Jelly Roll has come a long way from his criminal past.
After previously struggling to perform overseas due to his past felonies, the country star sang his Brandon Lake collaboration “Hard Fought Hallelujah” at the Grace for the World event in Italy’s Vatican City on Saturday, Sept. 13 — and his visit also included a meeting with Pope Leo XIV.
“From rock bottom to holy ground,” wrote Jelly, 40, on Instagram alongside a photo of him smiling and shaking hands with the Pope, 70. The “Save Me” singer also quoted a Bible verse: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Directed by Pharrell Williams and Andrea Bocelli, Grace for the World: The Live Event in Rome took place at St. Peter’s Square and marked the location’s first concert in 2,000 years.
Additional performers at the event included Williams, Bocelli, the Voices of Fire Gospel Choir, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Karol G, BamBam, Clipse, Teddy Swims, Angélique Kidjo and the Choir of the Diocese of Rome.
Jelly Roll, Andrea Bocelli, Teddy Swims, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti and more in Vatican City on Sept. 13, 2025.
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Lake, 35, said Jelly “crushed” the performance in a comment on his Instagram post. “This is what our world needs right now more than ever,” he wrote. “Thanks for leading us Jelly!”
Before the Grace for the World event, Jelly performed shows in Europe for his Big Ass Stadium Tour with Post Malone — an outing that didn’t always seem realistic for the “Need a Favor” artist, who went to jail around 40 times for various drug charges.
Jennifer Hudson and Jelly Roll in Vatican City on Sept. 13, 2025.
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In an Interview magazine conversation with Jon Bon Jovi last year, Jelly opened up about why he’d “not yet” toured internationally. “I’m so excited [to perform outside the United States]. We’re figuring out the final pieces of some legal puzzles for me to get overseas,” he said at the time.
“It’s funny, America has finally agreed to let me leave and give me a passport, but some countries won’t let me come because of my felonies,” added the Grammy-nominated artist. “We’re working on that. I think it’s going to work in my favor.”
Jelly Roll in Vatican City on Sept. 13, 2025.
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Jelly was arrested for the first time at age 14, two years before he was arrested for aggravated robbery, charged as an adult and served over a year in prison — plus seven years’ probation.
“I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime,” he told Billboard in 2023. “This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old kid that made the worst decision that he could have made in life and people could have got hurt and, by the grace of God, thankfully, nobody did.”