Thousands will gather at the Enterprise Center Wednesday night to witness celebrated country music artist Jelly Roll on his 'Beautifully Broken' Tour.
At 7 p.m., the man who recently won best 'Music Event of the Year' from the Academy of Country Music Awards will be taking the stage.
One very special fan will be in the audience. 5 On Your Side's Annie Krall spoke with a Madison County mother who had her life changed today.
Keita Miller is a Granite City grandma who has been living with lung cancer for years. She said on Wednesday that you can't sit around and pout; you have to live your life feeling blessed.
After being diagnosed with small cell lung cancer, the Edwardsville native was told by doctors she had three months to live.
"Then when I said, 'I can't die until I go see Jelly Roll.' Everyone is like, 'Oh wow,'" Miller told Krall. "I said, 'No, I can't.'"
'Son of a Sinner' is the 65-year-old's favorite Jelly Roll song. Miller listened to it on repeat while getting chemotherapy three times a week for two months after being diagnosed in February 2022.
Miller points to her relationship with God as what helps her stay positive. It's something she shares with the 2024 'Best New Artist' Jelly Roll and 'Best Country Duo/Group Performance' with Lainey Wilson Grammy-nominee.
"What he's been through for a man to do that and come through," Miller said. "Him and his wife are so supportive of each other. That's what this world needs. That's just what this world needs. And it's sad that people don't get it."
Jelly Roll has publicly talked about his drug abuse and drug dealing growing up in Tennessee.
Seeing him perform at the Enterprise Center will be Miller's first concert ever. It's something she gets to experience with fellow fan and daughter Michelle Langenhorst.
"She lost her father at 13 so she's been through some stuff, also her mother at 17 or 18," Langenhorst said. "She just never asks anybody for anything. She's done it all on her own. To see her invest so much emotion into another human being is something I've never seen my mom do."
It was the James Bess Foundation who made Miller actually meeting Jelly Roll before the concert possible.
Mindy Bess founded the organization after her father's dying wish to meet Garth Brooks didn't happen due to a lack of facilitating resources and him passing so quickly, Bess said.
"Adults deserve to have their dreams come true too," Bess told Krall. "So how come there isn't resources available for them? It's just children and it's seniors but it's nothing in between."
"I just hope I don't die of shock over Jelly Roll," Miller said. "But oh well, if I go because of Jelly Roll, God did it."
As of this week, Jelly Roll has scored his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with the release of Beautifully Broken on Oct. 11.
It's something Miller said she's excited to listen to at her next Siteman Cancer Center appointment in Shiloh come December.
Miller is the 43rd dreamer helped by the James Bess Foundation who uses donations to provide other celebrity meetings, trips, and unique end-of-life wishes. To donate to the James Bess Foundation, click here.
To apply for an experience, you can learn more here.