MGK Enlists Jelly Roll for John Denver-Inspired New Single ‘Lonely Road’

MGK has announced his new single “Lonely Road” featuring Jelly Roll, slated for release on July 26.

The song, which may signal a pivot into country for MGK, is clearly inspired by John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” the iconic country standard released as a single in 1971 off his fourth studio album “Poems, Prayers & Promises,” with the pair referencing the melody and lyrics from the song.

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To give fans a taste of what to expect, the sometimes-rapper, sometimes-rocker released a teaser of the music video on social media, captioning the clip, “Countdown to KellyRoll activated. ?? thanks to John Denver for paving the way.” In the brief video, we see MGK (formerly Machine Gun Kelly) bent over, getting arrested on the hood of a cop car, before he and Jelly Roll attend a funeral together. Eagle-eyed fans may notice that Jelly Roll’s wife Bunnie XO makes a cameo in the clip, and she popped in the comments on the IG post, writing, “Let’s goooo.”

It’s been two years since MGK released his sixth album “Mainstream Sellout,” his second consecutive album to top the Billboard 200 following 2020’s “Tickets to My Downfall.” Most recently, he teamed up with Trippie Redd for the collaborative “Genre: Sadboy” EP that released this past March.

Meanwhile, Jelly Roll has been on a tear. He most recently featured on Eminem’s new album “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace),” and in April swept three categories at the CMT Music Awards including best video. He’s currently playing a string of festival dates before launching his Beautifully Broken tour, which kicks off in August.

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