Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO’s Relationship Timeline: From Meeting in a Vegas Saloon to Country’s Hottest Couple

2015

Jelly, real name Jason DeFord, and Bunnie, real name Alisa DeFord, met while he was playing a show at Las Vegas’ Country Saloon. Although they talked backstage and found instant chemistry, Bunnie was seeing someone at the time.

The two kept in touch and when Bunnie and her boyfriend broke up, things turned romantic. “They split, and I’m not going to act like I shot my shot. She kind of shot hers,” Jelly explained during a 2020 appearance on the “King and the Sting and the Wing Clips” podcast.

Jelly headed to Las Vegas to shoot content for a music video and Bunnie offered to let him stay at her place, since he was “broke” and living in his van at the time. “It’s a white trash love story,” Jelly Roll joked on the podcast, adding more seriously, “When I hugged her, I could just feel the genuineness of her. I could tell it wasn’t an act.”

2016

To the altar! Jelly proposed to Bunnie while performing during a Yelawolf and Deftones concert in Las Vegas. The couple wasted no time in tying the knot, marrying later that night at the famed Little White Wedding Chapel.

The “Wild Ones” singer said in a September 2023 Instagram post, “My only regret on the night we got married was I never got to see her in a dress.”

2016

With their marriage, Bunnie became a stepmother to Jelly’s two children from previous relationships. He shares daughter Bailee Ann, who was born in 2008, with ex Felicia Beckwith. Jelly also has a son, Noah, who was born in August 2016. His mother is the singer’s ex, only known as Melisa.

Bunnie introduced Noah to Jelly’s fans in a July 2023 TikTok video, showing how close she was with the then-6-year-old. “My name is Noah and my favorite color is red,” he shared, while joking his favorite sport was “Pokemon” before answering it was actually soccer.

“That was more on Bunnie and his mother,” Jelly told a Taste of Country in 2023. “So, uh, they spoke about it, and he was on vacation, he always goes on vacation with us, and we just always try to shoot around him … and this my wife was like, ‘I’m just gonna hit her up and tell her I wanna post,’ and she was like, ‘Yeah, totally cool.'”

“With Bailey, I’m the full-time parent, I’m the judge, the jury and the executioner, when it comes to decisions with her,” the musician said, adding, “I try not to get in the way of what she (Melisa) is building over there, and I never want to step on her toes, with what she’s doing with him, that I want to just respect that boundary.”

2020

Jelly paid tribute to Bunnie and what a great stepmom she was to his kids in a touching Facebook post.

“It takes a special kind of woman to raise a kid that isn’t her child and still treat the child as if she was. Bunnie is that special woman, outside of the social media, outside of the podcast, and all the business endeavors she does and helps me with, Bunnie is a beautiful soul,” Jelly wrote in May 2020 next to a photo of Bunnie with Bailee.

He added, “She is kind, patient and caring. Over the years watching her relationship with Bailee blossom into this beautiful mother daughter bond that it has become has been nothing short of magical.”

2020

The Nashville, Tennessee, native shared in an Instagram post what the “secret” to their marriage was.

“I didn’t even have to think about — it’s simple – we are comfortable having uncomfortable conversations, we prioritize communication, we have learn to laugh at the small s–t, and above everything we don’t take anything to seriously. This woman is my backbone in life, she’s beautiful, smart, witty, and you wouldn’t believe how silly she really is. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and man this one is a book,” he wrote.

2022

Jelly and Bunnie made their red carpet debut at his first-ever red carpet event, the 56th annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

2023

The couple returned to the CMAs one year later, where the “Save Me” singer won New Artist of the Year.

During his acceptance speech, Jelly gushed, “I got a thousand people to thank, but most importantly, my Lord and my wife. I love you so much. You changed my life.”

2023

Jelly and Bunnie renewed their wedding vows, this time with the bride wearing a while lace wedding gown and the musician in a stylish maroon suit.

“Seven years ago my wife and I stumbled into a little chapel in Las Vegas. 7 years later we walked into that same little chapel and renewed our vows,” he captioned an Instagram Reel on September 1, 2023.

“I may have never gave my wife the wedding she truly deserved but I plan on giving her the life she deserves for the rest of it. I love you more [than] anything mama bear. You are my anchor,” Jelly added.

2024

One day after the couple attended the Grammy Awards on February 4, Bunnie took to Instagram to recall their journey together.

“I remember there were times we had to borrow money because we couldn’t pay our rent. When we didn’t know how two ppl like us were going to be responsible for a child full time. How we didn’t know if we were going to make it together,” she wrote.

“But we walked thru every obstacle together, hand in hand- thru the fires. And last night we got to walk hand in hand into the GRAMMY’s w/ Bailee together,” Bunnie continued.

She added about her husband, “You are such a force to be reckoned with papa, the pied piper of lost souls. No matter where we go, your diamond treasure chest soul lights up every room & you always make sure to sprinkle each person w/ little gems to remember your sparkle by. You are what the world needs right now – a breath of fresh air. So humble yet so determined to leave your mark. I am eternally grateful to be your passenger through it all. I love you Mista J, forever & always.”