Fatherhood has been a rugged path for Jelly Roll, particularly in its inception. The country music sensation found himself behind bars when his now 16-year-old daughter, Bailee, first entered his life, leading to an arduous battle to forge a relationship with her upon his release.
During an interview with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett on their 'Smartless' podcast episode, released on Monday, March 3, Jelly shed light on the "painstakingly slow" journey of cultivating a bond with Bailee after his incarceration, when she was just a toddler of two. "Her mother, understandably so, considering my criminal past, wouldn't allow me to see her," recounted the singer of the hit song 'Save Me.'
"I had to resort to legal means," he continued. "Supervised visits arranged through the court were the only way. Every six months, I'd return to court, pleading, 'Look, I'm proving that I'm changing.' Fame and music were the farthest thoughts from my mind at that time. All I yearned for was to be a loving father."
Jelly, who is also the father of an eight-year-old son named Noah, now shares full custody of Bailee with his wife, the podcaster Bunnie XO. "She boasts one of the highest GPAs in her high school," he proudly revealed about his eldest daughter during the podcast. "She's a dual enrollment student and a junior already heading to college."
The CMA Award winner ultimately served over a year in prison, followed by seven months of probation, for an aggravated robbery committed when he was just 16. Years later, at the age of 23, he was incarcerated again for drug trafficking. It was during this latter stint that Jelly learned about Bailee's birth from a prison guard, which he described as "the most brutally honest moment of accountability and self-reflection in my life," in the podcast.
In a 2023 interview with Billboard, Jelly had previously opened up about this awakening. "I've never experienced anything in life that compelled me, in that very moment, to recognize the necessity for change," he had said. "I had to figure this out, right then and there."
This interview transpired approximately five months after the release of Jelly's album 'Beautifully Broken,' which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The star is currently headlining a tour in support of the album, with a joint stadium tour with Post Malone set to commence in April.
