Jelly Roll is known today as one of the biggest country/hip-hop artists in the world. He’s even a Grammy nominee. Safe to say, he has made it. His net worth is $12 million and he’s been happily married to Alyssa DeFord (Bunnie XO) since 2016.
Life is good for Mr. Roll, but everything wasn’t always this nice. 17 years ago, he was sitting in a prison cell while his first daughter, Bailee Ann, was born.
During a recent conversation on the Smartless podcast, the 40-year-old singer talked about how he wasn’t released from prison until his daughter was 2-years-old, and even then, he wasn’t allowed to see her.
I got home when she was almost 2. Her mother, at the time, because I was rightfully so a f—— criminal, wouldn’t let me see her. So I had to go to court. I had to get supervised visits through the courtroom. I had to step that very slow, build a relationship, then six hours on Friday evening, but she had to be home before 10 p.m. I just had to I had to keep going to the court every six months and going, ‘Look, I’m continuing to prove I’m changing.’
He claimed at that time, being a famous singer wasn’t even on his radar. The only thing he was focused on was being the best dad possible.
And he must have proved himself to the courts, because he’s had full custody of Bailee for 8 years now. She’s 16-years-old, and according to Jelly, one of the smartest students in her school.
Fast forward, that same little girl that was born when I was incarcerated is fixing to turn 17 years old. She’s got one of the highest GPAs at her high school. She’s a dual enrollment kid and is a junior going to college. Me and my wife have had full custody of her for eight years. This is one of our best friends.
What a great story!
