Brandon Lake finished out his 50-show “King Of Hearts” run with a pair of hometown concerts in Charleston, South Carolina. On the first evening of his two-night stint in The Holy City, Lake surprised fans by premiering his brand-new single, “The Author,” a song he wrote and recorded with Nick Jonas. A member of the wildly successful Jonas Brothers, the teen-pop phenomenon was on hand to debut the original track alongside Lake.
“Who am I, who am I? Am I just a poor preacher’s prodigal son? A troubled child, running wild chasing the glory instead of the One?” they candidly ask across the chorus. “Who says that I, even I, have something still left to offer? So, who am I, who am I, to question the pen in the hands of the Author?”
Backstage at Charleston’s Credit One Stadium, Carlos from the K-LOVE Morning Show caught up with the two superstars, who both grew up in church as pastor’s kids. The song was birthed out of a writing camp Lake hosted in late 2025 that Jonas attended during a few rare days off while on tour with his brothers.
“I felt a real connection right away. I think we have a similar background, musically. I think there’s a lot of things that overlap for us, too,” Jonas shared of initially meeting Lake. “This idea of this song stemmed out of just a title at first, and then, [Brandon] came in with the chorus and kind of set up the whole bigger idea. It’s just been incredible.”
“People assume that we don’t ask the same questions your everyday person [asks]; and we actually, absolutely do. Maybe even more, because I’m getting up on that platform really dependent and scared,” Lake told Carlos. “And I’m asking that question, ‘Lord, who am I?’ But also, on the other side, ‘Who am I to question the pen in the hands of the Author?’ If You’ve called us to do these certain things, why would we doubt that we’re going to fail? Or, even if we fail, don’t we trust Him enough to where He can turn that into something beautiful? Who are we to question, who are we to doubt, that He’s writing a better story than we could ever write for ourselves?”
In addition to treating fans to the first live performance of “The Author,” Lake and Jonas also sang “Hope,” a selection from Jonas’ solo project, “Sunday Best.”
“The Author” is the latest in a series of high-profile collaborations from Lake. Country superstars Lainey Wilson, Bailey Zimmerman and Cody Johnson have all partnered with the nine-time K-LOVE Fan Award winner on recent releases. Additionally, on the final night of his tour, Lake welcomed Dan + Shay to the stage to preview an unreleased track they wrote together, further hinting at Lake’s massive country album that’s on the horizon.
