Brothers Osborne have undeniably made their mark on country music with their electric sound. But the duo of brothers John and TJ Osborne have proven that they’re not just gifted musicians and singers, but also songwriters. When they’re not writing their own hits, the duo’s names appear on tracks recorded by a vast range of their peers.
Videos by American Songwriter
[RELATED: Top 10 Brothers Osborne Songs]
Here are three songs you didn’t know John and/or TJ Osborne wrote for other artists.
1. “Walking Each Other Home” by Dierks Bentley
Written by John Osborne, Dierks Bentley, and Luke Dick.
Brothers Osborne have often found themselves working with Bentley, particularly when they collaborated on Bentley’s 2018 single, “Burning Man,” and when the duo served as an opening act on Bentley’s 2018 Mountain High Tour. While working on his 2023 album, Gravel & Gold, Bentley found himself in the writers’ room with John Osborne and “Burning Man” co-writer Luke Dick to pen one of the album’s most poignant numbers, “Walking Each Other Home.” A standout on the project, the song speaks to the theme of learning valuable lessons from every person and experience we encounter.
“Your song’s going to be great,” Bentley said during an interview with Osborne and bandmate Charlie Worsham on the Bobby Bones Show in 2022, describing it as one of the “artistic songs on the album,” with Osborne adding that he was “really excited” when they wrote “Walking Each Other Home.” Osborne also co-wrote another Gravel & Gold deep cut, “All the Right Places,” with Bentley and Ross Copperman.
So take the low road, take the high road
Take whatever road you’re on
Sometimes the wrong one leads you right
Sometimes the right one leads you wrong
And the world just keeps on spinnin’
So find a hand for holdin’ on
‘Cause we’re all just walkin’ each other home
2. “Here Tonight” by Tim McGraw
Written by John Osborne, TJ Osborne, and Brett Beavers
The brother duo scored a cut by a country legend when Tim McGraw recorded “Here Tonight,” which opens his 2015 album, Damn Country Music. The sunny, mandolin-led melody is layered with lyrics co-written by John, TJ, and Brett Beavers about a man who was born to run, but would rather be with the person he loves. The song took on more sentimental value, as McGraw turned it into a duet with his eldest daughter, Gracie McGraw.
“When I first recorded the song, I always had a sneaking suspicion that Gracie’s voice would be great on it, but I was a little afraid to ask her because she’s a musician,” McGraw admits. “I was a little afraid that she would think it was kind of uncool to sing with her dad…then I asked her to sing on it and she said she would…she went in and nailed it.”
There’s something in the air
There’s something in the wine
That something’s got me feeling
I ain’t packing up and leaving this time
I’d rather be right here tonight
3. “The Breaker” – Little Big Town
Written by TJ Osborne and Connig Harrington
TJ Osborne and Connie Harrington teamed up to write “The Breaker,” which would become the title track of Little Big Town’s critically acclaimed 2017 album. This soft acoustic ballad features lead vocals by Phillip Sweet with lovely supporting harmonies from bandmates Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, and Kimberly Schlapman. Here, the tender lyrics find a man looking back on a former flame, realizing that he’s the one who caused them pain by ending the relationship, exemplified through such heartbreaking lyrics as I made you a promise with no way to keep it / But what kills me the most, I’d still do anything for you. The song closes out the album that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
I shot the stars out of your sky
Took the love right from your eyes
And I did it all knowing you thought,
I was the hero of your heart
But I’ll forever be breaker
Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for CMA
