Watch Willie Nelson Join His Son, Lukas Nelson, to Cover a Pearl Jam Classic at Farm Aid

This year’s Farm Aid benefit concert took place in September at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York. The lineup featured Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson, The Travelin’ McCourys, Charley Crockett, and many more. During Willie’s set with his family band, Lukas joined him for a cover of the Pearl Jam hit “Just Breathe.”

The country icon and his son have been covering this Pearl Jam hit for years. They first recorded it for Willie’s 2012 album Heroes. Since then, their rendition of the song has appeared on two compilation albums. It appears on The Essential Willie Nelson in 2015 and his 2023 Greatest Hits collection. Watch them perform the song for the Farm Aid crowd below.

[RELATED: Watch Lukas Nelson Cover Two of His “Favorite Songwriters”—Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson—at the Grand Ole Opry]

The younger Nelson starts the song, singing the opening verse and chorus. Then, the Red-Headed Stranger takes over for a verse and chorus. The high point of the song comes when they sing in harmony, their voices blending almost seamlessly.

Willie and Lukas Nelson Cover a Pearl Jam Hit

Hearing Willie and Lukas Nelson perform the song together is always special. “Just Breathe” was a special song for Pearl Jam as well. Written by frontman Eddie Vedder, the band released it as the second single from their album Backspacer. It peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart. It also topped the publication’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart for 13 weeks.

Vedder said the song is “As close to a love song as we’ve ever gotten.” About the inspiration for the song, he said, “There’s never a dull moment on the road—every day it’s something. Maybe that’s why my goal is the dull moment. That’s what this song is. It’s saying, ‘Just stop, and be together. Don’t talk now, just breathe and feel each other’s presence now that the kids are in bed.”

Vedder started writing the song after recording the soundtrack to Into the Wild. “It uses the first chord from an instrumental called ‘Tuolumne.’ There was a lyric or something that hit me, and I picked up the guitar and played that chord. I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just go with it and make something different out of it,’” he recalled.

Featured Image by Maury Phillips/Getty Images for The Recording Academy