'Truly lifted our spirits:' Jelly Roll visits Toby Keith Foundation's OK Kids Korral in OKC

Rising country music hitmaker Jelly Roll kept his word to the late Toby Keith's family in his recent visit to the Oklahoma superstar's home-state charity.

The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter recently toured the Toby Keith Foundation's OK Kids Korral in Oklahoma City ahead of the OKC stop on his "Beautifully Broken Tour."

The OK Kids Korral is a cost-free home-away-from-home for children with cancer seeking treatment in Oklahoma City.

"At the 'Toby Keith: American Icon' tribute, Jelly Roll told Toby's family he would like to visit OK Kids Korral when he was in town for his concert. True to his word, he and his team stopped by to sign autographs, take photos and make us all laugh," Juliet Nees-Bright, executive director of the Toby Keith Foundation, told The Oklahoman in an email.

"It has been a difficult year, but his visit truly lifted our spirits. We wrote a social media post and called him 'the real deal,' and we wholeheartedly mean it."

What is the Toby Keith Foundation's OK Kids Korral?

An award-winning singer-songwriter, Jelly Roll also posted on social media about his trip to the OK Kids Korral.

"I've heard so much incredible stuff about this place. Really excited to go see the legacy that Toby Keith has left behind up here. Big part of his heart to give back," the “I Am Not Okay” hitmaker said in a video posted to his Instagram.

Keith, who died Feb. 5 at age 62 after a multiyear battle with stomach cancer, told The Oklahoman in 2019 that he considered the OK Kids Korral "probably my greatest accomplishment."

In 2006, he established the Toby Keith Foundation on a mission to build free, all-inclusive housing for pediatric cancer patients and their families. In late 2013, Keith, his family and supporters celebrated in Oklahoma City the grand opening of the $9 million OK Kids Korral, which houses Oklahoma children seeking cancer care at OU Medical Center.

The OK Kids Korral features high-end amenities like 12 overnight suites, four day rooms, a gourmet kitchen, spacious dining hall, theater room, indoor and outdoor playgrounds, a family resource center and more.

"I love how Oklahoma this whole thing is," Jelly Roll says in his Instagram video as he checks out the OK Kids Korral oil rig on the playground, along with the Route 66 indoor playroom.

Nominated for Entertainer of the Year at the Nov. 20 Country Music Association Awards, the Nashville, Tennessee, native, born Jason DeFord, toured the OK Kids Korral with Bright, along with Keith's daughter, Shelley Covel Rowland; son, Stelen Covel; and daughter-in-law, Haley Covel.

In an Instagram post, Stelen Covel expressed his appreciation for Jelly Roll taking time out of his busy tour schedule to visit the OK Kids Korral.

"This man is one of the hardest working people in the industry and is humble and caring enough to stop in and talk to the kids and families of the kids," Stelen Covel posted.

How has Jelly Roll been paying tribute to the late Toby Keith on his 2024 tour?

The Billboard’s 2023 Breakthrough Award winner, Jelly Roll was nominated for Best New Artist as well as Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Save Me," his hit duet with Lainey Wilson, at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Jelly Roll was one of three artists, alongside Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs, to score three Country Airplay No. 1 hits in 2023 and the first to do it with his first three singles.

“Save Me” — a confessional, vulnerable expression of self-doubt — set the stage for his new season of life and took him to new heights, including a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on the heels of his 28-week reign at No. 1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart. “Save Me” earned Jelly Roll his first Academy of Country Music win for Music Event of the Year, and he followed it up with the hits “Halfway To Hell,” “Need A Favor” and “Son of A Sinner.”

But Jelly Roll has made space in his tour set list for covers of hits by Shania Twain, Green Day and Oklahomans Garth Brooks and Keith, including the latter's breakout hit "Should've Been a Cowboy."

During his sold-out Nov. 14 concert at OKC's Paycom Center, Jelly Roll — who previously played a packed Paycom Center in September 2023 — invited his opening act Ernest back to the stage to belt out "Should've Been a Cowboy" and Keith's 2002 hit "Who's Your Daddy?"

"We have had the honor of honoring the late, great Toby Keith, the legend, every night on this tour. But it feels really different doing it in Oklahoma City," Jelly Roll can be seen and heard telling Ernest in a fan video from his most recent OKC concert.

During the sold-out NBC concert special "Toby Keith: American Icon," Jelly Roll provided a moving highlight with his cover of another of the Norman-based superstar's 2002 hits, "My List."

Jelly Roll's willingness to share his troubled past — he's served time in prison and has admitted to dealing drugs in his younger days — has allowed his redemption story to resonate with fans on a global scale. He has donated a recording studio at the juvenile detention center he served in as a teen and made visits to jails and rehab centers, along with nonprofit organizations like the Toby Keith Foundation's OK Kids Korral, across the country.

"I'm hoping, especially in Toby's absence, the country music community will do this every time one of us plays here," Jelly Roll says in his Instagram video at the OK Kids Korral.

"Go up, do what he did, be as big as he was: That's the kind of legacy you really want to leave in life."