
A Worship Song Touched Jelly Roll So Deeply That He Did This…
By Movieguide® Contributor
Country star Jelly Roll teamed up with worship artist Brandon Lake after Lake’s recent hit, “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” touched his heart.
“The first time I heard ‘Hard Fought Hallelujah,’ I haven’t had a record touch me like that in so long. It’s been years since I’ve worshipped the way I worshipped to that song,” Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, explained in a discussion between the two posted to Instagram. “I carry my faith with me, but I’m also struggling, and [I’m] very honest and open about that.”
The duo shared a snippet of their collaboration — which releases on Feb. 7 — last week.
“I’ll bring my hard-fought heartfelt / Been-through-hell hallelujah / I’ll bring my storm-tossed, torn-sail / Story to tell hallelujah,” DeFord sings.
The lyrics are personal to DeFord who spent parts of his life in jail, battling drug and alcohol addiction and finding his way to faith.
READ MORE: WHY JELLY ROLL HELPS THOSE STRUGGLING WITH ADDICTION: ‘GOD GAVE ME THAT GIFT’
“I’ve been so bitter and hurt by the church and their ‘dogma’ that I created my own,” he continued telling Lake. “I believe music meets us where we are. I needed that record when I heard it, but then to double back and be like ‘Yo, there’s a chance you could work on this record with this guy,’ and I’m like, ‘Woah, God sent me the record, and not only does He want me to listen to it and worship, He wants me to live with it and learn it.”
Fans celebrated DeFord’s story in the Instagram comments.
“There’s a really beautiful story unfolding here,” one user said. Another person added, “Amen 🙏 I cried when I heard him say ‘he wants me to live with it and learn it’! Jesus is soooo good and so faithful!”
Lake’s original version of the song released in November, almost immediately topping charts. It hit No. 1 on the Christian/Gospel Songs Chart, the Christian/Gospel On-Demand Audio Streaming and Christian/Gospel On-Demand Overall Streaming charts and the All-genre Digital Song Sales chart, the Christian Beat reported.
READ MORE: UNLIKELY COLLAB RESULTS IN POWERFUL VERSION OF THIS WORSHIP HIT