After 12 years in and out of jail, Jelly Roll’s prospects of leaving the system seemed improbable. While stuck in what he called “the revolving door of the judicial system,” for every couple of years he served in jail, he spent a few months at home, per the “Bobby Bones Show.” During one of those stints of freedom, Jelly Roll got a woman pregnant. He was aware of the pregnancy, but he certainly didn’t expect it would mean redemption.
On May 22, 2008, a guard knocked on cell 223 at the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility in Nashville to inform Jelly Roll his daughter had been born. “I had a Damascus Road experience,” he said on the “Bobby Bones Show” in May 2022, referring to the moment Paul converted to Christianity upon encountering a resurrected Jesus. Jelly Roll had a tumultuous childhood growing up with a mother who suffered from mental-health issues and addiction.
But he had a present father who helped bring stability to his environment. That was the role model he wanted to emulate. “I had a good father,” he said on the “Bobby Bones Show.” He went on, “He was a hustler, but he was a really good man. And I was like, ‘I want to be a good father.'” In 2017, Jelly Roll and his wife Bunnie Xo got custody of his daughter Bailee Ann as her mother struggled with addiction — a decision that changed the girl’s life for the better.
