Garth Brooks Gushes Over This Cover of His 1993 No. 1 Hit: “Quit Doing Garth Stuff Better Than Garth”

Releasing his self-titled debut in 2014, Australian country singer Morgan Evans has gained a following with emotionally raw songs like “Over for You” and “Kiss Somebody.” During a recent appearance on on the God’s Country podcast—hosted by brothers Dan Isbell and Reid Isbell—the CMA Award-winning artist, 40, took on the work of country music giant Garth Brooks. As Dan played guitar, Evans delivered an acoustic cover of “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up)”, from Brooks’ 1993 album In Pieces. Sharing footage of the performance to social media last week, Evans received a resounding stamp of approval from the legend himself.

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Garth Brooks is “Honored” and “Flattered” By Morgan Evans Cover

Taking to Instagram, Garth Brooks held nothing back in his effusive praise for Morgan Evans’ take on his No. 1 hit.

“Dude!!!!! Are you kidding me????” gushed the 22-time Academy of Country Music Award winner. “I can’t sing that song without going into cardiac arrest and you guys make it look easy!!!!”

Continuing, Brooks boldly declared that Evans’ take on the song was superior to his own. “QUIT doing Garth stuff better than Garth!!!!” he wrote. “Honored, flattered and absolutely LOVE that moment!! love, g”

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Other fans were equally impressed with Evans’ Garth Brooks impression. “imagine the greatest of all time commenting on your post,” one Instagram user wrote. “You’ve made it officially.”

Turns out, Brooks wasn’t the only who was flattered. Evans responded to the “Unanswered Prayers” singer, “Hahahaha maaaaaaate!!! Been singing your songs my whole life. Means a lot! Thanks legend!”

[RELATED: Morgan Evans’ New Song Reimagines This John Denver Hit]

Behind the Song

Garth Brooks co-wrote “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up)” with songwriters Kent Blazy and Kim Williams. Released in July 1993, the country-rock number peaked atop the Hot Country Songs chart.

Brooks elaborated on the song’s origin in the liner notes for his 1994 greatest hits compilation The Hits.

“Kent Blazy, Kim Williams, and I sat out on the back porch of Kent and Sharon Blazy’s house and decided we wanted to write something that was a lot of fun, for no other reason than just that, fun,” he wrote. “‘Ain’t Going Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)’ is what we came up with. Kent and Sharon had just moved into their new home and this was the first song we had ever written at their house. They still reside there, and hopefully there are a lot more songs on that back porch.”

Brooks also collaborated with Blazy on his first-ever No. 1 hit, 1989’s “If Tomorrow Never Comes.”

Featured image by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images