Jelly Roll opens up about emotional prison return after Bunnie Xo divorce

Jelly Roll has returned to the place that changed his life.

The country star — who recently finalised his divorce from Bunnie Xo — released the emotional music video for his new song Hands Up on July 17, with the autobiographical visual filmed inside California’s San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.

The video follows the Grammy-winner as he walks through the prison, greeting inmates, praying in a voiceover and ultimately performing alongside incarcerated musicians who make up his backing band.

In a post on Instagram, Jelly stressed that the men featured in the video “are not actors.”

“Truly one of the most special things I’ve ever had the opportunity to do,” he wrote. “The moment my life truly changed is when I threw my hands up. I know a lot of folks will hear this and remember their ‘hands up’ moment as well and that is making this that much cooler for me.”

“I remember being in the same kind of place all these incarcerated guys are in and what it took for me to finally throw my hands up, to get to do this with them is beyond words for me,” he continued. “A thousand thank-yous to everyone involved, especially the guys in the facility, San Quinten and every single staff member … This may be the best video of my career but maybe I’ve got recency bias lolol.”

Jelly, whose real name is Jason DeFord, has long spoken about his troubled youth after being first arrested on drug charges at 14.

The music video arrived the same day it emerged that he had finalised his divorce from Bunnie Xo following 10 years of marriage.