Koe fans are eating GOOD this year.
After a huge 2025, which included scoring his first #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with “High Road” and capturing iHeart Radio’s #1 country song of 2025 with the track, it was clear that 2026 was primed to be a huge year for Koe Wetzel. He’d start the year by teasing a new album with the simple caption, “Ready for this new chapter to start.” The “February 28, 2016” singer would then follow that up with a brand new song to close January, the reflective “Time Goes On.”
Adding more fuel to the fire after confirming a new album was coming in the summer, Wetzel would then plot a massive, 45-city headlining tour, featuring the likes of Shane Smith & The Saints, Ole 60, Wyatt Flores, Corey Kent, Wade Bowen and more.
With a tour that extensive, the final step was to finally announce the album. Luckily for dedicated fans of the Texas rocker, he finally released his sixth studio album, The Night Champion, on June 12th. Teaming up once again with Gabe Simon, who produced 9 Lives, The Night Champion ultimately felt like a natural progression for Wetzel, who has undoubtedly changed a lot over the past few years after getting married to Bailey Fisher and becoming a father.
Just two weeks after the record was released, the “Drunk Driving” singer expanded The Night Champion with five brand new tracks, including standouts such as “Ronnie Ray” and “Rolling & Smoking” and an additional two tracks with two unknown features.
With that being said, however, Koe had even more tricks up his sleeve. Back in July, he reunited with none other than Ella Langley on yet another new track from The Night Champion‘s deluxe edition, “Jaded,” which quickly became his highest-charting song of his career after debuting at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Yesterday, the Texas native finally gave fans the final track from The Night Champion. After heavy speculation from fans, he teamed up with the red-hot Stephen Wilson Jr., who’s nominated for four CMA awards next month, for a surprise release of their brand new collaboration, “Hard Way.”
Not to be outdone, Wetzel also headlined the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, last night. After performing career staples such as “February 28, 2016,” “Drunk Driving,” “Good Die Young” and more, he’d debut a brand new song, presumably titled “Missing You,” towards the end of the set.
Continuing the themes set in both 9 Lives and The Night Champion, Koe once again finds himself in a different stage of life thanks to his wife, Bailey. Here, he laments on how life on the road as a musician conflicts with his life back at home with Bailey and his daughter Woods, noting that he’s stuck between a “new dream” and one he’s always known.
“I’ll tell you a story ’bout a rolling stone whose finally found a home
How he’s stuck in between a brand new dream and the one he’s always known
How when he’s drunk and stoned, he’s a different kind of lonely
What used to be hoping and wishin’
Turned into missin’ you”
As of now, “Missing You” does not have a release date.
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