Jelly Roll Earns Dove Award After CMA Performance Leads to Brandon Lake Collaboration

After his appearance at the 58th Annual Country Music Association Awards, Brandon Lake reached out to Jelly Roll to collaborate on a reimagined version of his song “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” inspired by Jelly Roll's previous work and expanding Lake's crossover reach into country and Christian-music audiences. He said, “I wanted to share this song with somebody who had a really beautiful and hard-fought story, and the first person that came to mind was Jelly,” Lake told Carlos. When his management team connected him with Jelly Roll, he quickly learned that the Tennessee native had already put his latest release on repeat.

Jelly Roll responded: “I'm honored that I was the call,” Jelly Roll shared. “I'm a Brandon Lake fan… What he's doing for Christian music, even outside of Christian music — he's taking it further than I've seen anybody take it in a long time.” He added: “We didn't want it to feel like an off-brand collab. I wanted to share my heart with him,” Jelly Roll told Carlos. “You can always expect me to be honest to the human I am right now.”

The on-stage moment at the CMAs featured Jelly Roll joining the legendary country duo Brooks & Dunn for their signature 2005 ballad “Believe,” originally co-written by Ronnie Dunn and Craig Wiseman. That performance, part of their album Reboot II, drew immediate acclaim from fans, who described the moment as deeply moving and spiritually resonant, highlighting its emotional weight and the way the performance bridged genre lines through its message and delivery.

The audience's response was powerful: thousands were on their feet, many in tears, and many described the moment as deeply emotional and spiritually moving. This increase in focus on "Believe" served to reaffirm the song's instrumental nature and showed how the performance of the duo encouraged increased focus.

At the same time, his work on "Hard Fought Hallelujah" has brought Jelly Roll his first GMA Dove Awards win for Song of the Year, as well as a nomination for Music Event of the Year by the CMA. The Dove Award and CMA nomination reflect his growing visibility at a crossroads of country and Christian music, and more honors are expected in 2024 and beyond.

The CMAs again highlighted that cross-genre collaboration is a new avenue for artists to reach wider audiences, new opportunities within their craft, and build relationships beyond traditional categories.