Jelly Roll Mom Grand Ole Opry Induction<\/span><\/p> They raised him in Antioch, Tenn.<\/p>\n Read More<\/em>: Who is Jelly Roll’s Father, Buddy DeFord?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n It was Donna who gave Jason his nicknamed-turned-stage-name. “My mother named me that whenever I was a little chubby kid,” the singer said during a 2022 appearance on\u00a0The Bobby Bones Show<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n Jelly has spoken in the past about how his mother loved to play country music as they sat around their kitchen table. “She would come downstairs, throw a record on, and she’d light a cigarette at the table, and dude, I would watch the house change,” the singer recalled on\u00a0The Joe Rogan Experience<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n It was those times he remembered as he thanked his mother during his Grand Ole Opry induction.<\/p>\n “There’s the woman, the reason I am here…my mother, y’all, is here tonight,” he told the crowd, smiling directly at Donna.<\/p>\n “…I would never have cared to write the kind of songs that I write if you hadn’t kept me up all night at that kitchen and made me listen to music, and made me appreciate lyrics. You made me listen to the song, Mom,” Jelly continued. “You didn’t know it, but you changed my life because of that.”<\/p>\n Donna and Buddy divorced when Jelly was 13 years old. She also experienced significant struggles with mental health and addiction during his childhood.<\/p>\n “I felt this need to take care of my mother back then,” Jelly later told\u00a0Billboard<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>He loved music, but he was also focused on making money \u2014 and back then, that meant getting into dealing drugs. His lifestyle as a teen would land him in legal trouble on multiple occasions, and he incurred a felony conviction for armed robbery.<\/p>\n Jelly documented his mother’s addiction battle \u2014 as well as that of other people in his life, such as\u00a0his daughter’s mother Felicia \u2014 in his song “She.”<\/p>\n Donna can’t often attend Jelly’s shows since she uses a wheelchair and has a harder time traveling and attending events.<\/p>\n Read More<\/em>: Watch Jelly Roll Bring His Wheelchair-Bound Mother to the Beach<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n But she is a proud supporter of Jelly’s career. She attended his Grand Ole Opry induction in 2026, marking the first time she’d ever seen him play the venue.<\/p>\n Jelly Roll is country music’s most fascinating character. His life has taken dozens of wild twists and turns, and he’s been honest about all of it. Here are 27 facts about the “Save Me” singer and his family.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nJelly Roll’s Mother Inspired His Love For Country Music<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Jelly Roll’s Mother Struggled With Mental Health + Substance Abuse<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Jelly Roll’s Mother is His Biggest Fan<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Jelly Roll: 27 Stunning Facts About the ‘Save Me’ Singer<\/h2>\n