Jelly Roll, the rising country music star, has made some questionable decisions regarding his tattoos. Known for his extensive body art, including tattoos on his face and neck, Jelly Roll recently opened up about the consequences of his choices. In a candid interview with Howard Stern, he revealed that some of his tattoos were done in such unhygienic conditions that he developed staph infections.
Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, shared that his journey with tattoos began in his youth. He attempted to get a face tattoo when he was younger, but the artist refused. It wasn’t until he was incarcerated that he managed to get a face tattoo, which then made other artists more willing to work on that area.
During the interview, Stern pointed out the obvious risks of getting tattoos while in jail, to which Jelly Roll quickly agreed. “I’ve gotten staph infections from bad tattoos,” he admitted. “I learned nothing. You talk about bull-headed. And I still went back to the same guy that gave me the staph infection! It’s crazy what you’ll do. It’s next-level crazy.”
Jelly Roll’s tattoos are a mix of regret and sentiment. He confessed to Stern that he regrets almost all of his tattoos. “I regret 98% of these tattoos, 97, almost all of them. Like core philosophies are rooted in my life when I was 17 and now I’m 40, I’m like, ‘What the f— was I thinking?'” he said. Despite this, he mentioned that he would keep the tattoos on his face, particularly the cross and the slash, as they hold personal significance.
The conversation took a turn when Jelly Roll shared some wisdom he wished he had known earlier. “We’ll spend $300 on a pair of f—ing shoes that will go bad in six months or we’ll lose them. But as soon as a motherf—er wants $400 an hour to tattoo, we’re out. $1,000 an hour, no way,” he said. He recounted a story of trading a quarter sack of bad weed for a tattoo, which unsurprisingly turned out to be of poor quality. “It looks like a quarter sack of bad weed tattoo,” he joked.
Jelly Roll’s tattoos are not just a collection of art but a reflection of his past. He got some of his tattoos while in jail, serving time for felony robbery and drug charges. The conditions were far from ideal, leading to infections and subpar artwork. “It’s just bad art,” he confessed. “There’s no other way to say it.”
Despite the infections and regrets, Jelly Roll’s tattoos tell a story of his life. He has tattoos on his face, neck, arms, and hands, each with its own tale. He mentioned that the tattoos on his arm look “decent” because they are clustered together, but a closer look reveals their poor quality. “These suck bad,” he admitted.
Jelly Roll’s journey with tattoos is a testament to his tumultuous past and his growth over the years. He has undergone extensive cover-ups to correct some of the more regrettable pieces, including a misspelled phrase “Surviving the Struggle,” which he had to fix by adding the missing ‘T.’
In a March 2024 interview with GQ, Jelly Roll reiterated his regret over his tattoos. “I hate them all,” he said. Reflecting on his choices, he added, “Now I’m 40, I’m like, ‘What the f— was I thinking?'” He highlighted a particularly regrettable tattoo of a baby smoking a blunt, calling it “a little excessive.”
Jelly Roll’s tattoos are a mix of regret, infection, and personal history. Despite the infections and poor quality, they are a part of who he is. “Almost all my tattoos represent who I was, almost none of them represent who I am,” he concluded.
As Jelly Roll continues to make waves in the country music scene, his tattoos serve as a reminder of his past and the lessons he’s learned along the way. His story is a cautionary tale about the importance of hygiene and quality when it comes to body art, and the lasting impact of the choices we make in our youth.
