The Stories Behind The Ink: What Jelly Roll's Tattoos Mean

Jelly Roll is a Tennessee-born singer and songwriter who has taken the music world by storm. He is also a person who has gotten many, many tattoos over the years. The "Save Me" artist has everything from visually intricate designs and inspirational words, to scrappy prison tats and others that he has had covered up. It is pretty clear that he has had a change of heart about a lot of his ink over the years. "I regret 98% of these tattoos, 97, almost all of them," he told GQ in 2024. "Like core philosophies are rooted in my life when I was 17 and now I'm 40, I'm like, 'What the f*** was I thinking?'" He shared a similar sentiment with Access Hollywood in 2023: "It's one of the few things in life I regret besides my criminal record. I got some of these when I was like 14. I had no business picking lifelong tattoos when I was 14." 

However, when Jelly Roll does dig into the stories behind his vast collection of tattoos, he does not shy away from expressing what they actually mean to him. As he told Inked magazine in 2023, "I am often facetious about how many of my tattoos I regret, but it's more in satire than anything. I appreciate everything I got."

After all, Jelly Roll's tattoos are a part of his life journey. While we do not know the stories behind every single tattoo he has gotten over the years — again, he has a lot of tattoos to choose from — the superstar has certainly opened up about a select few. Here's what we know about country star Jelly Roll's notable tattoos.

Jelly Roll went to jail for the first time when he was 14 years old, and he spent the next several years in and out of the system. He got his first face tattoos at age 17 when he was serving time. "I had the cross and the teardrop and the same time when I was, one of my stints, on a state-funded vacation," he recalled on the "Bobby Bones Show." 

While a teardrop tattoo can represent a number of things, including time in prison, Jelly Roll's ink is a reminder of a tragic past that does not look like his present. Rather, they represent his own transformation. As he said in a 2015 interview with The Boot, "My tattoos are not a reflection of who I am at all. But they're a very good description of who I was. I never thought I'd be what I am now."

Another of Jelly Roll's biggest prison tattoos can be found on his back. The tat is a stick and poke, which is a DIY tattooing method. As he told GQ, it was supposed to be an illustration of Jesus on a cross, but the artist apparently did not stick the landing. "And let me tell you how bad it is. The first time my wife saw me without a shirt she asked me did I have Elvis tattooed on my back. And I had to let her know close, but not Elvis. It's Jesus," the country star said. 

When asked by GQ to pick out some of the highlights — and lowlights — of his tattoo collection, Jelly Roll got right to it: "Maybe the baby smoking a blunt was a little excessive, you know what I'm saying? Maybe that was a little bit much." He then showed off a tattoo on his arm that is in fact of a baby smoking. The musician got the tat when he was a teenager, and while he can laugh about it now, he is not exactly proud of it.

This was not the first time he mentioned this particular piece of ink. In a 2023 conversation with Audacy, Jelly Roll made it clear that, if given the chance, he would not get that same tattoo today. "How you think when you're 16 years old and how you think when you're 36 are so dramatically far apart from each other. It's embarrassing... I've got a Gerber baby smoking a joint on my arm. I don't know who authorized this in my life, or who was around me at this moment, but I hate them," he said.

While the smoking baby ink is still on full display as far as we can tell, Jelly Roll has tried to undo some of his tattoos over the years. He has not publicly shared whether or not he has ever given laser tattoo removal a shot, but he has taken other measures to rework some of his tats. "The ones that were really bad have already been covered up," he told GQ. 

As Jelly Roll shared in an Instagram video for "Good Morning America," the heart-shaped locket on the side of his face was actually added to conceal a tattoo of the Bible verse John 15:13. He did not say what prompted him to cover up the verse.

In 2018, the musician covered up a tattoo of his ex's name that he had inked across his chest with an illustration of a black heart and a dagger. Before he made this change, he told Vice that he was not exactly happy to still have this reminder of his former relationship on his torso. "I was 17. I thought I liked her a [lot]," he said. When Jelly Roll finally had it covered up, he took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share some before and after pics. "I promised my wife shortly after we got married 2 years ago I would get this covered up. Today I did it," he wrote (via Facebook). Jelly Roll's wife, Bunnie Xo, also posted about the moment on Facebook. "Later Penelope," she wrote. "how many people have had to get an ex's name covered up? #guilty."

For years, Jelly Roll had the phrase "Surviving the Struggle" across the back of his neck — or should we say "Sruggle." As he explained in the aforementioned GQ video, "We forgot to put the 'T' in it, so it said 'Surviving the Sruggle.'" It was basically the real-life version of the "No Regerts" Milky Way ad, but without the delicious caramel-filled chocolate bar.

In the previously mentioned tattoo tour for the "Good Morning America" Instagram account, Jelly Roll shared that he did try to salvage the "Sruggle" tattoo but it was no use. (Dare we say he sruggled to fix it?) "We put this little bitty baby 'T' in it that looked super off and awkward, like a little squeezed in 'T,'" he said. So, he ultimately decided to cover up the phrase with something entirely different: a rendering of the Nashville skyline. While "Surviving the Sruggle" is no longer visible, the tattoo's legacy lives on. As Jelly Roll told "GMA," he gets a kick out of sharing the tattoo's story.

While Jelly Roll may have mixed feelings about many of his tattoos, it is clear that there are some that hold a great deal of significance. Turns out, his very first tattoo, which he got when he was 14, is one of his most meaningful tattoos. The tattoo, which is on his right shoulder, is of a large cross and reads "R.I.P. Momma V." In the aforementioned GQ video, Jelly Roll revealed that it was in honor of a woman he grew up with named Veda Newcomb. The musician shared that after Newcomb died of complications related to AIDS, he decided to pay tribute to her by getting a tattoo. In his 2023 interview with Inked magazine, he opened up about the role Momma V played in his life. "She was like all of our mamas, you know, to a degree. It was kinda like my mama was. Everybody's mama was everybody's mama," he said.

