Jelly Roll continues to prove that dreams do come true. On Wednesday night (July 10) during his first solo international date, the “Save Me” singer brought a very special guest to help him celebrate. Performing at the 2,500-capacity History venue in Toronto, the country superstar surprised the sold out house by inviting Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean to help him belt out the band's iconic 1999 single 'I Want It That Way'.
“Get out here AJ, let's sing some music for these moms in Toronto, baby!” yelled Jelly as McLean waltzed on stage to screams from the crowd. The two men were in perfect harmony in their duet, with the audience enthusiastically helping along to the “tell me why” chorus as if the whole thing had come before it.
During the show, Jelly took a moment to enjoy his first trip up north while dishing out classic Canadian cuisine, telling the crowd, “technically, this week is officially my international debut. It's the first time that… let me tell you something. Everything was wonderful. Cover your ears guys, but the weed was incredible, the people were great. And I mean, I've never had poutine until yesterday… I'm sorry I'm late to the party, but I'm going to take it home and make it a tradition to put gravy on my fries.”
In June, Jelly Roll announced that they had booked their first dates outside the US, which included a July 8 show at the Meridian Center in St. Louis. concert at Ottawa Bluesfest.
“I can't tell you how unreal that was, man. I kind of lost hope that they would ever let me into Canada,” he told the crowd. Man, I couldn't have asked for a better welcome.”
The 39-year-old singer, who has scored three No. 1 hits on Canadian radio to date, has never booked a show in Canada — or anywhere else abroad to date — due to visa restrictions tied to certain arrests and convictions earlier in his life. Jelly has been outspoken about his past legal issues and incarceration, including dozens of stints behind bars on drug charges dating back to when he was 14, as well as an arrest at 16 for aggravated robbery that landed him in prison for a time. Tried as an adult. He faced a possible 20-year sentence in that case, though he served just over a year and was suspended for seven years.
Check out an excerpt from the duet below.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/country/jelly-roll-duet-aj-mclean-backstreet-boys-i-want-it-that-way-toronto-1235728593/
