Brandon Lake’s ‘Hallelujah’ Tops Christian Airplay: ‘I’m Just Shocked in the Best Way’

Singer-songwriter Brandon Lake scores his fifth No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart as “Hard Fought Hallelujah” ascends a spot to the top of the survey dated May 10.

During the April 25-May 1 tracking week, the song increased by 6% to 3.9 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.

The 34-year-old Lake, from Charleston, S.C., co-authored “Hard Fought Hallelujah” with Chris Brown of Elevation Worship, Steven Furtick, Benjamin Hastings, Jelly Roll and Rodrick Simmons. It was produced by Micah Nichols.

“I’m just shocked in the best way,” Lake exclaims to Billboard. “This is wild. It’s just a reminder that God still takes the little things — like a song written on a random day — and breathes on ’em in a way only He can. I’m so thankful for every station, every listener and all of you who’ve been blasting ‘Hard Fought Hallelujah.’ All glory to Jesus.”

“Hard Fought Hallelujah” was initially issued in November. A remix was released on Feb. 7 adding Jelly Roll; on April 20, the pair performed the song on ABC’s American Idol.

“Hard Fought Hallelujah” concurrently hits its 21st week atop the multimetric Hot Christian Songs list. It places at No. 12 on Hot Country Songs, as it rises 56-54 on Country Airplay (979,000 impressions at the format, up 15%). Independent promotion company Lyric Ridge is working the Jelly Roll remix to country radio.

Lake banks his fifth Christian Airplay chart-topper. It follows “That’s Who I Praise,” which dominated for 10 weeks starting last November. Before that, he led via Elevation Worship’s “Praise,” as featured with Chris Brown and Chandler Moore, for nine frames beginning in May 2024. His solo hit “Gratitude” reigned for a week in March 2023, and he led as featured on Elevation Worship’s “Graves Into Gardens” for a frame in February 2021.