Talking to Jesus

On April 9, 2021, Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music released "Talking to Jesus" featuring Brandon Lake as the second promotional single from their collaborative album, Old Church Basement (2021).^[1] "Talking to Jesus" is the follow-up to the first promotional single from the album, "Jireh". The song also marks Brandon Lake's second appearance on an Elevation Worship project, having co-written and featured on the hit single "Graves into Gardens".^[1]

Chris Brown of Elevation Worship shared the story about how the song came about,^[7] saying

That morning Brandon and I were hacking away at a really fast song idea on a $200 bass and a Gretsch guitar when pastor [Steven Furtick] walked in on a mission to share the lyric idea that had come to him in the car on the way over.

Brown further added that he had difficulty explaining how they fell into a two chord trance that lasted several hours, with Furtick telling stories on the microphone, but that is how the song came about.^[7]

"Talking to Jesus" is composed in the key of B with a tempo of 59 beats per minute, and a musical time signature of ⁴
₄.^[8]

"Talking to Jesus" debuted at No. 9 on the US Hot Christian Songs chart and at No. 1 on the Hot Gospel Songs chart, both dated April 22, 2021.^[9] "Talking to Jesus" attracted 2 million streams and 4,000 downloads in the United States in its first week.^[9] "Talking to Jesus" is the second Hot Gospel Songs chart-topper for Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music, while being Brandon Lake's first No. 1 entry on the chart. On Hot Christian Songs, it is the eighth top ten entry for Elevation Worship, and the second for Maverick City Music and Lake.^[9]

On April 9, 2021, Elevation Worship released the official music video of "Talking to Jesus" on their YouTube channel.^[10] The video shows Brandon Lake leading the song.

On April 30, 2021, Elevation Worship published the lyric video of the song on YouTube.^[11]

Quick facts Released, Recorded ...

"Talking to Jesus"
Single by Brandon Lake and Thomas Rhett
Released	May 12, 2023 (2023-05-12)
Recorded	April 16, 2023
Venue	Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genre	Contemporary worship music
Length	7:30
Label	Provident Label Group
Brandon Lake singles chronology
"Plead the Blood" (2023) "Talking to Jesus" (2023) "Praise You Anywhere" (2023)
Thomas Rhett singles chronology
"Angels (Don't Always Have Wings)" (2023) "Talking to Jesus" (2023) "Mamaw's House" (2023)
Music video
"Talking to Jesus" (Live from The Ryman) on YouTube

Close

Brandon Lake and Thomas Rhett released a live version of "Talking to Jesus" as a standalone single on May 12, 2023.^[18] The track was recorded during the Lake's headlining Miracle Nights Tour on April 16, 2023, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.^[19]