Ted Nugent says Jelly Roll caught him completely off guard when the country singer suddenly called and asked him to headline the Northwest California Country Festival this weekend.
According to Nugent, the phone call came out of nowhere.
“I honestly thought somebody was playing a joke on me,” Nugent said. “Then I realized it was actually Jelly Roll asking me to come save his festival. That’s when I started laughing.”
Nugent said the request was especially surprising because the two had a very different conversation last year.
“Last year I offered to do a short set for him,” Nugent said. “He passed. Told me I didn’t pull enough of a crowd and I was too political. Now all of a sudden he needs me? No way, bub.”
Nugent claimed the situation changed dramatically after Jelly Roll began facing backlash from fans and country music listeners.
According to Nugent, several performers originally scheduled for the festival eventually pulled out after Jelly Roll allegedly told his own fans to stop listening to his music.
“That’s when I knew things had gotten weird,” Nugent said. “You don’t tell your own audience to stop listening to you and then expect everybody else to line up around the block to help you.”
Nugent said he was particularly amused by the idea that he was suddenly being considered as the solution to the festival’s problems.
“First I’m too political,” he said. “Then I don’t bring enough people. Now I’m apparently the guy who can save the whole weekend. Make up your mind.”
The festival has reportedly become a major headache behind the scenes, with Nugent claiming that multiple acts have walked away from the event after the controversy surrounding Jelly Roll intensified.
Nugent said he understands why performers might not want to be associated with the situation.
“If you build a festival around somebody and then that somebody tells his own fans to stop listening to him, what exactly do you expect to happen?” he asked. “People start looking for the exits.”
Still, Nugent said the request itself was the most revealing part.
“You’re asking an 84-year-old guy to headline,” Nugent said. “That tells you something.”
Rather than agreeing to step in, Nugent said he turned the offer down. “I’m not desperate,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for decades. I don’t need to jump onstage because somebody else suddenly discovered they need an audience.”
Nugent added that he wished the festival well but wasn’t interested in becoming its emergency replacement act.
“I hope they get somebody,” he said. “But if you rejected me when you thought you were on top of the world, don’t call me when the roof starts coming down.”
For Nugent, the episode was less about personal revenge and more about what he described as a lesson in the entertainment business.
“Respect people when you don’t need them,” he said. “Because someday you might need them.”