New Track Completes The Night Champion (Deluxe)
as Current Single “Jaded” Feat. Ella Langley is
Top 10-and-Climbing at Country Radio
MORRISON, Colo. – Ahead of tonight’s penultimate show of The Night Champion World Tour, Koe Wetzel surprised fans with the release of “Hard Way,” rounding out the deluxe edition of his critically acclaimed sixth studio album, The Night Champion. Listen to “Hard Way” HERE and order The Night Champion (Deluxe) on vinyl HERE.
“Hard Way” finds Wetzel teaming up with fellow genre-bending artist Stephen Wilson Jr. for the final addition to the project that has given fans a steady flow of new music since its initial arrival in June. The hard-charging, guitar-forward anthem unites the pair’s growling vocals in a rock-fueled tale of lessons learned through a life lived on the edge.
‘Cause if you ain’t rolling doubles, better listen to what I say
If you wanna get to Heaven, there’s gonna be some hell to pay
Some people gotta learn it the hard way
“It’s been a hell of a ride with this record, and we weren’t quite done yet. Before the sun comes up on The Night Champion, we’ve got one more song left to play,” shares Wetzel. “I’ve been a fan of Stephen’s for a while now, and we got to play a bunch of shows together last year, so I’m fired up to have a song together now, too.”
The surprise release arrives as Wetzel continues a career-defining run, with current single “Jaded” feat. Ella Langley Top 10-and-climbing at Country radio and reaching a new peak of No. 18 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
Following this week’s conclusion of The Night Champion World Tour, Wetzel reunites with Parker McCollum for the return of their Naughty or Nice Tour, with six sold-out acoustic shows across Texas to celebrate the holiday season.
For more information and all the latest news, visit KoeWetzelMusic.com. Follow on TikTok @Koe_Wetzel and on Instagram and Facebook @KoeWetzelMusic.
The Night Champion (Deluxe) Track List:
(Lyrics & Credits Available HERE)
1. Sinner
2. Hard Way feat. Stephen Wilson Jr.
3. Circus
4. Jaded feat. Ella Langley
5. Hurts Like You
6. Bad Decisions
7. Time Goes On
8. Meet You There
9. Dollar and a Bottle
10. Magnet
11. The Man
12. Ronnie Ray
13. Nowhere Fast
14. Rollin and Smokin
15. I’ll Lock Up
16. Surrounded
17. When I Was
About Koe Wetzel
Roughneck, rule-breaking, red-dirt rocking, Koe Wetzel forged a harder kind of country that drew on grunge, rock and Texas’s outlaw sound. Starting as a kid in a beat-up van, he rose to regional then national prominence. Headlining arena tours even before signing with Columbia, his raw, unabashed music that prompted touring bible Pollstar’s cover headline “Red Dirt Renegade Smashes Confines and Rocks the F out!” found even greater success in the mainstream. Wetzel’s 4x Platinum hit “High Road,” his debut Country radio single, spent five weeks at No. 1 and became the most played record of 2025. The Night Champion, out now, amplifies all the pieces of Wetzel’s musical attack to deliver an album that takes 2025’s American Music Awards Favorite Rock Album and Favorite Country Song nominee to deeper places.
Exhaustively touring the U.S., Europe and Australia, Wetzel built a global audience, amassing over 5.6 billion worldwide audio streams en route to 15 RIAA certifications. Having appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “This Past Weekend with Theo Von,” covers of USA Today, the LA Times, Pollstar, Billboard and more, he kicked off 2026 playing to over 70,000 fans at the storied Houston Rodeo. His 50+ date The Night Champion World Tour sees the fever pitch growing for the Pittsburg, Texan who’s tough, tender, ready to shoot out the lights, but also willing to reckon with where he comes from.
About Stephen Wilson Jr.
Stephen Wilson Jr.’s journey from the hollers of southern Indiana to Nashville, Tenn. has been a winding road that’s taken many detours: He’s been an Indiana State Golden Gloves boxing championship finalist, a scientist and a lead guitarist and songwriter in an indie rock band. In 2016, he ditched his laboratory 9-to-5 and signed a publishing deal with BMG Nashville where his alchemic songcraft immediately made waves, leading to cuts from Caitlyn Smith, Old Dominion, Tim McGraw, Sixpence None the Richer, Leigh Nash and more. 2023 proved to be Wilson Jr.’s breakthrough year, signing with Big Loud Records and releasing his critically-acclaimed debut double album søn of dad: a triumphant, genre-spanning set of 22 songs dedicated to his late father and given to the world on the five-year anniversary of his passing. In 2024, Stephen’s star grew as he made his network television debut on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, followed by performances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s #LateShowMeMusic series and Later…with Jools Holland. Ahead of the one-year anniversary of søn of dad, Wilson Jr. was also profiled in an extensive feature for CBS Saturday Morning, and last year, he released a deluxe edition of the album which featured a moving interpretation of “Stand By Me” that has been streamed tens of millions of times. Last November, he earned his first CMA Award nomination for New Artist of the Year and played twice on the broadcast – a moving performance of his song “Took A Walk” from the film The Long Walk with Shaboozey and a star-making rendition of “Stand By Me.” To close out the year, he released his single “Gary,” which he debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and is currently climbing the country radio charts. Fresh off his first ACM Award win for Visual Media of the Year for the video for his song “Cuckoo,” Stephen is currently in the midst of his Gary The Torch Tour headline tour that extends through December across the U.S. and Europe/U.K. Recently, he earned four nominations at the upcoming 60th Annual CMA Awards, making him one of the year’s top nominees. His nominations include both Song and Music Video of the Year for his single “Gary,” which he was the sole songwriter on, and for the accompanying video, which he co-directed with Tim Cofield. He also received recognition in both the New Artist and Male Vocalist of the Year categories.
# # #
