Jelly Roll’s journey to fitness was featured in a video on social media Tuesday to tease his upcoming track.
Jelly Roll dropped a surprise track Wednesday without prior notice.
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“Surprise! New music here,” the country star shared on his Instagram Stories early Wednesday, announcing the release of Hands upa worship-inspired song that debuted weeks earlier as a surprise performance at CMA Fest this month.
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Jelly Roll Surprise Releases New Anthem ‘Hands Up’
To tease the release, Jelly Roll posted a video on social media on Tuesday that juxtaposed a clip from an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience with footage of his ongoing physical transformation.
In the interview clip, he reflected on the moment he stopped making excuses about his health. “Every time I said I wanted to lose weight, Joe, I said, I was lying to myself,” he said. “There’s a great person listening to this right now, or a drug addict, or someone who wants to change a part of their life, who right now is saying, ‘I’m starting next Monday.’
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The video opened with the caption “On day 1 I walked in the rain,” along with footage of a soaked Jelly Roll pushing through the air. The clip then shows the singer running in the rain. “Today I’m sprinting in the rain. One day, not too long ago, I stopped lying to myself,” the lyrics read as the song’s chorus plays in the background.
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It closed with the message: “I barely made it up my driveway that day. I’m alive today because I didn’t lose faith. (expletive) Monday. Start today.”
A transition period
The new music arrives during a period of significant transition for the artist.
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Jelly Roll, whose legal name is Jason DeFord, filed for divorce from Bunnie XO on May 18, 2026 in Williamson County, Tennessee, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple’s separation date is listed as May 9.
Despite the split, both Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO have spoken publicly about maintaining their friendship and their plans to have a child together through IVF.
Bunnie talked about the divorce on her podcast Stupid blondeand said: “We’re still having a child together. We’re going to be parents together. He’s my best friend. … J has been so happy that we’re going to have a baby together. We’re going to raise our little nugget as one big happy family.”
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Jelly Roll also spoke publicly about the split, saying, “Me and my wife are best friends. We’ll always be best friends. We just got off the phone earlier today. Nobody cheated on anybody.”
The release also comes on the heels of his strongest commercial stretch to date. Whitsitt Chapelreleased in 2023, debuted at No. 2 on the Top Country Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200. He followed it with Beautifully broken in 2024, which debuted at No. 1 on both the Top Country Albums chart and the Billboard 200.
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