Jelly Roll & The Rock finally meet on ‘Idol’ after 10 years of friendship—and it’s everything we hoped for
'American Idol' finally helped fulfill Jelly Roll's first meeting with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. For the unversed, Roll and Johnson recently met each other backstage at 'American Idol' in May. The duo embraced in a big bear hug. This was the first time Roll and Johnson met in person despite being friends for over 10 years. On June 30, Johnson took to Instagram and reflected on the special moment, sharing a video of their emotional meeting on the ABC singing competition. In his lengthy caption, Johnson revealed that he and Roll had been in touch for years, helping each other through some difficult times, but they never met until that night on 'American Idol.'
View this post on Instagram
Roll was on the sets on May 12 after he became the show’s first-ever artist-in-residence, guiding contestants through Season 23 of the show. On the other hand, Johnson was visiting for two reasons: to support his daughter, who performed in the Polynesian children’s choir that backed up 2023 'American Idol' winner Iam Tongi, and to promote his upcoming animated Disney film, 'Moana 2.'
In his tribute, Johnson wrote, “A brotherly hug almost 10 years in the making @jellyroll615. Several years ago (roughly 2017), I was going through a very hard thing at the time... I was struggling. My mental wellness turned into my mental hellness. Many of you know the drill: you put on ‘the face’, show up to work, smile, and get through it. Perhaps not the healthiest thing to do, but it’s what I was used to doing at the time.”
The 'Jumanji' actor further added, “Then a song came on through my headphones one morning on a random shuffle playlist. ‘Only’ from Jelly Roll. The lyrics rocked me. Hard core. The words moved me so much that I reached out to Jelly. I said you don’t know me and I don’t know you, but this song of yours is helping me through some stuff I’m dealing with. I just called to say thank you, brother. Our bond was born.”
As per Entertainment Now, Johnson also candidly opened up about his friendship with Roll in the video and said, "Jelly Roll and I have been buddies for almost 10 years — texting, showing love, support, always there for each other, whatever you need, I got you. We’d never met. So yesterday at ‘American Idol’ was the first time we ever met, and it was very special.” Johnson and Roll bonded over growing up in Nashville without a stable family.
While chit-chatting with fitness enthusiast Johnson, Roll revealed that he had lost 200 pounds and was planning to lose another 100 pounds. In November 2024, Johnson shared his thoughts on Roll's weight loss journey on Instagram. He posted a series of clips of Roll's progress losing weight. Johnson captioned the same, “Always believed in you, brother☝🏾 your music & friendship helped me through a very hard time in my life when I was struggling to find a way. Keep kicking ass, shaking cities and moving crowds ~ with gratitude and a smile 🥃🖤”