Jelly Roll Says This Country Icon Paved His Way

Jelly Roll compared his career and ability to succeed in country music to country legend Merle Haggard. Haggard scored many hits from the 1960s to the 1980s and is a member of the Country Music Hall Of Fame. In a recent interview, Jelly said, "Merle, for me, was one of the guys. Merle did time in prison. I connected to his story at such a young age. If it weren't for Merle, guys like me wouldn't have a chance in country music." In the same interview, Jelly talked about appearing on CBS This Morning and going back to his Nashville prison cell to visit. He noted that the experience was "way more emotional" than he anticipated it being. he said he knew the that cell was small, but I forgot how small it was. It also freaked him out a bit that it smelled the same, and it "brought me back to being in jail." Jelly will celebrate his 40th birthday later this year In December. He said he doesn't know what he's going to do to celebrate, but he is thinking about going to the comedy club and even renting one. He did say that would "be a dream night for me." RELATED: Jelly Roll Tells Sylvester Stallone of His Latest Success The CMA Fest TV special, which was filmed during the festival a few weeks ago and hosted by Jelly Roll and Ashley McBryde, will air on Tuesday, June 25, at 8/7c on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu. Backstage before he performed at CMA Fest, Jelly told us, "You can expect pandemonium and chaos with Ashley and me hosting together. It's been the funnest time." He continued, "You go by her green room, and she's just randomly singing cover songs and entertaining her crew. Like five of them, like Ashley McBryde's putting on a one-room concert. It's the coolest thing ever, dude." Before she performed, Ashley told us what fans can expect from this hosting duo: "I would tell you what to expect from me and Jelly Roll hosting an event that is totally unsupervised, but it's a little bit unpredictable. You can expect energy and laughs and probably the most fun you can have in one place." The CMA Fest television special will feature never-before-seen performances and surprise collaborations from country music's biggest names. Performances will be revealed soon.