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When Jelly Roll spotted a woman at his concert using an IV drip, he pointed her out from the stage.
“I’ve seen a lot of crazy s—t at my shows. But this young lady is out here with a full-blown IV,” the country star (real name Jason Bradley DeFord) declared while performing at the Tailgates N’ Tallboys festival in Midland, Michigan in late July. In footage uploaded on TikTok, the woman told Jelly Roll, 39, that she’s a “cancer survivor.”
After hearing this, he turned to his team and said, “Let’s get her a chair” to watch the rest of the show. He then looked at the fan standing in the crowd and assured, “We’ll get you off your feet, baby. OK?”
Admirers flooded TikTok to applaud Jelly Roll’s act of kindness.
“We must protect this man at all costs. The world needs more of him,” one user wrote, while another gushed, “I was there and saw this happen. He is an amazing person with a big heart and a lot of compassion.”
Jelly Roll has had a massively successful year with hits like “Need a Favor” propelling him to earn his first Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. But while his career takes off, he has been known to make time for fans battling cancer.
In July 2023, Taste of Country reported that Jelly Roll met with 65-year-old Suzanne Durham, a Nashville-based hospice patient with lung cancer whose dying wish was to see him perform live. He gave Durham and her friends a private show that included his song “Son of a Sinner,” among others, and classic covers such as the Eagles’ “Take It Easy.”
Like Jelly Roll, Durham — who worked as a house manager for women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction — had previously struggled with addiction and substance abuse.
“I’m glad I could come to visit you,” he told Durham last summer. “This is cool, and I’m glad you had some friends come too. I was coming to you if you were by yourself in a bed. … I got choked up earlier not about [your] situation but because I was able to serve a woman who spent her life serving.”
He continued, “Somebody who came out of the situation you came out of and turned her life around and immediately found purpose helping people who were in that same situation.”
While his past might serve as a cautionary tale, Jelly Roll has taken solace in knowing that his life story inspires many. In Us Weekly’s recent “Country Stars Love America” issue, the “Save Me” singer reflected on his whirlwind success and recalled how his low points — which included being in and out of jail for a decade — led him to becoming a chart-topper.
“There were moments in my life that were so dark, there was absolutely no hope or sense of there being something else [other than] that,” Jelly Roll told Us. “I wouldn’t have known to dream anything otherwise, and definitely not to the extent of what the past year alone has brought.”
