Jelly Roll Brings Daughter Bailee Ann to Stagecoach for 'Cool Dad Points'
Stagecoach was a family affair for Jelly Roll as he brought his 15-year-old daughter, Bailee Ann DeFord, out for a birthday surprise.
“This might seem a little more corny, but I had to get cool dad points,” Jelly, 39, told the crowd in Indio, California on Friday, April 26. “I took my daughter out of school today and I flew her to California for this show two. Don’t tell her teacher.”
Jelly, one of the headliners at the T-Mobile Mane Stage, brought out wife Bunnie XO and Bailee for the special moment.
“I don’t wanna put her on blast, but my baby girl is 15 years old, and in like 10 days, she’ll be 16 years old,” he explained. “I see some of y’all little cowboys getting smiles, stop it. I’m looking at you. I see you.” Much to her dad’s chagrin, Bailey gave a friendly wave.
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Jelly added that he “figured it’d be a really cool dad way to embarrass her” to have all of Stagecoach serenade her with “Happy Birthday.”
In addition to being one of the Friday night headliners, Jelly Roll was also a scheduled guest for an afternoon cooking demo in Flavortown (which was located at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California). Guy Fieri invites country stars and pit masters to barbecue with him during Stagecoach and hand out samples to his audience while spreading awareness about the Guy Fieri Foundation, his nonprofit supporting various charitable causes.
Photos show Jelly Roll proudly looked on while Bailee showed off her culinary skills during Friday’s demonstration. She chopped ingredients and stirred up peppers and onions on the grill while her dad tenderized meat with fellow singer Paul Cauthen.
Jelly (real name Jason DeFord) shares Bailee with an ex named Felicia, who gave birth while he was in prison on a drug dealing conviction in 2008. “A guard knocks on my cell door midafternoon during lockdown. He goes, ‘You had a kid today,’ ” he told Billboard in June 2023. “I’ve never had nothing in life that urged me in the moment to know that I had to do something different. I have to figure this out right now.”
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The artist credits his wife as the reason he was able to be a better father. “You’re talking about a woman that came in and took a child that was soon to be born and a child that [we were] soon to have full custody of,” he added. “I would have never got custody of my daughter without her. I wouldn’t have had the stability or the money.”
He also shares son Noah Buddy, 7, with an ex named Melisa. He has previously said that he shares more of Bailee’s life because he doesn’t share custody. Jelly and Bunnie coparent with Melisa, who has primary custody of Noah, so they want to be respectful of her wishes.
Bailee, for her part, has been open about struggling throughout her childhood, opening up about her trauma in her dad’s Hulu documentary, Jelly Roll: Save Me. “I had an extra, interesting, traumatic childhood. Bunnie did, my dad did. They’re important reasons for why my mom is in my life now and is sober,” Bailee said in the doc. “As a teenager, I’ve moved on. I’ve worked through my childhood. But that doesn’t make it go away. It made me who I am today.”
