Jelly Roll Reflects on Troubled Youth as He Prepares for Long-Awaited UK Concert Debut

Jelly Roll will find out if tea and scones are his jam soon enough.

The country singer, who’s long been banned from performing concerts overseas because of his criminal record, is finally heading to London for two shows in September.

“They lettin’ me come to England, baby!” the “Son of a Sinner” hitmaker, 40, said in a video posted on social media.

“It’s real, dude. I am playing Tottenham Stadium with Post Malone,” he added. “The first night’s already sold out. I’ll be there. The second night is on sale.”

The U.K. shows are a big deal for the “Need a Favor” singer, who’s never toured abroad because of his multiple teenage transgressions.

As GLOBE readers know, Jelly Roll a.k.a. Jason Bradley DeFord was arrested for a variety of crimes, including possession of drugs with intent to distribute and aggravated robbery, beginning when he was 14. He has said he spent most of the years between ages 14 and 25 behind bars.

For a long time, not only was he prevented from entering certain countries, he was also unable to obtain a passport.

“The trick is, when America finally says, ‘We’ll let you leave,’ the amount of countries that won’t let you come in,” he said in 2023. “We had to cancel my London debut show.”

Not only is he grateful he’ll finally be able to travel abroad, he considers it a reminder of the crimes he committed, which he still thinks about and regrets.

“I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime,” Jelly Roll shared. “This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old kid that made the worst decision that he could have made in life and people could have got hurt and, by the grace of God, thankfully, nobody did.”