Jelly Roll (AKA Jason Bradley DeFord) is so much more than a country music superstar. Believe it or not, he is also a father to not one, but two children — a daughter named Bailee Ann and a son named Noah Buddy — as well as a husband to social media sensation and podcaster Bunnie XO.
The “Halfway to Hell” singer has been open about his relationship with Bailee Ann, his 16-year-old daughter, who was born on May 22, 2008, while the talented singer/songwriter was in prison for drug dealing. Jelly Roll recalled in an interview with Billboard, “A guard knocks on my cell door mid-afternoon during lockdown. He goes, ‘You had a kid today.’ I’ve never had nothing in life that urged me in the moment to know that I had to do something different. I have to figure this out right now.”
Jelly Roll was released from prison moments before Bailee’s second birthday, when they “grilled hamburgers and hot dogs” together. The country crooner and Bunnie XO were later granted full custody of Bailee after her mother fell victim to drugs in 2017.
Mentioning Bailee during his passion-packed speeches at award shows, and slightly bringing her into his world firsthand — making an appearance in his Hulu documentary, Jelly Roll: Save Me, coming onstage during his Stagecoach 2024 performance and more — many country music lovers were unaware that Jelly Roll has a son as well from a previous relationship.
Who is Noah Buddy exactly? Keep scrolling for everything we know about Jelly Roll’s 7-year-old son…
Born on August 23, 2016, Jelly Roll has not spoken much about his 7-year-old son, aside from a birth announcement on Facebook at the time:
“God Bless this Child to be everything I am not! Noah Buddy DeFord! I pray he nor Bailee ever have to pay for their father’s sins. I’ll post more pics tomorrow.”
He stepped into the spotlight for the first time in a TikTok video posted by his stepmom in July of 2023, where he shyly shared that his favorite color is red, his favorite hobbies are Pokémon and soccer, and that he wants both a dog and a cat for a pet. He stepped into the spotlight for the second time in yet another TikTok video posted by his stepmom earlier this week.
“Hey guys, can you watch my bonus son really quick? Thank you,” Bunnie XO said in the video, leaving Noah to take the reins:
“Hello. My name is Noah and this is my first time doing a video so I might be a little… I don’t really know what to say that much, but can you take it easy on me?”
While he might not be in the limelight as much as Bailee Ann, Jelly Roll confirmed that Noah is a part of the family and often goes on vacation with them, prior to telling Taste of Country, “With Bailee, I’m the full-time parent. I’m the judge, the jury and the executioner when it comes to decisions with her. I try not to get in the way of what [Melisa] is building over there, and I never want to step on her toes with what she’s doing with [Noah]… I want to just respect that boundary.”
Whether or not Noah becomes more involved in his father’s booming country music career as he gets older is still up in the air, but our fingers are crossed nonetheless. He is as cute as can be!