Jelly Roll, a new arrival on the country music scene who has already become a star, spoke with Fox News Digital before the 2024 Country Music Television (CMT) Music Awards, saying that he is confident that God has a “bigger purpose” for him and that his faith in God is what drives him in his career, which took off like a rocket after long years of unsuccessful drudgery.
Particularly, he told his interviewers at Fox News Digital that it was that Christian faith that helped him persevere in his choice of career even when things were not going particularly well for his career despite his age steadily ticking up, with success only coming when he was 37 years old. He credits his faith with pushing him through those doldrums of life.
Recounting what his life was like before stardom and how it was his faith that helped him persevere as the years dragged on with little success to show for all the time he spent on it, Jelly Roll said, “Faith was a lot of me believing it was going to work out for me. Could you imagine being a 37-year-old, unsuccessful musician when you told people that was your job?”
Continuing, Jelly Roll explained how despite his lack of success, he remained focused on music as his career rather than as a side job, emphasizing ht it was his faith that God had a bigger plan for him that drove him to continue. He said, “It wasn’t like something I did on the side. Like, it was my job. And I just always had faith that God had a bigger purpose for what I was trying to do.”
He then explained that God chooses people wisely, knowing what He’s doing, even if they don’t feel “equipped” at first. He said, “God never called the equipped. God always equipped the call. I think that I am a living manifestation of that.”
Giving an example from the Bible, he spoke about Noah and the Flood, saying, “I feel like God historically is always, you know, ‘Listen, Noah didn’t know anything about building a boat. He had no tradesmanship in building anything, and that’s who God picked to build an ark.”
This isn’t the first time Jelly Roll has spoken about his faith. When he spoke at the 2024 iHeartRadio awards, he explained, “I never would’ve dreamed I would be one of the voices coming through your radio, and to be the Best New Country Artist and represent country music, and the Best New Pop Artist, you don’t know what this means to a kid like me. I was thinking about it: what does it mean when a guy like me has the opportunity to be the new pop artist of the year at [the iHeartRadio Music Awards]. It means that God will always use the least likely messenger with the biggest message every single time. You could take it to the bank, baby! I love you, Jesus, and I love you, Bunnie, my wife, thank you for everything. Bailee Ann, my daughter at home, if you’re watching, I’m coming home, baby! …We did it again!”
Watch his speech here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video