During an early June performance at the Grand Ole Opry, Jelly Roll surprised the crowd with a group of guest performers who had an emotional backstory with his music.
They were an elementary school children’s choir from Nashville’s Ruby Major Elementary School, and the kids sang Jelly’s ballad “I Am Not Okay” during their time onstage.
The kids took the lead as they sang out the emotional chorus, complete with hand gestures and matching school shirts. Jelly played cheerleader from the sidelines, and the whole crowd at the Opry cheered them on.
The performance in itself was emotional, especially due to the song’s message of normalizing mental health struggles and the importance of talking openly about experiences of loss, grief and heartache.
But even more powerful was Jelly’s explanation of why this particular group of children were at the Opry to sing this song. He said he first became aware of the Ruby Major Children’s Choir when someone forwarded him a news article.
“And Nashville had just went through a horrible tragedy. They told me not to talk about this onstage, but I don’t care. I’m too honest not to be honest, right?” the singer told the crowd.
“My old high school had a tragedy earlier this year, Antioch High School. Because of the children in the room, I don’t even want to instill that fear, but you all know what happened,” Jelly continued.
He was referencing a deadly shooting that took place at Antioch High School in January, in which 17-year-old gunman Solomon Henderson killed one student and injured another before dying by suicide.
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“It was really sad. It was my old school. Of course, I went back as soon as I could to help,” Jelly continued.
But even before he was able to make it there, the kids of the Ruby Major Children’s Choir had stepped up to do something good for the Antioch High School community.
“These kids, all on their own —” Jelly said, stopping briefly to warn the crowd he might cry. “These kids, they sung a song of mine called ‘I Am Not Okay’ and they sent it to the high schoolers, ’cause they said, ‘Maybe the big kids need the little kids to inspire ’em right now.'”
He got emotional and paused again, asking the crowd, “Anybody else just felt that?”
After composing himself, Jelly went on to explain that once he saw the children’s choir’s act of kindness, he started trying to find a way to get them to join him for a performance.
“And I think this is as close to God’s house as we can do it, here at the Grand Ole Opry,” he summed up.
Jelly is known for reaching out to various pockets of his Nashville community, including schools and kids’ organizations as well as jails, rehab centers and addiction treatment facilities. He also makes it a point to stop in at these types of places when he’s touring around the country.
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Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes