Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jelly Roll finally shared a “brotherly hug almost 10 years in the making,” bringing a long-awaited moment full circle—one that traces back to Jelly’s 2017 track “Only.”
In a video capturing their meeting, Jelly greeted Johnson with, “I’ve been waiting a decade for this hug.” According to The Rock, who stars in the upcoming The Smashing Machine, while the two have been “buddies” for years, this was actually their first time meeting face-to-face.
“Several years ago (roughly 2017) I was going through a very hard thing at the time, I was struggling,” Dwayne Johnson shared in a heartfelt message to fans on Monday night, reflecting on the emotional weight behind finally meeting Jelly Roll. “My mental wellness turned into my mental hellness. Many of you know the drill—you put on ‘the face,’ show up to work, smile and get through it. Perhaps not the healthiest thing to do, but it’s what I was used to doing at the time.”
It was during that dark chapter that a shuffled playlist led him to Jelly Roll’s song “Only,” from the 2017 album Addiction Kills. The track struck a chord, leaving a lasting impact on The Rock—one that eventually led to their emotional, long-overdue meeting.
“The words moved me so much that I reached out to Jelly,” Dwayne Johnson shared with fans on Instagram. “I said, ‘You don’t know me and I don’t know you, but this song of yours is helping me through some stuff I’m dealing with. I just called to say thank you brother.’ That’s when our bond was born.”
As seen in the video above, Dwayne Johnson came to his long-awaited meeting with Jelly Roll bearing a heartfelt gift—one that held deep personal meaning tied to Johnson’s own connection with Nashville.
Up next for The Rock is his highly anticipated role as Mark Kerr in the A24-produced drama The Smashing Machine, set to hit theaters on October 3. Earlier this month, Johnson helped honor Kerr during the 2025 UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Las Vegas, where his co-star Emily Blunt was also in attendance.
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