Jelly Roll is officially a Dove Awards winner. Jelly Roll won three trophies – Song of the Year, Bluegrass/Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year, and Short Form Music Video – all for his “Hard Fought Hallelujah” collaboration with Brandon Lake.
“Y’all forgive me,” Jelly Roll begins after winning the Dove Award for Song of the Year. “I’m not even sure how much I belong speaking up here right now. And I’m nervous. I ain’t been this nervous since I went to criminal court, y’all. This is a real thing for me….I was listening to [Lake] and I was thinking about Matthew, when he talks about ‘the least,’ when he said, ‘When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me water. When I was in jail, you came and visited me. And I realized that I am standing here because people took the time with the least.
“I want to give this message as clear as I can right now: the world is hearing about Jesus like they haven’t in decades right now,” he continues. “There is a revival happening in the United States of America, where you can’t go on a corner and not hear about Jesus right now. And while we are hearing about Jesus, I encourage you to put faith on your feet, and feet on your faith, and walk out of this building and go do for the least. They’ve heard of Jesus, now go show them Jesus. Go feed the poor. Go visit the ones in jail. Go show them who Jesus was. We are done talking. It’s time to show. I thank you for the Dove Award.”
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The Story Behind “Hard Fought Hallelujah”
It was while Lake was watching Jelly Roll sing “Believe” with Brooks & Dunn at the 2024 CMA Awards that he had the idea for Jelly Roll to join him on “Hard Fought Hallelujah.”
“I watched the CMA Awards with Brooks & Dunn,” Lake recalls to K-Love, as part of a joint interview between the two singers. “You performed this song called ‘ I Believe.’ So this is some time before I heard back from Jelly and his team. I fell asleep during the awards show. I’m chilling in bed, it’s late at night. I wake up the next morning, and the first thing I see on my phone is a video of Jelly’s performance, and Brooks & Dunn. I opened it up, still laying in bed and I watched this happen. I had never seen church like this happen in this place. It was so unexpected, and I’m literally laying there, and I start bawling my eyes out.
“I felt the spirit of God translate through my phone, from that moment, after the fact,” he continues. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is the dude. He just led the world in worship.’ I don’t think anyone saw it coming. People were standing up, lifting their hands, there are tears rolling down their face. I was just so moved. It gave me all the confidence in the world that this is a dude we have to ask to get on this song.”
By his own admission, Jelly Roll isn’t a likely choice to join Lake on a Christian song. The Nashville native has spent a lot of time in prison, and has been open about his struggles with faith.
“He said to me on the phone everything I wish the church would have,” Jelly Roll says. “The way he made me feel is like, ‘Man, if I felt this way on Sunday when I went to a couple of churches, God knows where my journey would be at right now.’ Maybe the things people are still mad at me at for not being where they think I should be, maybe I’d already be there.”
Lake is the biggest winner of the night, with a total of five Dove Awards. “Hard Fought Hallelujah” is in the Top 40 at country radio.