Jelly Roll Celebrates Going “From Rock Bottom To Holy Ground” After Meeting Pope Leo
From serving time in prison to meeting the Pope, Jelly Roll is amazed to see how far he’s come.
Jelly Roll lived a troubled life before becoming the superstar performer he is today. He was arrested for the first time when he was 14 years old. In total, he’s been to jail over 40 times on drug-related charges.
Later, Jelly Roll was arrested for aggravated robbery and sentenced to serve a year in prison, plus seven years of probation.
Jelly Roll worked to turn his life around and has since become one of the most popular performers in country music. His past experiences inspired his hit songs, including “Need a Favor,” “Save Me,” and “I Am Not Okay.”
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On top of going on extensive tours, Jelly Roll often stops at prisons to perform for the inmates. While he was able to tour across the U.S., Jelly Roll could not perform internationally due to his past felonies.
Then in May, Jelly Roll shared he’d been approved to come to Europe to sing with Post Malone on their Big Ass Stadium Tour. While overseas, Jelly Roll also got the opportunity to meet Pope Leo.
“From rock bottom to holy ground,” Jelly Roll captioned a photo that shows him smiling while shaking Pope Leo’s hand.
Jelly Roll Delivers Powerful Performance Of “Hard Fought Hallelujah” From Vatican City
Jelly Roll got to meet Pope Leo because he was one of the performers chosen for the Grace for the World concert in Vatican City.
The historic concert was recorded live on Saturday (September 13) and streamed on Disney+. In addition to Jelly Roll, the performers included Pharrell Williams with the Voices of Fire Choir, Andrea Bocelli, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Karol G, Clipse, Il Volo, Teddy Swims, BamBam, and Angélique Kidjo.
According to a press release from Disney+, the first-of-its-kind concert drew 253,000 people to St. Peter’s Square.
Those 253,000 people were treated to a powerful performance of “Hard Fought Hallelujah” from Jelly Roll. Christian artist Brandon Lake originally released the song as a solo track before featuring Jelly on a remix they dropped in February 2025.
That remix has since been nominated for a CMA Award for Musical Event of the Year.
Jelly Roll performs “Hard Fought Hallelujah” solo whenever Brandon Lake can’t sing with him. He always delivers an inspirational rendition, and his Vatican City performance was no exception.
He shared a clip of that performance on Instagram, which you can watch below. The video ends with Jennifer Hudson joining Jelly onstage to sing a portion of Leonard Cohen’s iconic track, “Hallelujah.”
The whole performance is available to stream on the Disney+ Grace for the World concert special.