Benson Boone isn’t the first famous mustachioed dude to cover “Cover Me Up.”
But the guy who wrote the song, Alabama-born tunesmith Jason Isbell, is more stoked about this one.
A former Mormon turned pop star, Boone is known for billion-plus streaming hits like “Beautiful Things” and “In The Stars.” At his concerts, he displays acrobatic vocals. And actual acrobatics, in the form of onstage backflips.
Isbell’s original version was released in 2013. It’s a love song but also a lust song. The Americana genre’s most potent baby-maker.
“Cover Me Up” first appeared on “Southeastern,” Alabama native Isbell’s post-rehab breakthrough LP. Isbell went on to become a six-time (and counting) Grammy winner. He’s now often considered The Most Important Songwriter Of His Generation.
On Tuesday, Boone performed “Cover Me Up” during his headlining set at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. He’s been performing different covers each night of his tour. As Rolling Stone notes, Boone’s previous covers on the trek include Coldplay’s “Sparks,” Billie Eilish’s “When the Party’s Over” and Creedence Clearwater Revivals’ “Fortunate Son.”
After footage of Boone’s “Cover Me Up” made its way online, Isbell posted his approval in a since evaporated Instagram story, per Stereogum, “Ok I love it.”
But Morgan Wallen got there way first. In 2020, Wallen released his studio version of “Cover Me Up.” He’d been performing the song live on tour for a while.
Morgan was in the midst of becoming a contemporary country superstar. And certifiable trouble magnet.
In 2021, video surfaced of Wallen after a night on the town using a racial slur, seemingly intended as term of endearment, to refer to a friend.
As Variety put it, before the controversial video surfaced, whenever Isbell was asked about Wallen’s “Cover Me Up,” he “had been magnanimous” about Wallen’s version.
In one post on Twitter, Isbell wrote, “Guys it’s really cool that Morgan Wallen is singing my song.” Other artists of note to do “Cover Me Up” have included Zac Brown Band and Rodney Atkins.
Since Wallen’s album and streams of “Cover Me Up” had done big numbers, Isbell, as the songwriter, had financially benefited.
After Wallen’s slur-containing clip, radio stations at the time stopped playing his songs and streaming services took him off their coveted playlists.
But fans continued to stream his music. And buy the album Wallen’s “Cover Me Up” is on, “Dangerous.”
After the slur, Isbell quickly denounced Wallen. He wrote on Twitter, “Wallen’s behavior is disgusting and horrifying. I think this is an opportunity for the country music industry to give that spot to somebody who deserves it, and there are lots of Black artists who deserve it.”
Soon, Isbell announced on Twitter he’d “donate everything I’ve made so far from this album [Wallen’s ‘Dangerous’] to the Nashville chapter of the NAACP.” Since then, Wallen’s star has continued to rise, even after a 2024 incident in which he threw a chair off a Nashville rooftop bar.
To date, Wallen’s “Cover Me Up” has been streamed more than 570 million times on Spotify. Meanwhile, Isbell’s original, the lyrics of which were inspired by now ex-wife Amanda Shires, has almost 80 million streams. A standout concert version on Isbell’s “Live at the Ryman” sits at around 3.5 million Spotify streams.
This March, Isbell released his latest album. “Foxes In The Snow” is his first-ever acoustic album, and first album in 10 years credited solely to “Jason Isbell” and not “Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.”
Isbell and his backing band, the 400 Unit, are currently on tour. On Oct. 11 and 12, he’ll perform at Shoals Fest, a music festival Isbell founded in Florence, Alabama.
Back after a two-year pause, the Shoals Fest lineup also boasts Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jackson Browne, indie star/Alabama native Waxahatchee, Muscle Shoals music legends Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham and Isbell’s former Drive-By Truckers bandmate Patterson Hood. A long time Nashville area resident, Isbell grew up in Green Hill and Muscle Shoals.
Interestingly enough, this year Wallen curated his own music festival in Alabama. The debut of Wallen’s Sand In My Boots Fest, was held this spring in Gulf Shores.
Sand In My Place took place instead of the long running Hangout Music Festival there. Produced by Hangout’s AEG Presents, Sand In My Boots sold out quickly. Headliners included Wallen, Post Malone, T-Pain, Diplo and 3 Doors Down.
AL.com’s Lawrence Specker reported Sand In My Boots “blew its predecessor out of the water where ticket sales were concerned.” Also, as Specker put it, “the public comment process in Gulf Shores made it clear that the community much preferred the crowd drawn by Sand in My Boots.
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