Jason Isbell's 'Cover Me Up' Covered by Benson Boone: A Look at the Song's Legacy and Recent Performances
Benson Boone, a former Mormon turned pop star known for hits like “Beautiful Things” and “In The Stars,” recently covered Jason Isbell’s song “Cover Me Up” at a concert in Nashville. Isbell, a Grammy-winning songwriter, originally released the song in 2013 on his album “Southeastern.” The song, a love and lust ballad, has been covered by various artists, including Morgan Wallen, Zac Brown Band, and Rodney Atkins. Isbell’s version of the song has garnered almost 80 million streams on Spotify, while Wallen’s version has been streamed over 570 million times.
After Wallen’s controversial behavior, including the use of a racial slur in a video, Isbell publicly denounced him and pledged to donate the proceeds from Wallen’s album “Dangerous” to the Nashville chapter of the NAACP. Despite the backlash, Wallen’s music continued to be streamed by fans, and his star continued to rise in the country music scene. Isbell, on the other hand, released his latest album “Foxes In The Snow” in March, marking his first acoustic album in 10 years credited solely to “Jason Isbell.”
Isbell and his band, the 400 Unit, are currently on tour and will be performing at the Shoals Fest in Alabama, a music festival founded by Isbell. The festival lineup includes artists like Jackson Browne, Waxahatchee, Dan Penn, and Spooner Oldham. Interestingly, Wallen also curated his own music festival in Alabama called Sand In My Boots Fest, which sold out quickly and featured headliners like Post Malone and T-Pain. The festival was a success, surpassing its predecessor, the Hangout Music Festival, in ticket sales and community preference.