AC/DC like you’ve never heard it before.
Back in 2017, on the final night of Chris’ All-America Road Show Tour, Chris brought Brent Cobb to the stage for a tribute performance of “You Shook Me All Night Long” in honor of AC/DC guitar player and founding member Malcolm Young.
Malcolm passed away in November of 2017 after a lengthy battle with dementia.
And when two guys as talented as Chris and Brent get together you know it’s going to be fire. But what’s more, they completely made it their own.
With a much more country-style arrangement, their cover doesn’t have anywhere near the same energy that the original did. Chris does let it rip in the outro there, but at the end of the day, nobody is going to live up to those OG Brian Johnson vocals.
It’s different, but it’s still DAMN good.
And Chris has quite the habit of honoring his late heroes…
Chris Stapleton Honors The Late, Great Tom Petty
Tom’s influence on the country music world has been well-documented, and just quick look through some previous articles will prove that.
We’ve seen Ryan Bingham, The Steel Woods, and Jamey Johnson all cover “Southern Accents,” we’ve saw Jason Aldean cover “I Won’t Back Down” after tragedy struck Route 91 Harvest Festival, Brent Cobb, Ronnie Dunn and more have covered him, Kip Moore cites him as a huge influence… the list goes on and on.
And then you have Chris Stapleton.
Chris opened up for Tom Petty at Wrigley Field here in Chicago, and has written, recorded and performed with Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell. There is no bigger musical influence for Chris than that of Tom Petty.
Ahead of what would’ve been Tom’s 70th birthday, Chris shared these emotional words:
“Tuesday would have been Tom Petty’s 70th birthday. I can safely say that no other musical influence is as ever present in my mind.
The words that I choose and the notes that I play and sing are firmly rooted in listening to his records. I’m forever grateful for the moments our musical paths crossed.”
So in 2020, Chris joined artists like Brandi Carlile, Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, Gary Clark Jr., Margo Price, Post Malone, and more for a virtual tribute concert honoring Tom’s musical legacy.
Watch Chris perform “Learning To Fly”