Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Jelly Roll Reveals He Regrets ’98 Percent’ of His Tattoos: ‘What Was I Thinking?’
Jelly Roll is well known for his extensive body and face tattoos, but he now says he wishes he hadn’t gotten most of them.
“I regret 98 percent of these tattoos, 97 percent. Almost all of them!” the singer, 39, Jason Bradley DeFord, told GQ in a Tuesday, March 12 video.
“Like, core philosophies I rooted my life in when I was 17, and now I’m 40, I’m like, ‘What the f–k was I thinking?'” he explained.
When it came to his worst ink, Jelly said, “I hate ’em all, I don’t know where to start. Maybe the baby smoking the blunt? Maybe that was a little bit much,” while showing off the offending body art.
The “Wild Ones” singer said a lot of his most unfortunate ink has been covered up by new art. For example, the Nashville skyline tattoo on the back of his neck hides a tattoo that was supposed to read, “Surviving the Struggle,” but the artist forgot the “T” and it ended up reading “Surviving the Sruggle.”
Jelly has joked about his face tattoos in the past, including in a 2024 Uber Eats Super Bowl commercial, where he appeared shocked to have them, claiming they were horrible and looked like someone “doodled” on his visage.
“I don’t know if I really remember my first face tattoo, there’s so many now,” he mused in the video. However, there is one facial inking that he has zero regrets about.
“My most meaningful tattoo, as cliché as it is, is probably the big cross. It was symbolic of a change in me, of kind of a new beginning. Understanding that I need to bear my own cross and carry my own cross as the good book says. So that was kind of a constant reminder,” Jelly stated of the large crucifix on his cheek.
The “Son of a Sinner” artist spent over a decade in and out of prison beginning in his teens, and said he got “tons” of tattoos while behind bars. “There are some really good tattoo artists in jail. I just could never afford one,” he joked.
Nowadays, the only inkings Jelly gets are limited to “cover ups or tour tattoos,” including ones with groups of friends.
The same day his tattoo explainer video dropped, the Grammy winner revealed he was getting a whole new mouth in a TikTok video posted by wife Alyssa DeFord (known as Bunnie XO).
“I’m at the practice getting all my teeth redone,” Jelly said from the dentist chair while seemingly under the influence of a medical sedative. “I’ve had these same veneers for 20 years. I’m finally getting them replaced and I’m getting some implants and I’m getting some cavities and some wisdom teeth pulled out. I’m doing a lot of s–t. I’m getting completely mouth reconstructive surgery, kind of.”
Getting his teeth fixed was the latest of Jelly’s 2024 self-care upgrades. He accepted a challenge in January to run a 5K race in May and later revealed how he was training, telling fans, “I’m in the woods, walking every morning. 5K by May, baby. 5K by May. I mean it.”
