Jelly Roll - Jason Bradley DeFord BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.

Jelly Roll, the 40-year-old rapper-turned-country-singer whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, has been making major headlines this week with multiple significant developments across his career and personal life.

Most notably, the Grammy-nominated artist received three Grammy nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards, announced on November 7th. He's nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance or Song alongside Brandon Lake for their collaboration "Hard Fought Hallelujah," Best Contemporary Country Album for "Beautifully Broken," and Best Country Duo or Group Performance for "Amen." Jelly Roll described learning about the nominations while in Australia as probably the craziest thing that's ever happened to him, crediting God for his success and expressing overwhelming gratitude to the Recording Academy.

His physical transformation continues to dominate public conversation. On November 25th, Jelly Roll posted a clean-shaven selfie on Instagram showing off a dramatically different appearance after losing nearly 200 pounds since beginning his weight-loss journey in December 2022. The stark change sparked wild fan theories about him being cloned, which he humorously leaned into, captioning the photo "AI is getting crazy these days." His wife Bunnie XO revealed that people were speculating about cloning after he lost the weight and shaved off his facial hair for the first time in over a decade.

Bunnie XO provided additional commentary on Friday's episode of her "Dumb Blonde" podcast, joking that her husband of eight years now looks like Beetlejuice with his clean-shaven face and describing his head as a peanut shape after the dramatic transformation. She explained he shaved because he'd finally lost enough weight to see what he looked like underneath the beard.

Celebrities have been publicly praising his dedication to health. Rock legend Sammy Hagar commented on his Instagram post saying he's proud of what Jelly Roll has done with his life, while bands like Shinedown and fellow country singer Bailey Zimmerman also expressed admiration.

According to statements at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards in May, Jelly Roll revealed his biggest challenge with weight loss is food addiction rather than exercise, emphasizing the importance of fighting that battle at the dinner table. He's publicly stated his goal is to appear on the cover of Men's Health magazine by March 2026 and wants to lose another 100 pounds to eventually skydive with his wife.

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