Earlier this month, Grammy Award-winning country music star Jelly Roll told Audacy’s Katie Neal that he hopes his next single is “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” a song by Grammy Award-winning Christian artist Brandon Lake that Jelly Roll was recently featured on.
Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, has recently been open about his faith journey, sharing about his distaste for the church while also expressing a desire to follow Jesus.
The singer’s dark history is no secret. He has spent two stints in prison for aggravated robbery and intent to distribute illegal drugs. In 2016, he married Alyssa DeFord, who left the sex industry in 2023. Jelly Roll and DeFord have full custody of his two children from previous relationships.
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“I realized that in my faith, I’m not called to hide from the devil,” Jelly Roll told Neal. “I’m not called to be timid around him. I’m called to call him out…I’m called to look him in the eye and go, ‘I know that you’re a liar.’ And there’s power in that, when you’re out loud professing to that voice, ‘You are a liar. You have no place in my life.’”
Neal inquired about what Jelly Roll’s next single might be. Jelly Roll responded, “I’m not sure, [but] I can tell you what’s probably going to get me in trouble.”
Jelly Roll said that his heart is focused on Brandon Lake’s No. 1 song “Hard Fought Hallelujah.” The song was originally released on Nov. 8, 2024, but then was remixed and rereleased last month to include Jelly Roll.
“I just feel like to not do everything I can to get that song in front of as many people as it can possibly be heard by is the wrong thing to do right now, even if I have to sacrifice my own single,” Jelly Roll said.
After hearing Lake’s song, Jelly Roll had his management connect him and Lake for a Zoom call. Before the call was over, Lake and Jelly Roll made plans to record a new version of the song that included the country singer.
“I heard the song on TikTok, literally the week before I threw my phone out,” Jelly Roll shared. “Because I didn’t have a phone, I just kept getting on a laptop and looking up this song…I didn’t know this was a Christian artist. I knew nothing about it.”
