As soon as Katy Perry announced she would be exiting American Idol as a judge after seven seasons, the speculation began over who could fill her coveted chair. Jelly Roll’s name has been mentioned frequently as an option, with Perry herself recommending him as her successor. Regardless of whether or not he’s the one who gets the gig alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, the “Need a Favor” singer has already accomplished something that he deems “the coolest moment” of his career.
Jelly Roll apparently had the experience of a lifetime when none other than Eminem asked him to join him on stage for a surprise performance for Live from Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central , which aired June 9 on NBC (and can be streamed on Peacock, one of the best streaming services ). Recalling the opportunity, Jelly Roll told ET : 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. 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. What made the whole thing even more surreal, Jelly Roll said, is that Eminem’s people reached out to him.
He said he thought it might be a joke up until the moment he met the Detroit rapper himself. Jelly Roll wasn’t even able to play it cool on stage, he said, where he got to sing the chorus and hook of “Sing for the Momen.
