Jelly Roll Calls Surprise Eminem Duet the ‘Coolest Moment’ of His Career So Far

Jelly Roll doesn’t have to think too far back to remember his favorite moment of his career so far. Shortly after his surprise performance with Eminem aired over the weekend on NBC’s Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central, the country star gushed that the moment marks a new professional high in an interview with Entertainment Tonight published Monday (June 10).  

“When I think about coolest moments of my career, right now at the top, there has to be this thing that I got to go sing with Eminem in Detroit,” he told the outlet. “I got to sing ‘Sing for the Moment’ with him, which is a record where he sampled Steven Tyler. I mean, just what an incredible night and I got to go do it in Detroit. It was unreal.” 

The performance was taped Thursday (June 6) and featured Jelly singing parts of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” to support Em, who also performed his new single “Houdini” that night. According to the “Son of a Sinner” singer, it was the rapper’s idea to do a duet. 

“Em reached out, his team reached out and said, ‘Would you be interested in doing this since he was already there doing the secret tribute?'” Jelly recalled. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was a joke until I met Eminem himself … As soon as I met Eminem, it was like the coolest moment ever, man.” 

His first meeting with Slim Shady was captured in a video posted by Bunnie XO, who is married to Jelly. In the clip, the ACM Award-winner removes his cap with awe and gives Em a big hug. “When the goat meets the GOAT,” the entrepreneur captioned the clip. 

“I was giddy, like a child,” Jelly added in the interview. “You could see it all over my performance. Just the kid in me. I thought the camera was off of me. So as soon as I get through singing, I’m like, ‘Whoa,’ I just let this steamroller out. It’s really cool.” 

The musician is currently in the process of finishing his new album, which will follow 2023’s hit Whitsitt Chapel. In preparation, he’s been steadily debuting unreleased tracks in performances, such as “I Am Not OK” on The Voice and “Liar” at the 2024 ACM Awards. 

“This has been my whole life the last 11 months,” Jelly said in the ET interview. “I have been drowning in this album. I’ve never wrote more songs. I’ve never took it more serious and I’m probably gonna release more music this year than I’ve ever released in a year of my career.”