Brandon Lake Wins GRAMMY for 'Hard Fought Hallelujah' with Jelly Roll

The Christian artist gave an emotional speech thanking Jesus for the award.

Feb. 1, 2026 at 7:31pm

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Brandon Lake won the GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for his collaboration with Jelly Roll on 'Hard Fought Hallelujah' at the 2026 GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony. In his acceptance speech, Lake emotionally thanked Jesus and his collaborator Jelly Roll, sharing how the song has impacted fans by pointing them to Christ.

Why it matters

Lake's win and emotional speech highlight the continued influence of faith-based music and the power of collaboration between artists from different genres to create meaningful songs that resonate with listeners.

The details

Lake originally released 'Hard Fought Hallelujah' as a solo track in November 2024, and it became a hit. In April 2025, he invited rapper Jelly Roll to join him on a collaborative version of the song, which appears on Lake's album King of Hearts. The two artists have developed a close friendship through the collaboration, and the song has inspired fans to share their own stories of God's faithfulness during difficult times.

  • Lake released 'Hard Fought Hallelujah' as a solo track in November 2024.
  • In April 2025, Lake and Jelly Roll released a collaborative version of the song.
  • The collaborative version of 'Hard Fought Hallelujah' appeared on Lake's album King of Hearts, which was released in June 2025.
  • The GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song was presented to Lake and Jelly Roll at the 2026 GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony on February 1, 2026.

The players

Brandon Lake

A Christian artist who won the GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for his collaboration with Jelly Roll on 'Hard Fought Hallelujah'.

Jelly Roll

A rapper who collaborated with Brandon Lake on the song 'Hard Fought Hallelujah', which won a GRAMMY Award.

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What they’re saying

“Thank you. Oh man. Wow. Thank you, Jesus. I want to thank my wife, who's holding down the fort back home with all my babies, crazy babies.”

— Brandon Lake

“I want to say obviously a huge thank you to Jelly Roll for taking the chance on this song, taking a chance on me. He just took me everywhere he was performing and said, 'let's do this song together.' He took this song places that I couldn't have by myself.”

— Brandon Lake

“I've gotten countless messages of how this song has literally saved people's lives and pointed them to Jesus. If it wasn't for Jesus, I don't know where I would be, y'all.”

— Brandon Lake

What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow Walker Reed Quinn out on bail.

The takeaway

Brandon Lake's emotional GRAMMY acceptance speech and the success of his collaboration with Jelly Roll on 'Hard Fought Hallelujah' demonstrate the continued power of faith-based music to connect with and inspire listeners, even across different genres.