Jelly Roll Thinks He Finally Wrote the Perfect Love Song for Bunnie Xo with “Hey Mama” from ‘Beautifully Broken’

Jelly Roll released his highly anticipated new album Beautifully Broken today (October 11). As many fans expected the 22-song tracklist is packed with deeply personal lyrics about his life, love, and past struggles. One of the highlights of the album is the love song “Hey Mama” that he wrote for his wife, Bunnie Xo. With that track, he believes that he’s finally found a song that encapsulates their love.

Recently, Jelly Roll appeared on SiriusXM’s The Highway to talk about his new album. While there, he told host Ania Hammar about “Hey Mama” and why he thinks it’s the best love song he’s written for Bunnie so far.

[RELATED: Jelly Roll Reveals 22-Song Tracklist and Surprising Guest Artists for ‘Beautifully Broken’]

Jelly Roll on “Hey Mama”

Early in the conversation, Ania Hammar points out that the title of the song may lead some listeners astray. They may think the song is about his mom. “It’s no my mama,” Jelly Roll said. “That is a problem I’m realizing I’m having to clarify. It’s not my mama,” he added.

“Hey Mama,” he said, is a love letter, and “It’s a road warrior song. Most of this album was written on a bus and you can tell,” he reflected.

“First of all, the plight of my career, never talked about this publicly, ever is as in love as I am and as we are, I just cannot land a love song,” Jelly said. “And it’s like, ’cause her love is just so different and so much more dark that I always joke, the kind of songs that I sing to her in the kitchen when we’re dancing are not the kind of songs that would like, are actually indicative of the depth of our love,” he explained. “So like trying to capture that in a song has been really hard. And I try every album and I always put a love song for my wife on every album and they always flop. It’s just how it works,” he added.

Bringin the Song to Life

Jelly Roll credits Taylor Phillips, who he called “the backbone” of the new album, with helping him bring this song to life.

“I was like, my relationship’s more famous than my music and I still can’t get a song to be bigger than my relationship. But Taylor was like, goodness, every time I answer the phone I go, ‘Hey mama,’” he said.

“I didn’t realize it. And that’s what makes Taylor Phillips so great is that he was like, ‘Why don’t [you] write a song called Hey Mama?’ And I was like, ‘Huh.’ The next day we’re in a writer’s room, mama called, I answered the phone and said, ‘Hey mama.’ He’s like, ‘We need to write that song.’ And I was like, ‘Alright,’” Jelly recalled.

The result of that writing session with Phillips, Blake Pendergrass, Chris LeCorte, and Jaxson Free is one of the best songs on Beautifully Broken.

Featured Image by Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images