 10 (and rising) on the Country Airplay chart (“Son of a Sinner”). While the venue’s seats will be filled with fans, backstage will be just as packed with friends and family that have supported the 37-year-old singer-songwriter for years.

“It’s so bad,” he tells Billboard with a laugh, acknowledging it’s a great problem to have. “I went to Bridgestone today with the relations manager that deals with backstage stuff, hospitality, just to look at all the dressing rooms and everywhere we can possibly put people… just to f–king figure it out how we’re gonna do this. But it’s incredible. You couldn’t write a Cinderella story cooler than this, saying that I’ll have a headlining show at Bridgestone while I have a top 10 at country radio. I look at it like it’s my introduction party to Nashville, even though I was born here.”

He promises some high-profile special guests and several surprises in the set list.

“We’ve got something for everyone. If you’re a Nashville guy who remembers when I was putting out mix tapes, I have something that will blow your mind. If you’ve just heard ‘Son of a Sinner,’ it’s gonna be great,” he says.

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