At Montreal’s Lasso Festival, Jelly Roll once again showed why fans connect to him on a deeper level than most artists. In the middle of his set, the singer paused when he spotted a young girl holding a handwritten sign that read: “MY DAD HAS BEEN SOBER FOR 1384 DAYS.”
The camera zoomed in, and the crowd erupted as her father, Mike, raised his hand from the audience with tears in his eyes. Jelly, who has been open about his own struggles with addiction, stopped the show immediately. “First of all, what a proud daughter — that’s a daddy-daughter moment I dream of right there,” he said before stepping off stage.
“I never do this, but this is just awesome,” Jelly admitted as he made his way into the audience. When he reached Mike, he had him introduce himself before wrapping him in a huge hug. Then, in front of 30,000 fans, Jelly led the crowd in chanting Mike’s name — turning one man’s personal victory into a stadium-wide celebration.
Back on stage, Jelly told the audience: “I don’t have a song about anybody being 1,384 days sober, but I have wrote a song about somebody experiencing their very first day sober. And I wanna sing that for you tonight — so we can celebrate you… all 30,000 of us!” He launched into “Winning Streak” from Beautifully Broken, dedicating the performance to Mike.
For a man who’s built his career on raw honesty and second chances, it was the perfect moment — Jelly Roll reminding fans that sobriety, like music, is worth celebrating loud enough for the whole world to hear.
