Brandon Lake recently shared a conversation he had with Jason Bradley DeFord, better known as Jelly Roll, regarding their upcoming collaboration on Lake’s chart-topping single, “Hard Fought Hallelujah.”
Jelly Roll was named the 2023 Country Music Association New Artist of the Year and was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2024. Today, he is one of the most popular country music artists in the industry.
But when he was 18, Jelly Roll spent time in jail for aggravated robbery and then again in his 20s for intent to distribute illegal drugs. In 2016, he married Alyssa DeFord, who left the sex industry in 2023. Jelly Roll and his wife have full custody of his two children from previous relationships.
RELATED: Jelly Roll Brings His ‘Storm-Tossed’ Story and Joins Brandon Lake on ‘Hard Fought Hallelujah’
Since releasing his debut album, “Closer,” in 2016, Lake has collected five Grammy Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, and 10 Dove Awards. Lake is one of the most highly-regarded worship singers in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) today.
“Hard Fought Hallelujah” was released on Nov. 8, 2024, and climbed to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard U.S. Christian Songs chart. It peaked at the No. 8 spot on Billboard’s U.S. Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.
Jelly Roll Shares How He’s Been ‘Hurt by the Church’
Last week, Lake and Jelly Roll teased their collaboration on “Hard Fought Hallelujah” by sharing a short snippet of the song, which will be released on Feb. 7.
“I haven’t had a record touch me like that in so long,” Jelly Roll told Lake as he described the first time he heard “Hard Fought Hallelujah.”
“It’s been years since I worshiped the way that I worshiped to that song,” he added. “Because, like, I carry my faith with me, but I’m also struggling and very honest and open about that.”
Jelly Roll shared that he has been “so bitter and hurt by the church and their dogma” that he has personally created his own. He opened up to Lake and explained that he believes that “music meets us where we are.”
“I needed that record when I heard it,” Jelly Roll said. “But then to double back and be like, ‘Yo, there’s a chance you can work on this record with this guy.’ And I’m like, ‘Whoa, God sends me the record for me.’ Not only does he want me to listen to it and worship, he wants me to live with it and learn it.”
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