Jelly Roll 'Hands Up' — First Song Since Bunnie Xo Divorce
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Jelly Roll has never been an artist who hides what he is going through, and his new single proves it once again. The Nashville star surprise-released 'Hands Up' on June 24, a gospel-flavored worship anthem that arrives as his first piece of new music since he filed for divorce from Bunnie Xo in May. Rather than leaning into heartbreak, the song does the opposite: it reaches upward, encouraging listeners to lift their hands and fix their eyes on heaven as the ultimate destination. For an artist whose entire career has been built on turning pain into praise, the timing feels anything but accidental.
The track was written by Jelly Roll, born Jason DeFord, alongside an all-star Nashville roster that includes Michael Hardy, better known as HARDY, plus Chase McGill, Joe Fox and Rocky Block. Production duties went to Charlie Handsome and Ben Johnson, two of the most in-demand names in the modern country and country-adjacent space. The result is a three-minute anthem that blends stomping gospel energy with the raw, gravel-voiced honesty that made Jelly Roll a superstar in the first place.
'Hands Up' did not appear completely out of nowhere. Jelly Roll debuted the song live during a surprise appearance at CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium in Nashville earlier in June, where tens of thousands of fans got the first listen before the studio version existed anywhere online. Footage of that performance spread quickly across social media, with fans begging for an official release. Barely two weeks later, he delivered, dropping the track with almost no advance warning.
The commercial response was immediate. 'Hands Up' arrived as the No. 1 Most Added Song at country radio, racking up 163 first-week adds, a staggering number that signals programmers see the song as an instant hit. For context, most singles build radio support over weeks or months. Jelly Roll essentially skipped the line, a testament to both the song's power and the goodwill he has built across the format since crossing over from rap to country.
The personal backdrop is impossible to ignore. Jelly Roll filed for divorce from Bunnie Xo, his wife of nearly a decade, on May 18 in Williamson County, Tennessee, citing irreconcilable differences. The split stunned fans who had watched the couple build one of the most public and affectionate marriages in country music, with Bunnie appearing constantly in his content and him appearing on her Dumb Blonde podcast.
What has made the situation unusual is how gracefully both parties have handled it. Despite the divorce filing, Jelly Roll and Bunnie have each spoken publicly about maintaining their friendship. Bunnie has said the two still plan to have a child together through IVF, telling fans they intend to co-parent and, in her words, raise their little nugget as one big happy family. In an industry where splits often turn ugly, the pair have chosen a different path, and fans have largely rallied around both of them.
Against that backdrop, 'Hands Up' reads like a mission statement. Instead of a breakup ballad or a bitter kiss-off, Jelly Roll chose to release a song about surrender, faith and looking beyond present pain. It is a move consistent with his entire catalog, from 'Save Me' to 'Need a Favor,' songs that treat struggle as raw material for redemption. The new single simply makes the spiritual thread more explicit than ever.
The worship-anthem direction also fits a larger moment in country music. Faith-forward songs have been surging on the charts, with artists across the genre finding massive audiences for music that blurs the line between Sunday morning and Saturday night. Jelly Roll, who has spoken openly about his years in and out of jail and his journey toward sobriety and faith, is arguably the most credible messenger in the format for exactly this kind of song.
There is also a physical transformation running parallel to the spiritual one. Jelly Roll has been documenting a dramatic fitness and weight-loss journey, sharing powerful reflections about his health as the song rolled out. He has framed the changes in his body and the changes in his life as part of the same story: a man rebuilding himself piece by piece, in public, without pretending any of it is easy.
The question now is what comes next. 'Hands Up' is widely expected to anchor Jelly Roll's next album cycle, and its massive radio start suggests the campaign is beginning from a position of strength. He remains one of the biggest touring draws in country music, and new music arriving in the middle of festival season gives the song months of live runway before the year is out.
For fans in the Rockford area and everywhere else, the takeaway is simple: Jelly Roll's most turbulent year has produced perhaps his most uplifting song. Whatever is happening in his personal life, the man born Jason DeFord keeps converting hardship into hooks, and country radio cannot get enough of it.
Watch the official lyric video for 'Hands Up' below and judge for yourself whether this is the worship anthem of the summer.
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