By Michaela Gordoni
All Jelly Roll wanted was a pardon for Christmas, which he was granted earlier this month.
The rapper/country star has been singing about redemption, so it’s only fitting that he’d be redeemed of his past crimes.
Since he was 14, Jelly Roll had frequented jail for drug possession, dealing, aggravated robbery and shoplifting, CBS News reported.
“I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime,” Jelly Roll previously said of his aggravated robbery charge. “This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old kid that made the worst decision that he could have made in life and people could have got hurt and, by the grace of God, thankfully, nobody did.”
“I had no business taking from anybody,” Jelly Roll said in a podcast last year. “Just the entitlement that I had, that the world owed me enough that I could come take your stuff. It’s just what a horrible, horrible way to look at life and people. What a horrible way to interact with the Earth.”
Related: Will Jelly Roll Get Pardoned?
He has said a pardon would make it easier for him to travel internationally and for Christian missionary work.
“His story is remarkable, and it’s a redemptive, powerful story, which is what you look for and what you hope for,” said Gov. Bill Lee, who hopes to meet the singer soon.
“I worked in a prison reentry program for 20 years before I became governor, and I am very much interested in people who are interested in working with incarcerated individuals, especially through their reentry process,” Lee said. “So, I have enjoyed seeing his work from a distance, and look forward to talking to him about it.”
Last year, Jelly Roll visited the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility in Nashville, where he had once been an inmate.
“There was a time in my life where I truly thought…this was it,” he said while standing inside. “And then coming here, you know, just after getting nominated for two Grammys, it just hits different…I didn’t think I’d get emotional, to be honest.”
Jelly Roll first got into songwriting when he was in prison.
He said his hobby would “end up changing my life in ways that I never dreamed imaginable.”
Jelly Roll sings about his redemption story in his song, “Save Me.”
“I wanted to create a project that felt hopeful,” he said of the album “Save Me” is on. “I believe the worst feeling a person can have is feeling hopeless or worthless. Therapeutic music. Real music for real people with real problems.”
Praise God for how He’s transformed Jelly Roll’s life.
Read Next: Jelly Roll Wants ‘Path to Redemption’ for Felon Gun Ban, Right to Hunt
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