Country has never been cooler. Country songs are dominating the pop charts, artists are selling out football stadiums, and pop stars are switching genres and dropping full-length country albums. Rapper/pop-punk rocker, Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) joins Beyonce, Post Malone, and other A-List musicians to head to Nashville and churn out country records. After beautifully covering Zach Bryan’s “Sun To Me,” MGK teamed up with one of the industry’s most in-demand collaborators, Jelly Roll, to record a rendition of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” titled,” Lonely Road.” 

The song’s title accurately depicts its subject matter—the singer’s significant other moved out and there is no vice that can erase his loneliness. He promises he will be waiting for her at home if she ever decides to come back. The hard-hitting music video illustrates MGK and Jelly Roll as dead-end workers, struggling to make rent. MGK decides to take a risk and rob a bank to help support his pregnant wife at home. With the cops hot on his trail, he drops the money into his co-worker’s truck before they catch and arrest him. The video closes eight months in the future with his daughter visiting him in prison.

“Lonely road, take me home // To the place, that we went wrong // Where’d you go now? // It’s been a ghost town // And I’m still here, all alone // Lonely road”

Machine Gun Kelly gained mainstream popularity when he switched from hip-hop to punk rock in 2020 with his release of Tickets To My Downfall. Jelly Roll is very familiar with switching genres as well. The Nashville-native was a rapper himself until his hit, “Son Of A Sinner” caught the attention of country music fans before officially hitting radio in March 2022. Since then, Jelly Roll has been one of the genre’s most successful artists, winning a CMA award and three CMT awards in 2023, and being nominated for two Grammy’s in 2024. After releasing his debut country record, Whitsitt Chapel, numerous other artists including Brantley Gilbert, Tyler Farr, Craig Morgan, Cody Johnson, ERNEST, and Dustin Lynch have featured Jelly Roll on their tracks. 

Based off “Lonely Road” and his Zach Bryan cover, it seems like MGK will fit right into the country scene. Although a full-length project is still unconfirmed, his Instagram page shows he has spent some extended time in Nashville the past few months, so fans can optimistically expect more releases like this.  

mgk and Jelly Roll collaborate on new song, “Lonely Road,” out now on all streaming platforms.

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about future Jelly Roll and MGK releases.

“Lonely Road” is now available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released music here on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.