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Brandon Lake joins Jelly Roll on stage at the Grand Ole Opry Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. Lake made his Opry debut earlier in the night. Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Arkansas Lands Huge Tour to Kick Off Venue Availability

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Kent Smith | Last updated Feb 2, 2026 9:42 AM ET

Arkansas wasted very little time after its announcement last week that it planned to open up its sporting venues to live entertainment options outside of Razorbacks sports in landing its first big event.

Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek needed something that would make a huge splash, fill up Razorback Stadium and draw a ton of money for the program that he could promote at a time where the Hogs need to rack up cash to keep up with the NFL model minus financial constraints world that is college sports. First he needed someone who knows the area and its potential while also having enough crossover appeal to bring a wide variety of potential ticket buyers.

It had to be someone who is huge enough in the world of pop culture that everyone would know who he is and be intrigued to go see what's going on. Arkansas has landed exactly that with Post Malone appearing along with newly named Best Contemporary Country Album Grammy winner Jelly Roll.

Their Post Malone and Jelly Roll Present: "The BIG ASS Stadium Tour Part 2" will roll into Fayetteville Saturday, July 11.

Most known as an alt-rapper from the Dallas-Fort Worth area who grew up not too far from AT&T Stadium as a Dallas Cowboys fan, Post Malone has graduated from an icon of college dorm room playlists with songs like "Congratulations" to a music icon with "Sunflower" from the "Into the Spiderverse" soundtrack to a crossover country staple with hits like "I Had Some Help" with Morgan Wallen and "Pour Me a Drink" with Blake Shelton.

This past November, he joined former Arkansas Razorback and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in kicking off the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign at halftime of the annual Thanksgiving game.

Meanwhile, Jelly Roll has been on a bit of an evolution himself. He began as a rapper who battled not only addiction, but a lawsuit from Waffle House along the way with a drug related prison sentence stacked on top.

He eventually found religion and a singing and writing style that fit country music in a unique soulful manner while allowing him to tap into his trauma in a way that connects with fans. Songs like "Save Me" and "Hard Fought Hallelujah" have helped him not only draw empathy from fans, but allow him to work through all of the mental damage brought on by his previous life.

Once he got his mind together, Jelly Roll decided it was time his body follow suit. A life long wrestling fan, he caught onto an idea that he might be able to one day get in the ring and participate as a celebrity in a high profile match.

However, that required getting his largely obese body into good enough shape to legitimately pull of the same wrestling moves his competitors would be doing. With permission from Paul "HHH" Levesque to move his family to Tampa, Florida and start training in the WWE Performance Center there, Jelly Roll spent every moment not working on music working in the ring.

Before long, he was down to a weight he says he hasn't been since roughly 12-year-old.

The pounds shed and he began to impress the top brass at WWE with his work ethic and ability to compete. Before long, stars like the Undertake and Kevin Owens heard enough to come down and offer advice and Jacob Fatu offered multiple hours of his time to work with him in the ring.

Finally, a much slimmer, dramatically more athletic Jelly Roll, very similar to the one fans will meet in Razorback Stadium, hit the ring in a performance that shocked most viewers.

The tour will hit numerous stadiums around the country, many of which Hogs fans are familiar with or at least will be by the end of next football season. Post Malone and Jelly Roll will hit up LSU, Ole Miss, Baylor and Utah to go with a lengthy list of similar venues.