Jelly Roll Receives Johnny Cash's Favorite Gold Cross Necklace Before Opry Induction

Backstage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on March 10, John Carter Cash opened a small box and handed Jelly Roll a delicate gold cross necklace that had belonged to his father for many years. "I got something of my father's [that] I think that he would want you to wear," Carter Cash told him, as Jelly Roll later recounted to press at the event. Minutes later, Jelly Roll walked onto the Opry stage wearing the piece for his official induction, carrying what Carter Cash described as Johnny Cash's favorite piece of jewelry against his own chest.

The necklace is a family heirloom, and Carter Cash made clear its significance before placing it in Jelly Roll's hands. "He said it was his father's favorite piece of jewelry that his father owned," Jelly Roll said. "And he thinks that he would want me to wear this during the induction." The exchange was private, but Jelly Roll shared the story freely with media gathered for the occasion.

The gift landed with particular weight given how openly Jelly Roll has spoken about Cash's influence on his life and music. "I lived my entire life somewhere between two middle fingers and the grace of Jesus Christ," the 41-year-old Antioch, Tennessee native said. "And I learned that from Johnny Cash." He went on to describe Cash's famous rebellions with characteristic affection: "This is the same guy who famously kicked the lights out on stage at the Ryman and flipped the bird to the photographer while breaking something. That's breaking a law, by the way."

There was a quieter moment too, one that turned the gold cross into something almost symmetrical. Jelly Roll discovered during his backstage conversation with Carter Cash that he and Johnny Cash were exactly the same height. He said he likes to imagine that the cross pendant, passed now from one chest to another, has rested close to both of their hearts.

For a piece of jewelry, the provenance here is unusually legible: a single family, a private backstage handoff, a son delivering what he believed his father would have wanted. Whether the necklace's full history is ever formally documented, it was worn publicly on one of country music's most storied stages the night Jelly Roll joined the Grand Ole Opry's membership, a fact the necklace now carries permanently.