Everyone loves a good duet, even if sometimes those duets seem surprising. These are four unlikely collaborations in country music with a pop artist, which became big hits.
Videos by American Songwriter
“It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett
Alan Jackson teams up with Jimmy Buffett on “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere“. Written by Jim Brown and Don Rollins, the 2003 single is on Jackson’s Greatest Hits album. The song became a multi-platinum hit.
When the song was written, Rollins never imagined someone as country as Jackson would be interested in it, at least until he found out Buffett would be joining him on the feel-good tune.
“The idea that someone as country as Alan Jackson might be interested in that song never even occurred to me,” Rollins tells The Boot. “Then I got wind that he was wanting to do a duet with Buffett, and it made a little bit more sense at that point.”
“Walkaway Joe” by Trisha Yearwood and Don Henley
On Trisha Yearwood’s sophomore Hearts In Armor album is “Walkaway Joe“. Written by Vince Melamed and Greg Barnhill, Yearwood is joined on the song by Don Henley, known for both his role in the Eagles and his solo work.
Henley later lauded Yearwood when he honored her at her induction into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.
“I was a fan of Trisha Yearwood the minute I heard her voice coming out of the radio,” he said.
“She was small-town Georgia,” he adds. “And I was small-town Texas, and so we had an ingrained mutual understanding and respect.”
In 2019, Henley once again teamed up with Yearwood. Henley appears on “Love You Anyway”, the final track on her Every Girl album.
“Over And Over” by Tim McGraw and Nelly
On “Over And Over”, out in 2004, it’s rapper and singer Nelly who enlisted McGraw to join him on “Over and Over”. The song is on Nelly’s fourth studio album, Suit.
Suit featured numerous collaborations. But for Nelly, it’s McGraw who impresses him the most, especially for being willing to do the song at that point in his career.
“I give Tim so much credit,” Nelly says (via WITL). “Because you’ve got to understand, even though Nelly was Nelly at that time, Tim McGraw was still at a peak in his career where he was growing. … For him to entrust in a rapper, to give this a go, you got to understand how forward-thinking he was as well. Because I could probably guess that he had a few people like, ‘Yo, are you sure? What is this going to do?’”
“The Champion” by Carrie Underwood and Ludacris
Carrie Underwood teams up with Ludacris to both write and perform “The Champion“. The two wrote the song with Chris DeStefano and Brett James, which was used for both Super Bowl LII and the 2018 Winter Olympics.
In “The Champion”, Underwood sings the verses and chorus. But it’s Ludacris who comes in at the bridge, which says, “The C is for the courage I possess through the trauma / H is for the hurt, but it’s all for the honor / A is for my attitude working through the patience / Money comes and goes, so the M is for motivation / Gotta stay consistent, the P is for persevere / The I is for integrity, innovative career / The O is optimistic, open and never shut / And the N is necessary ’cause I’m never givin’ up.”
Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images
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