Jelly Roll‘s star continues to rise, and his career arc seems to have no peak in sight. Wednesday night JR played the prestigious Houston Rodeo, and in doing so, he set a personal career milestone.

From the stage, JR told the crowd of 73-thousand, “My name is Jason ‘Jelly Roll’ DeFord, from Nashville, Tennessee…and as of right this moment, as of right this second, on March the 6th of 2024, at the Houston Rodeo at the NRG Stadium, this is officially the biggest show of my entire life!” It’s a long way from prison to being on one of the biggest stages in country music, but Jelly took it in stride, playing his hits for the crowd and bringing out Texas’ own Cody Johnson to join him on their duet “Whiskey Bent.” “I figured since I’m in Texas, I should also tell y’all, I grew up loving Texas country music,” Jelly Roll said while welcoming his guest to the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great honor tonight that I would like to introduce, right out of Texas, my brother Cody Johnson.”

Also Wednesday night, Jelly was presented with a Houston Rodeo belt buckle, which he gratefully accepted, saying, “The only person more excited about this is my daughter. Yeah, she’s been fired up. She said, ‘let me know when you get the buckle!'”

Source: CountryNow