Jelly Roll Celebrates After Meeting Pope Leo XIV

Jelly Roll celebrated how far he’s come in life after meeting Pope Leo XIV.

The “Need a Favor” musician, 40, shared a photo of himself shaking hands with the Pope via Instagram on Saturday, September 13, writing: “From rock bottom to holy ground.”

Jelly Roll (real name Jason Bradley DeFord) also quoted the biblical verse Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

The seemingly unlikely meeting between the “Son of a Sinner” rapper and the leader of the Catholic Church took place ahead of the Grace for the World concert at Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square on Saturday. Jelly Roll was one of the featured acts on the bill, along with Pharrell Williams, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend and Karol G, among others.

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Jelly Roll’s brief trip to Vatican City capped off a very busy week for him, as he performed with good friend and tourmate Post Malone at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards via satellite from Hanover, Germany on September 7.

He then fit in the Grace for the World concert appearance in between shows in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday, September 12, and Lisbon, Portugal, on Sunday, September 14, as a co-headliner on Post Malone’s Big Ass Stadium Tour. The duo will close out a jam-packed month with two shows at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on September 20 and 21.

Next up for Jelly Roll after he wraps Post Malone’s Big Ass Stadium Tour will be his own Australian tour, which kicks off at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Boondall on October 24. His Down Under ‘25 Tour continues through early November, after which he heads to Mexico City for one final 2025 concert on November 15.

Jelly Roll at ‘Grace For The World’ event at St. Peter’s Square on September 13, 2025. Ernesto Ruscio/WireImage

Meanwhile, Jelly Roll’s wife Bunnie Xo recently addressed speculation about her marriage after fans noticed she and the musician hadn’t been seen together in public in months.

“Someone said the other day, ‘They used to always be together, and now you never see them together,’” Bunnie, 45, said on her “Dumb Blonde” podcast in August. “I’m like, ‘Do you guys not know that for the past six months [that] I’ve been trying to make a baby?’”

She then declared, “My husband has to work to f***ing bring home the bacon. Luckily, I get the luxury of working from home. He doesn’t. He has to make appearances, but I literally have been on IVF meds for f***ing six months and going through heartbreak and f***ing so much s***.”

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“That’s why you haven’t seen me [because] mama’s about to pop out,” she clarified. “I gotta remind them. I might even do a sexy photoshoot and piss off all the f***ing [haters].”

Also in August, Bunny Xo (real name Alyssa DeFord) sweetly acknowledged her husband’s recent 200-pound weight loss in a TikTok video, where she jokingly body-slammed the singer during a conversation.

“When you have to check and make sure he’s still your squish after all the weight loss,” she teased.