Another especially personal tattoo is the rendering of chains on his arm. As he told People, "One, it is just about breaking chains in life — anything that is bounding us, any bondage that we have, any addiction, anything we think God can't get us through. We can break those chains."

As previously noted, one of the first face tattoos Jelly Roll got was the large cross on his cheek. To this day, the cross is incredibly important to the musician; in a number of interviews, he has said it is his favorite piece of ink. "Probably my most meaningful tattoo, as cliché as it is, is probably the big cross," he told GQ. "It was symbolic of a change in me. It was symbolic of a kind of a new beginning, understanding that I need to bear my own cross. I need to carry my own cross, as the Good Book says, so that was a constant reminder." Jelly Roll also has a smaller cross on his other cheek. 

It is clear that faith plays a big part in Jelly Roll's story; his own history with religion inspired his first full-length album, "Whitsitt Chapel." As he told Grammy.com, "I was like, 'I want to write a conceptual album, that kind of outlines my journey of religion, my journey of spirituality, my journey of redemption, my journey of wrongdoings.'" In a 2025 conversation for K-LOVE, he acknowledged that his journey has not been neat or tidy, but it is his journey. "I might wear it a little different than other people. I might say things that other Christians don't think are right to say, but I have a heart for God and I have a heart for Jesus," he said.

Along with the teardrops, crosses, and text, Jelly Roll also has a large slash-like line on his left eye that starts above his eyebrow and goes straight down to his cheek. On the aforementioned episode of the "Bobby Bones Show," the musician shared that he dubbed this particular face tattoo "the clown." It is a fitting name, as the tattoo is reminiscent of a sad rodeo clown's eye makeup — and that is the point.

In a 2021 Facebook post, Jelly Roll opened up about his personal connection to clowns. "I've always been fascinated by Sad Clowns — when I was a child my father had paintings hung up everywhere," he wrote. "I always felt like they represented the sad souls that do all they can to entertain and make people happy — personally, I've never felt anything more than that. As a person who openly discussed my battle with mental health, I relate to the sad clown in my soul." He also shared some photos he took with his band on Halloween — and yes, they all dressed up as sad clowns. 

Jelly Roll's wife, podcaster Bunnie Xo, not only has a lot of ink of her own, but has helped shape a few of his tattoos. Bunnie's "Married a music man" tattoo — which is, of course, a lyric from Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" — inspired Jelly Roll to get the tattoo that is now on his forehead. "I realized that almost all of my tattoos represent who I was, none of them represent who I am," he told GQ. "And quite a few years ago, I looked at my wife and I was like, 'I don't want to be bound to these old tattoos anymore. I want them to be reflective of who I am.' And I was like, 'I think I'm gonna put "Music Man" on my forehead.'" In his aforementioned feature for Inked magazine, Jelly Roll noted how much that particular piece means to him. "I love that tattoo, as corny as it looks, because it's a true representation of who I am and who I'll be for the rest of my life," he said. 

The husband and wife duo also have matching rose tattoos on the backs of their right hands.At the center of the flower on Jelly Roll's hand, there is a rabbit peeking out, which is a nod to his wife.  In 2023, Jelly Roll even tattooed his wife's logo to his arm. 

As previously noted, Jelly Roll got his first face tattoos when he was in jail — and he would've gotten them earlier if given a chance. "I tried to get one when I was younger, and they wouldn't do it," Jelly Roll recalled on "The Howard Stern Show." "And then I went to jail and got a couple, so when I came out they looked at it like, 'Well, you've already f***ed your face up — now we'll do it.'" Jelly Roll's face tattoos have been a part of his story ever since. As he told People, "I've had them so long, I forget they're there sometimes."

In addition to the cross, teardrop, and "Music Man" face tattoos, he also has a rose on the left side of his forehead. Jelly Roll also has daughter Bailee Ann DeFord's first name over his right ear and his son Noah's name over his right eyebrow. On his left cheek, he has an apple core. This is in honor of his fans, who call themselves the Bad Apples. 

In his aforementioned chat with Inked magazine, Jelly Roll reflected on how the discourse surrounding tattoos — especially face tattoos — has shifted throughout his lifetime. "I caught s*** for getting face tattoos early ... but now everybody has face tattoos," he told Inked magazine. "And on the second side of the tattoo era, I catch s*** now because some guy will troll me on Twitter and be like, 'Look at Post Malone's drunk uncle.'" 

On the aforementioned episode of "The Howard Stern Show," Jelly Roll got candid about the pros and cons of spending less on tattoos. Sure, you'll save yourself some bucks, but a cheap tattoo might look, well, cheap. "I have a tattoo on my arm that I gave somebody like a quarter sack of bad weed for. And it looks like a quarter sack of bad weed tattoo," he said. The musician also pointed out that it may be worth shelling out more money on something that is going to be on your body permanently.

As Jelly Roll dished to Inked magazine, he did not go to a tattoo parlor until he was well into adulthood. "It was nothing but kitchen magicians," he said. "I don't think I got a professional tattoo done until I was in my 30s. ... There was some tattoo artist in some living room every party tattooing somebody underage, you know?"

Clearly, Jelly Roll has a great deal of experience when it comes to tattoos, and he's learned a lot of lessons along the way. "My advice for first tattoos are don't just think about what you're tattooing on your body, think about who is tattooing on your body," he told GQ. "If you can't afford the artist you want right now, start putting money in a coffee can until you can. Do not cheap yourself." He also shared that while he doesn't regret being tattooed from head to toe, he wishes he could start over with "the best artist on earth."