Jelly Roll Books First-Ever International Tour Dates Following Issues Due to Past Felonies

• Jelly Roll will perform international shows for the first time in his career next month
• The country star is slated to perform at concerts in Ontario, Canada, on July 8 and 9
• The "Save Me" artist previously revealed that he had trouble booking international venues due to his past felonies

Jelly Roll is finally taking his live shows beyond the U.S. borders!

On Tuesday, June 18, the “I Am Not Okay” country star, 39, announced his first-ever pair of international shows following years of only touring across the States. According to his website, the upcoming performances are scheduled for Monday, July 8, at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, and Tuesday, July 9 at Ottawa’s Bluesfest.

Tickets for the first concert go on sale on Friday, June 21, at 10 a.m. ET, while Bluesfest tickets are currently available.

The “Need a Favor” artist will commemorate his first time visiting Canada by playing for the Heather Winterstein Foundation, which is dedicated to offering indigenous youth support for mental health and addictions and scholarships for future careers in healthcare. 

“The Heather Winterstein Foundation and the family of Heather Winterstein are grateful that Jelly Roll is honoring us with his very first Canadian concert on our behalf,” foundation executive director Jennifer Dockstader said in a statement. “His dedication to raising awareness, sharing his story of healing, and supporting substance use disorder treatments are a beacon of hope for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike across Turtle Island.”

She added, “His message brings the struggles of our loved ones into the open and helps us celebrate the healing journeys of our relatives in our community, offering opportunities for equity and reconciliation.”

Jelly Roll will also mark his Canadian stops with a first-time set at the Ottawa Bluesfest — which takes place July 4-14 — where he’ll perform along with Maroon 5, Nickelback, Nas, 50 Cent, Noah Cyrus, Carly Rae Jepsen, Shaboozey and many more.

“When the opportunity to bring in Jelly Roll surfaced, we jumped on it,” Ottawa Bluesfest executive and artistic director Mark Monahan said in a statement. “He has an amazing story, and he’s a great performer.”

Jelly Roll’s international gigs come shortly after the Grammy-nominated artist (born Jason Bradley DeFord) revealed why he had yet to play shows outside of the U.S., citing past run-ins with the law as the blame.

"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," he explained in a recent Interview Magazine conversation with Jon Bon Jovi. "We’re working on that. I think it’s going to work in my favor."

Before his rise to fame, Jelly Roll had been to jail roughly 40 times for various drug-related charges. He was booked 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,” the singer said with remorse to 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.” 

These days, Jelly Roll is focused on staying on the straight and narrow with his sprawling Beautifully Broken arena tour, which will make its way around the U.S. later this summer. He’ll kick it off on Tuesday, Aug. 27, in Salt Lake City before making stops in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New Orleans and more cities.

Later this month, the Whitsitt Chapel artist will also host the CMA Fest 2024 primetime concert special alongside Ashley McBryde. The three-hour event was filmed during the annual Nashville festival, which took place June 6-9, and will air on ABC on Tuesday, June 25 at 8/7c.

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