Jelly Roll Delivers Emotional Tribute to 'Real Heroes' at Invictus Games: 'I Am an Overweight Man with a Microphone'

Mar. 15, 2025

Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty

Jelly Roll, 40, spoke with emotion as he took the mic and said, “I am honored to stand in front of some of the greatest and strongest people across the entire world tonight. My name is Jason ‘Jelly Roll’ DeFord and this song is called ‘I Am Not Okay,’ "

With his hat in hand and the crowd cheering, he shook hands and hugged athletes before taking the stage to perform his Grammy-nominated ballad.

Looking around, he shared a special message with the crowd.

“But I want to be clear right now about what’s happening on this stage. I am an overweight man with a microphone. The real heroes are the athletes and the families that are in this building right now, and I want you to know, whenever you go home after these 11 days of adrenaline and you finally sit down and in a few months from now when the world finally comes back around, I want you to know this,” he continued. “If you ever hear that voice in your head saying you can’t be anything but great, it’s the voice of a liar!” he exclaimed, launching into his song “Liar.”

“I wish that we could close this down because there wasn’t a need for it, but as long as there’s a need for it, we will keep it going,” the Duke of Sussex says.

“Commitment prince,” Jelly Roll said in the silly clip when Harry agreed to the terms of the gig. “This is going to be huge, man.”

“I’ll see you in Vancouver!” Jelly Roll called as he walked away. “I’ll be there, I appreciate you!”

Prince Harry and Jelly Roll.Devin Kasparian

Devin Kasparian

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“Closing Ceremony will be emotional. I spoke a lot with Prince Harry yesterday on the hill and he shared as great as Opening Ceremony was, Closing Ceremony is important because we want them to know this is just the end of a chapter of their journey, and we need to encourage them to make sure that journey continues,” Moore said on Feb. 12.

source: people.com