Brandon Lake And Lainey Wilson Deliver Powerful Dove Awards Performance Of “The Jesus I Know Now”
on
At the beginning of the year, Christian artist Brandon Lake hosted a faith-based songwriting retreat.
Over the course of the five-day retreat, several of the biggest names in country music worked on crafting songs that glorified the Lord, with a total of 43 songs coming out of their time together.
Among the artists who attended the retreat was Lainey Wilson, and she and Brandon Lake recorded a song together just a few months later, titled “The Jesus I Know Now.”
This collaboration paid off in a big way this past week, as it won them a Dove Award for Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year from the Gospel Music Association (GMA).
At the ceremony for the 57th Dove Awards, Brandon and Lainey performed this special duet together, and it was a powerful display of faith with a song that tells an incredible story.
REPORT: Dolly Parton’s First Gospel Album, ‘The Golden Streets Of Glory,’ Was Released 55 Years Ago
Watch Brandon Lake And Lainey Wilson Perform At The Dove Awards
Last year, Brandon Lake had a major crossover hit with his ballad “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” which features a duet with Jelly Roll.
This duet won the Dove Award for Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year, with “Hard Fought Hallelujah” going on to also win Song of the Year.
Now, in 2026, Brandon has won in this category again, but for a song recorded with another major name in country music: Lainey Wilson.
Their duet, “The Jesus I Know Now,” is a song that tells a story of rising to success in music, but still needing Jesus. Lyrically, it deals with how one’s perception of Jesus shifts at different seasons in one’s life.
Of course, Brandon has been working to record songs with many country artists over the past year, and “The Jesus I Know Now” benefits from Lainey’s prominence in the secular country scene coupled with the sincerity of her faith.
Accepting the award for Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year at the 57th Dove Awards, Brandon began by alluding to the lyrics to “The Jesus I Know Now,” saying he was thankful that “it doesn’t take trophies to make Him proud.”
Continuing, Brandon then said, “To God be the glory, in country music, Christian music, and what He’s doing all over the globe.”
From there, Brandon stated:
“It’s just cool to see people connecting with this song, especially for those that have had church-hurt, or maybe had this wrong picture of who Jesus is. I even know that there’s some trolls on the internet that were hating at this whole grace, grace, grace thing, but what I love about grace is that it’s not an excuse to sin, it’s what makes us want to be more like Him when you experience grace.”
Lainey then said, “I feel like I’ve learned so much from the people I get to sit in a writers room with and write songs with.”
She then recalled the day that she and Brandon wrote “The Jesus I Know Now” with songwriters Emily Weisband and Luke Laird, saying, “Immediately, we were just talking about our relationship with Jesus, and I said, ‘I feel like the Jesus that I know now is not the one that I grew up knowing — the one that was shaking His fist and the one I was, like, scared of.'”
Citing one of the song’s key lyrics, Lainey then said, “‘He says who I am, and it’s not what I do,’ and so I just want to remind all of y’all creators in this room that we’re not just singers, we’re not just songwriters, we are connectors.”
The duo also performed the song at the award ceremony, and it was a powerful display of artists from different spheres coming together to bring glory to Christ.
“Y’all, give it up one more time for my sister, Lainey Wilson,” said Brandon at the end of their duet.
Watch Brandon Lake and Lainey Wilson perform “The Jesus I Know Now” at the Dove Awards, here:
See Brandon Lake and Lainey Wilson’s acceptance speeches, and more from their time at the Dove Awards, here:
RELATED: Is Christianity Going Through A Revival? Brandon Lake Thinks So
