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Cody Johnson & Brandon Lake Are Officially In The Studio Working On “When A Cowboy Prays” Duet
It’s all coming together. It’s safe to say there have been a plethora of surprising trends within country music in 2025. Between the seemingly never-ending drama involving the likes of Gavin Adcock, Zach Bryan, Charley Crockett, Benjamin Tod and more, the continued push towards traditional country spearheaded by Zach Top’s rise to superstardom or Morgan Wallen’s continued chokehold on the genre, which resulted in him owning the most-listened-to album (I’m The Problem) in the U.S. on both Apple Music and […] The post Cody Johnson & Brandon Lake Are Officially In The Studio Working On “When A Cowboy Prays” Duet first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
It’s all coming together.
It’s safe to say there have been a plethora of surprising trends within country music in 2025. Between the seemingly never-ending drama involving the likes of Gavin Adcock, Zach Bryan, Charley Crockett, Benjamin Tod and more, the continued push towards traditional country spearheaded by Zach Top’s rise to superstardom or Morgan Wallen’s continued chokehold on the genre, which resulted in him owning the most-listened-to album (I’m The Problem) in the U.S. on both Apple Music and Spotify this year, there’s been plenty to digest.
For my money, however, one of the most interesting things to note in 2025 was the rise of Christian music, and in turn, its continued push into mainstream country music.
It should go without saying that Christian/worship music has had one of the best years in recent history. Spearheaded by the likes of Brandon Lake and Forrest Frank, back in May, there were two Christian songs that made the Hot 100 chart – the first time that’s happened in over a decade. One was Frank’s viral smash “Your Way’s Better,” and the other just so happened to be the Christian-country crossover that you’ve probably heard: “Hard Fought Hallelujah” with Lake and rapper-turned-country-singer, Jelly Roll.
Obviously, “Hard Fought Hallelujah” was nothing short of a smash hit for Lake and Jelly Roll, not only claiming a #1 on both of Billboard’s religious charts, Hot Christian and Christian Airplay but also being crowned the #1 Christian song of 2025 by Billboard this week.
It seems like Lake isn’t done making major crossovers into country, however. In addition to his surprise appearance with Cole Swindell when the pair teamed up to perform his latest single inspired by the assassination of Charlie Kirk, “Make Heaven Crowded,” Lake has not only teased a brand-new song co-written with reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, Lainey Wilson, but also announced that Cody Johnson will be featured on a re-release of his recent single, “When A Cowboy Prays.”
In case you missed it, at a show in Columbus, Ohio, back in October, Lake would officially let fans know that the “‘Til You Can’t” singer would officially be featured on the track after weeks of fans pleading for the Texas native.
“I’m not telling anybody except for those who showed up for my tour, but you can’t post about it ’cause it’s a secret. This song I’m about to sing, I just recorded with Cody Johnson. And we’re gonna come out with it.
I heard all of your comments. I wrote this song, and you’re like, ‘This sounds like CoJo. You gotta get CoJo.’ I was like, ‘Honey, already on it.’”
Of course, this sent fans into a frenzy… The only problem is, the pair have been radio-silent about it since.
That all changed earlier this week when Lake took to Instagram to share photos from the studio. Though the first slide is pretty mundane, simply being a picture of Lake near his microphone, the second one officially confirmed that the pair are OFFICIALLY in the working on “When A Cowboy Prays” together.
Taking a look at the lyric sheet posted by Lake in the second slide, it seems as if Johnson will be appearing later in the song and taking over the track’s third and fourth verses independently. In turn, it looks like the “Gratitude” singer and CoJo will be swapping lines in the final two choruses.
Interestingly, this comes just weeks after Lake took to Instagram after his big night at the ASCAP Awards, which crowned him Christian Music Songwriter of the Year and Christian Music Song of the Year (“Hard Fought Hallelujah”), and noted that there were even more Christian-Country crossovers planned for 2026:
“Christian x Country Collision incoming 2026. To God be the glory!”
As of now, there is still no release date set for Johnson’s duet on “When A Cowboy Prays.” With that being said, however, it should be safe to say that it (along with potentially even more country-crossovers) should be coming early in 2026.
While you’re here, listen to Lake’s original version.
Cody Johnson Tour Dates
February 6-7 – Birmingham, Alabama – Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex
February 13 – Champaign, Illinois – State Farm Center
February 14 – Louisville, Kentucky – KFC Yum! Center
February 27 – Winston-Salem, North Carolina – LJVM Coliseum
February 28 – Columbia, South Carolina – Colonial Life Arena
March 6 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – PPG Paints Arena
March 7 – Baltimore, Maryland – CGF Bank Arena
March 22 – Houston, Texas – Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
March 28 – Little Rock, Arkansas – Simmons Bank Arena
April 10 – Bossier City, Louisiana – Brookshire Grocery Arena
April 24 – Indio, California – Stagecoach
May 2 – Clemson, South Carolina – Death Valley (Clemson Stadium)
May 9 – Des Moines, Iowa – Casey’s Corner
May 30 – Rosemont, Illinois – Allstate Center
July 11 – Cavendish, Prince Edward Island – Cavendish Beach Music Festival
July 17-18 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide ArenaThe post Cody Johnson & Brandon Lake Are Officially In The Studio Working On “When A Cowboy Prays” Duet first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
