Mama Tot Finds A ‘Forever Friend’ In Jelly Roll After Emotional On-Stage Dedication To Her Late Son, Randon
“God will continue to bless this man every second of his life for being one of the most amazing, humble and kind human beings on this planet,” Mama Tot wrote of Jelly Roll.
Jelly Roll, Mama Tot; Photo Courtesy Instagram
Jelly Roll shared an emotional moment with Mama Tot on stage at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Alabama, and dedicated a tune to her late son, Randon Lee.
In the midst of his headlining performance, the genre-bending star brought Mama Tot out on stage before honoring her late son with a performance of “Son Of A Sinner.”
“My friend Miss Ophelia is here tonight, Mrs Mama Tot is here tonight, she came to see you. Come out here.. You okay with that? I am sorry to put you on blast. I should’ve talked to you before I did it. I would’ve been remiss if I didn’t bring you out here and tell you that I want to dedicate this next song to your baby child and on behalf of everybody standing here Mama Tot, we love you baby,” Jelly Roll said. “I want to dedicate this song to Mama Tot, the rest of her family and her baby child, Mr. Randon. I know he’s watching from up there right now.”
The pair then embraced in a hug before he went on to perform “Son Of a Sinner,” his first-ever No. 1 at Country radio, as Mama Tot exited the stage. Mama Tot then watched from side stage alongside Jelly Roll’s wife Bunnie XO and filmed some of the performance.
Mama Tot, whose real name is Ophelia Nichols, took to social media after the show and shared a clip of the performance.
“Thank you @Jaden Parker for capturing this beautiful moment and gift for me from one of the most special people in my life. He knew what this meant to me and my family and we will never forget it,” Mama Tot captioned the clip on TikTok.
She later shared an emotional message on Instagram.
“God will continue to bless this man every second of his life for being one of the most amazing, humble and kind human beings on this planet. My family was so grateful and thankful to not only spend some much needed time with this sweet soul, but to see him acknowledge my baby child in person knowing we played “son of a sinner” at my sons service, I just know my son is looking down with pure love. ♥️ Our forever friend Jelly, we thank you,” she wrote.
She also shared a photo of herself hugging Jelly Roll backstage before the show, calling it “Best hug in the world!”
While this was the first time Mama Tot met Jelly Roll and his wife Bunnie XO, she has been in contact with them for quite some time and often video chats with the beloved couple.
“It was my first time [meeting them] in person but we have FaceTimed before and he’s such a beautiful friend to have,” Mama Tot shared in the comments of her video.
She also detailed that the moment was pretty emotional. “I think the whole audience was [in tears] 🥺,” Mama Tot added.
In late June of 2022, tragedy struck as Randon Lee, the son of Mama Tot, lost his life in a fatal shooting outside a gas station in Prichard, Alabama. According to WALA, investigators have reason to believe that Lee met with two individuals to sell them marijuana before the shooting occurred.
Jelly Roll is currently in the midst of his first-ever headlining arena tour, dubbed the Backroad Baptism Tour, which kicked off on July 28 at Bank Plus Amphitheater in Southaven, Mississippi.
The 44-city trek runs through Saturday, October 14, where the trek will wrap up in Tampa, Florida at MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre. Hosted by Josh Adam Meyers, Jelly Roll’s Backroad Baptism Tour features support from Ashley McBryde, Caitlynne Curtis, Chase Rice, Elle King, Merkules, Struggle Jennings, Three 6 Mafia and Yelawolf on select dates.
The trek comes in support of Jelly Roll’s recently released country album, WHITSITT CHAPEL. The 13-track project, which contains singles “Save Me” and “NEED A FAVOR,” debuted at the top of the Billboard Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart and at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Album chart.
In the midst of his headlining tour, Jelly Roll will also serve as support on several dates of Eric Church’s The Outsiders Revival Tour.
For a complete list of tour dates, visit Jelly Roll’s official website HERE.
Lauren Jo Black, a University of Central Florida graduate, has immersed herself in the world of country music for over 15 years. In 2008, she co-founded CountryMusicIsLove, eventually selling it to a major record label in 2015. Following the rebranding of the website to Sounds Like Nashville, Black served as Editor-in-Chief for two and a half years. Currently, she assumes the role of Editor-in-Chief at Country Now and oversees Country Now’s content and digital footprint. Her extensive experience also encompasses her previous role as a Country Music Expert Writer for Answers.com and her work being featured on Forbes.com. She’s been spotlighted among Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. Black also spent time in front of the camera as host of Country Now Live, which brought live music directly to fans in 2021 when the majority of concerts were halted due to the pandemic. During this time, she hosted 24 weeks of live concerts via Country Now Live on Twitch with special guests such as Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Brett Young, and Jon Pardi. Over the course of her career, she has had the privilege of conducting interviews with some of the industry’s most prominent stars, including Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, and many others. Lauren Jo Black is a longtime member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.
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