Sturgill Simpson is pulling out one of his best-ever covers. When the country star’s Who The F**k Is Johnny Blue Skies? 2025 Tour stopped in Birmingham, Alabama, he delighted the crowd by performing Nirvana’s “In Bloom.”
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While it’s unclear the last time Simpson performed the track during a live show, many believe that it’s been multiple years since he did so.
Multiple TikTok users posted videos of the cover, and it’s safe to say the crowd was into the performance.
Sturgill Simpson’s Love for “In Bloom”
Simpson has a long history with the song, which was released on Nirvana’s 1991 album, Nevermind. Simpson was so influenced by both the song and the album that he decided to include a cover of “In Bloom” on his 2016 album, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.
“I remember in seventh or eighth grade when that album dropped, it was like a bomb went off in my bedroom,” Simpson told Rolling Stone in 2016. “For me, that song has always summed up what it means to be a teenager, and I think it tells a young boy that he can be sensitive and compassionate — he doesn’t have to be tough or cold to be a man.”
Simpson added of the Nirvana frontman, “I wanted to make a very beautiful and pure homage to Kurt [Cobain].”
Simpson also discussed the cover in a 2016 interview with Zane Lowe, Pitchfork reported. The singer revealed that the cover was almost left off the album because he mis-sang one of the lyrics on the final cut of the track. When Simpson realized his mistake, he penned a hand-written note to Cobain estate, who then agreed to approve the track.
“I just wanna say, ‘Thank you, and I’m sorry,’” he said. “I didn’t mean to screw the song up.”
Sturgill Simpson’s Tour
Simpson has been delighting crowds on his tour with several deep cuts. While performing a second show in Austin, Texas, Simpson played “You Can Have the Crown” for the first time in nearly a decade. The track appeared on Simpson’s 2013 debut album, High Top Mountain.
“All right, I don’t know, we’ve been waiting like 10 or 11 years to do this again. The city’s always been very, very good to us,” he told the crowd. “We just wanted to stick around and say ‘thank you’ and play one more show for you guys. To mark the occasion, we’re gonna play something we haven’t played in about nine years right here.”
After “You Can Have the Crown,” Simpson played another track off of his 2013 album, “Life Ain’t Fair and the World Is Mean.”
Photo by Frank Hoensch/Redferns
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