Jelly Roll Reflects on Regrettable Tattoos: 'What Was I Thinking?'

The widely tattooed Jelly Roll has expressed regret over his body and face ink, admitting he wishes he had never had most of them done.

The singer, 39-year-old Jason Bradley DeFord, confessed to GQ in a video shared on Tuesday, March 12, saying, “I regret 98 percent of these tattoos, 97 percent. Almost all of them!”

“I deeply rooted my life in certain philosophies when I was 17, and now that I'm 40, I question the rationale behind those decisions," he said.

Looking at his most regrettable tattoos, Jelly stated, “I despise every one of them, I don’t even know where to start. Perhaps the one with the baby smoking the blunt? That might have been a tad too much,” showcasing the controversial tattoo.

The “Wild Ones” artist revealed that he's concealed much of his regrettable ink with new designs. A key example is a Nashville skyline tattoo, located at the back of his neck, that masks a tattoo which was supposed to say, “Surviving the Struggle,” but ended up reading “Surviving the Sruggle” due to a missing “T”.

In the past, Jelly has humorously talked about his face tattoos. He even featured in a 2024 Uber Eats Super Bowl commercial, expressing surprise and dismay over his tattoos, comparing them to disorganized doodles on his face.

“There are so many face tattoos, I barely remember getting my first one,” he reflected in the video. Nevertheless, he holds no regrets over one specific facial tattoo.

“As cliché as it may sound, the most impactful tattoo for me is the large cross. It signifies a transformative phase in my life and the realization that, as the good book instructs, I need to bear and carry my own cross. So, it's a permanent reminder for me," Jelly noted, referring to the large crucifix tattooed on his cheek.

Having previously spent more than ten years in prison starting from his teens, the “Son of a Sinner” artist remembered getting “numerous” tattoos while incarcerated. “There are some talented tattoo artists in jail; I just wasn't able to afford one,” he quipped.

In the present day, Jelly only opts for tattoos which consist of "cover-ups or tour-related" ones, sometimes getting them in groups of friends.

On the same day his tattoo explanation video was released, the Grammy-winning artist disclosed he was getting new teeth in a TikTok video posted by his wife Alyssa DeFord, also known as Bunnie XO.

“I’m at the dentist office getting all my teeth redone,” Jelly confessed, sitting in the dentist chair while under medical sedation. “I’ve had these veneers for 20 years. They're finally being replaced, and I'm getting implants, a few cavities filled and some wisdom teeth extracted. So, it's almost like a complete mouth reconstruction.”

The dental procedure was a part of Jelly's self-care undertakings for 2024. Earlier in January, he committed to a challenge to run a 5K in May and subsequently shared his training journey with fans, saying, “I’m in the woods, walking every morning. Aiming for a 5K by May. Watch me!”