Published by Cel Manero from Global One Media Inc.
The country singer also said he was treated “like a criminal” by Louis Vuitton staff during a recent shopping trip in Sydney.
Jelly Roll has opened up about reaching a breaking point during his music tour.
While touring Australia, the 40-year-old country star, born Jason Bradley DeFord, revealed that he experienced one of the lowest moments of his life, feeling the strain of being thousands of miles from his family and support system.
Speaking on the No Filter with Kate Langbroek podcast, he described the tour as more challenging than he anticipated. “I’m falling apart. It’s a horrible week. Mentally, I’m doing worse than I have in a long time,” the “I Am Not Okay” singer admitted.
He continued, “Being this far from home is hitting me in a very anxious way. I’m not having fun. I just want to go home.”
Jelly Roll performed six shows across Australia from Oct. 25 to Nov. 4 — his first tour dates in the country — before a final show in Auckland, New Zealand, scheduled for Nov. 8. That Auckland performance was canceled at the last minute due to illness, a rare instance of him missing a show.
On the podcast, he explained that physical illness had a cascading effect on his mental health during the demanding travel. “This trip abroad f—ed my stomach up,” he said, noting that his health issues quickly affected his overall state of mind. “When my stomach isn’t right, nothing else is right. My mind isn’t clear. Everything is off.”
Jelly Roll also noted that the lack of standard tour accommodations, like buses, amplified his feelings of isolation. “I’m having to be super isolated. I don’t like it,” he said. “I spend a lot of time alone in my hotel room, just in my head. I miss my family a ton.”
To cope, he relied on breathing exercises and self-talk, though he admitted that all he wanted was to return to Tennessee. “Everyone wants to go home when they’re sick. It’s natural. I just don’t feel good, so I want to go home,” he said.
The challenging tour was compounded by a tense encounter abroad. Jelly Roll recently claimed that Louis Vuitton employees in Sydney treated him “like a criminal” during a shopping trip, sharing a video of the experience on social media.
“Hey man, the Louis Vuitton in Sydney legitimately just treated us like we were going to rob the place,” he said in the clip, wearing a backward cap. “I’ve never been looked at more like a criminal … the last time I felt this scrutinized, I was actually committing crimes.”
The Grammy-nominated singer has long been candid about difficult chapters in his life, including past legal issues and struggles with addiction.
