Jelly Roll Calls Morgan Wallen The Current “King of Country,” Says His Friendship With HARDY & Ernest Is The Genre’s Best Combination

Morgan Wallen, HARDY, and Ernest are arguably the most popular friendship group in country music right now.

Their connection stems from shared passion of songwriting, which is ultimately what brought them together. The three friends have spent large parts of the last two years on the road together, with Ernest and HARDY acting as openers for Wallen’s headlining shows on the Dangerous and One Night at a Time tours.

Another friend of the famous trio, Jelly Roll, recently discussed this deeply rooted friendship on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast back in December of 2022. He weighs in on the trio from the outside in, highlighting why their relationship is so special, as well as detailing why he believes they are the Nashville’s best combination of artists. On top of this, he touches on Wallen’s massive success and why that success makes this friendship even cooler.

“It’s a real friendship. I could bore y’all with nerding out about this. The way Morgan took HARDY and Ernest on the tour last year and then doubled back and brings them both back out next year.”

The chemistry between the three stars shows not only in their live shows, but also in their collaborations as songwriters and artists. Jelly Roll praises Wallen in specific, emphasizing his loyalty to his long-time friends and expresses admiration for Wallen’s decision to continue touring with HARDY and Ernest, calling him the “king” of the genre at this moment.

“That’s a man that took his friends with him when he got in a situation to call his own shots. Because let me tell you how Nashville works- every record label and booking agent in town were pitching everybody but HARDY and Ernest to Morgan.”

“He’s the 800 pound gorilla dog. Morgan Wallen is the king of country music right now.”

Clearly Jelly Roll feels that this trio is a force to be reckoned with and are seamlessly able to translate their experiences together into a connective, collaborative process of making music.

Aside from Ernest being featured as a co-writer on 11 of the massive 36 songs from Wallen’s recent album, One Thing At A Time, they have worked together on countless other projects, including Wallen’s massive single, More Than My Hometown, which the three co-wrote together.

They currently represent the essence of modern country and continue to help each other grow within the genre despite being at different stages in their respective careers.

Check out Jelly Roll’s comments here: