Behind Jelly Roll’s Unreleased Song “Winning Streak” and the AA Meeting That Inspired It

It isn’t an exaggeration to say Jelly Roll is on a winning streak lately. Since releasing his 2023 country debut Whitsitt Chapel, the former rapper has dominated the genre. However, Jelly’s road to success was a rocky one as he overcame poverty, incarceration, and substance abuse. In a recent interview, the “Need a Favor” singer got candid about attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and how the stories he heard there inspired his new music.

“Nobody Came Here On A Winning Streak”

Jelly Roll will drop Beautifully Broken, the wildly-anticipated follow-up to Whitsitt Chapel, sometime this fall. From what we’ve heard so far, it sounds like listeners can expect more gritty tales of tribulations and triumph. In a recent interview with The New York Times, the GRAMMY nominee opened up about an unreleased track called “Winning Streak.”

The song narrates a situation Jelly witnessed at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, which the artist says he attends “for my demons.”

“This kid, he’s going through it,” explained the “Son of a Sinner” singer. “One of the old men sitting there was like, ‘Look man, it’s all good. Nobody came in here on a winning streak.’ It was such a beautiful thing.”

Jelly Roll Explains Why AA Meetings Are Important For Him

As for his own recovery journey, the “Save Me” hitmaker (born Jason DeFord) admits to having “a cocktail every now and then.” He has also been transparent about his use of cannabis, which he credits with maintaining his sobriety.

[RELATED: Jelly Roll Shares His Controversial Path to Sobriety]

“But I got away from the drugs that I knew were gonna kill me,” said the ACM Award winner.

However, like much of the rest of Jelly Roll’s story, that path hasn’t always been an easy one. “Something I do [for] maintaining my relationship with those drugs is I will still attend the meetings, even though I’m not a textbook sober guy,” he told the Times.

Not wanting to detract from the other attendees, the 39-year-old Antioch, Tennessee native prefers to slip into the role of observer. “I never share, I just quietly sit and appreciate the message and the meaning,” he said.

He added, “I don’t tell people I go to meetings. It’s not a part of my story that I share because I have so much respect for the men and women in that program that get actually completely sober, that I never want my stuff to get in the way of them.”

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