Country icon Jelly Roll has revealed that he was court-ordered to take part inAlcoholics Anonymous at the age of 14.
The 39-year-old best known for singing Wild Ones, Save Me, and All My Life, has been open about his troubled past – having previously spoken about being in and out of prison as a young adult and growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness and addiction.
In a new interview, the star was asked about his experiences with Alcoholics Anonymous which inspired his song I Am Not Okay and was a key influence behind his new album Beautifully Broken.
The star said: ‘Oh goodness. I don’t fully remember my first real meeting ’cause I was court-ordered at like 14 so I don’t remember it as much as I should.’
‘But, I definitely remember the first time that I found solace in those rooms, or the first time that I kind of got introduced to the concept of this.
‘And how much stuff I’ve taken from them rooms,’ he said during SiriusXM’s The Highway.
The singer then commented that he had ‘never been more inspired than leaving an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting or a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.’
He then commented: ‘I think everybody should experience one if you’ve never drank in your life.’
‘I still think that there is something from it that is, you know, the good ones are like good theatre. They’ll make you listen, you’ll learn, you’ll laugh and you’ll cry.’
In a New York Times interview earlier this year, the singer reflected on his storytelling in his lyrics, particularly for the tune Winning Streak which describes somebody going to an AA meeting in a church basement.
‘I was writing from the perspective of a story I’ve seen happen for real. So I’m sitting in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, and my deal is, I will have a cocktail every now and then and I’m a known weed smoker, but I got away from the drugs that I knew were going to kill me.
He explained: ‘It was really hard for me to get away from those drugs. Something I do to maintenance my relationship with those drugs is I still attend the meetings but I never share.
‘I just quietly sit and appreciate the message and the meaning.’
In the interview which took place in August this year, he added: ‘This is the first time that I’ve talked about this publicly. I don’t tell people I go to meetings.
He also spoke about being in and out of prison from the age of 14 to 25. ‘I got caught with a cannabis charge in Antioch and a pack of cigarettes as a juvenile. They cited me, and the cop trusted me to take the citation to my family and go to court. [Laughs.] Which, of course, I didn’t.
‘So the police had to show up and haul me to jail. That was at 13. At 14 I think it was a schoolyard fight.’
He added that he’s learning to forgive himself for the errors he made in his youth. ‘I’m learning to forgive myself for the decisions I made when I was that young. They were wrong and I knew they were wrong, and I was doing them with a sense of pride and excitement.
‘But I’m learning to give myself the grace to look back and go: “I was 15. I was so young.” I don’t know what could have helped me, to be honest.’
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