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Jelly Roll's 'preferred name' that may surprise you


The country star may have gone with Jelly Roll since the start of his successful career, but he prefers a different name.


Image© Getty Images
Nova M Bajamonti
Nova M BajamontiNews and Features Writer
10 hours ago
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We all know Jelly Roll's name as exactly that, but believe it or not, he actually goes by something else. The artist, who's legal name is actually Jason Bradley DeFord, revealed on the Taste of Country Nights podcast that he goes by a shorter stage name. The singer shared: "I think people call me Jelly. If you know me, or feel like you know me, you call me Jelly." He adamantly added: "I respond to Jelly better than Jelly Roll." Being that he gets called Jelly Roll quite often, he expressed: "If you say Jelly Roll, I kinda go, 'Aww [expletive].' But if somebody goes, 'Hey Jelly!' I think they know me... Delete the Roll, man."

As for how the name Jelly Roll even came about, he revealed that it was due to his mom. In 2022, he shared why he went along with it for so long on The Bobby Bones Show. He explained: "I obviously look the part. My mother named me that when I was a little chubby kid."

jelly roll seated black outfit© Getty Images
Jelly Roll doesn't like to be called Jelly Roll

Jelly continued: "Been fat my whole life. And she tried to call me Jelly Roll when I was young, and I spent the next 30 years trying to grow into the name. I think I've done it. And yeah, it just stuck." Although the artist wants to move away from the full name, he partook in an adorable ad for Dunkin which fittingly featured their jelly rolls.

jelly roll posing on red carpet at acm awards© Getty Images
Jelly Roll wants to only go by Jelly

In it he said: "You know everybody always asks me how I got the name Jelly Roll. Believe it or not, truth is because of these little guys right here," he said as he took a bite of a delicious jelly roll donut. Moving forward, we'll stick to just Jelly as preferred by the artist. 

Jelly Roll attends The 2025 Pollstar Awards at The Beverly Hilton on April 16, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California© Getty Images
Jelly's mom gave him the name Jelly Roll

The country star has made a huge name for himself in the music scene, and has a slew of fans, however he shared that there's one place where he can still enjoy some peace and quiet. Jelly expressed: "I love grocery shopping, too. And they'll stop me and say 'hi,' but nobody asks me for a picture. Everybody is just really, really, really cool."

jelly roll wwe© Getty Images
Jelly's legal name is Jason Bradley DeFord

The performer who's originally from the small town of Antioch, which is a neighborhood in Nashville, shared that the place makes him feel like he's part of the community instead of a celebrity. He explained: "They treat me like a neighbor. They all know I live in that little community, so it's more like, they talk about cool neighbor stuff like, 'Did you hear about such and such's farm selling? Or, what about that storm that knocked down a tree?' Cool [expletive], ya know?"

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