American Idol runner-up Will Moseley had a surreal moment when he met Jelly Roll while filming the singing competition series.
“On the show, when I first met Jelly Roll, when I told him who I was, he was like, ‘Oh man, I’ve heard your name.’ And that to me was huge,” Moseley, 23, exclusively told Us Weekly at CMA Fest on Saturday, June 8. “I was like, ‘Nah, man, you don’t have to lie to me.’ And he’s like, ‘No, I’m serious. Like, I’ve heard your name.’”
Moseley recalled how that moment was “super cool” for him as one of his music inspirations was familiar with him and his work.
“Just think [to] that, someone as big as Jelly Roll had already, you know, been introduced to what I had going on,” he gushed. “That was, that was so cool, man. And it was awesome just getting to talk to him and kind of hear his side of things.”
Moseley competed on season 22 of American Idol and came in second place to winner Abi Carter. Jelly Roll, 39, appeared on the show as a guest mentor alongside Tori Kelly at the Disney Aulani Resort in Hawaii. The top 20 contestants were split into two groups and performed on separate weeks. While Moseley was being advised by Kelly, he still got the chance to connect with Jelly Roll while filming.
“Jelly, Thank You for treating me like a human when I was really just being a fan. You are the best person I’ve ever met!” Moseley wrote via Instagram in April alongside a selfie of him and the Grammy nominee. “Thank you for all of the advice, and I hope that we can sit down together again! You’re the man. They say never meet your [heroes,] but I did and you are still just that. My hero!”
Now that Moseley has found success following American Idol, Jelly Roll isn’t the only person recognizing him on the street. Moseley confessed now he is the one getting picked out in the crowd.
“It’s been a really cool experience just to get people recognizing me and all of the attention that comes with that,” he reflected on Saturday. “And it’s been so cool to just get to meet all of these people who have voted all this time.”
Moseley added that he is forever grateful to everyone who supported him throughout his American Idol journey and getting to “shake the hands of each one of those people who were like, ‘Hey, every week I sent in my 30 votes for you,’” means “so much” to him.
Since American Idol wrapped up in May, Moseley got the chance to open for Zac Brown Band for a couple shows and teased he would be releasing music sometime soon.
“We have a lot going on. There’s a lot coming from every angle and every avenue and right now we’re just trying to filter everything and figure out what works and what don’t work and what’s a good fit and what’s not a good fit,” he told Us. “And I will say that there is some music on the way. As soon as the show is over, they asked what my plan was and I told ’em, ‘To hit the ground running.’”
With reporting by Jeremy Parsons
