“I Sobbed”: Jelly Roll Recalls Anonymous Note Delivered to Him and What He Did With It After

Despite the growing number of accolades Jelly Roll is collecting under his belt, the country and rap star has made a point not to forget where he came from. In doing so, he’s helped others achieve the same sort of reflective hindsight that allows them to overcome addiction, depression, and other debilitating challenges in life. It’s a common theme in Jelly Roll’s music, from his 2020 track “Save Me” to “Son Of A Sinner” from 2021.

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The singer’s willingness to be candid about the good, bad, and the ugly of his past has inspired countless people, and in some lucky circumstances, they get to tell him so. During an appearance on John Cena’s What Drives You, Jelly Roll recalled one such moment that brought him to tears.

Jelly Roll Shares Anonymous Note Left On His Truck

Wrestler and actor John Cena’s Roku Original What Drives You follows Cena as he interviews popular celebrities about what drives them emotionally, professionally, and literally—as in, what car they drive. For Jelly Roll, the latter responsibility belongs to a custom, blacked-out Ram 1500 Laramie that Jelly Roll’s wife, Bunnie Xo, bought for him. The rapper told Cena that the truck reminded him of his wife and daughter. “This is what drives me,” he said.

“I got to show you one more thing,” Jelly Roll said, walking around to the driver’s side of his truck. “Talking about what drives me? There’s a note right here. You can read it right there on my dash.”

The handwritten note written in blue ink on a scrap piece of paper read, “Your music saved my best friend’s life. Thank you for being unapologetically you and doing what you do. -A.” When Cena asked who A was, Jelly Roll said he didn’t know. Someone left the note for him anonymously on his windshield. After he found it, the country star said he “sobbed” in his truck and put it on his dash. He received the note four years prior to his appearance on Cena’s talk show, and he said, “Four years later, it’s still on my dash.”

The Country Star Uses His Platform In More Ways Than One

Music is a potent salve to the grief and anger associated with drug addiction, incarceration, and poor mental health. The “simple” act of writing and recording the music he does would be enough to consider Jelly Roll a significant advocate and supporter of the down-and-outer. But the “Hard Fought Hallelujah” singer doesn’t stop there—not hardly. Jelly Roll has long been outspoken about his criminal past. Perhaps even more importantly, he’s been just as outspoken about how he’s overcome these toxic cycles and changed for the better.

With an international platform at his disposal, Jelly Roll is able to put his time, energy, and money where his mouth is. In January 2024, the country star spoke in front of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee to express his support for U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)’s Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act.

“I’ve attended more funerals than I care to share with y’all,” Jelly Roll said. “I could sit here and cry for days about the caskets I’ve carried of people I loved dearly, deeply, in my soul. Good people. Not just drug addicts. Uncles, friends, cousins, normal people. I think it’s important for me to tell y’all that I’m not here to defend the use of illegal drugs.”

“I also understand the paradox of my history as a drug dealer standing in front of this committee,” he continued. “But equally, I think that’s what makes me perfect to talk about this. I was part of the problem. I am here now standing as a man that wants to be a part of the solution.”

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