The Kings Of Rocking Different Styles
Anyone familiar with Nashville knows that the city isn’t just home to country music. It has served as the birthplace for artists of all genres, from soul to rock and roll.
One hit rock band found its roots in Music City, and their songs have been influenced by the area’s diverse styles. Got any guesses which band we’re talking about? It’s Kings of Leon!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbFGiRon5zm/
When brothers Caleb, Nathan, and Jared Followill first joined forces with their cousin Matthew to form the group, their music sounded different than it does today. Their earliest songs showcased heavy influence from Southern rock and blues, which makes sense considering Nashville’s connections to those genres.
Over the years, the group’s music has shifted in style, with them being primarily branded as an alternative rock band.
While it may be a challenge to put a label on the group’s style, you can certainly label them as successful. They have a number of hit songs to their name, including “Use Somebody,” “Radioactive,” and “Sex on Fire.”
Over the years, the band has also been labeled as a garage rock group, and even a Southern rock band. But one thing they’ve never been called is country.
Showing Some Love To Country
However, originating from Nashville obviously exposed the band to the city’s signature genre, and they’re fans of it as well as rock.
They made their appreciation of country music crystal clear when they stepped up to perform in front of more than 61,000 screaming fans at RodeoHouston in Texas on Tuesday (March 12). They followed in the footsteps of many other notable artists, including recent Grammy winner Kacey Musgraves, who channeled Texas-born singer Selena during her RodeoHouston appearance.
https://twitter.com/KaceyMusgraves/status/1100512600062865409
Musgraves was just one of many artists who honored Selena during this year’s RodeoHouston run. But when it came time for Kings of Leon to take the stage, they decided to honor another famous Texan and a fellow RodeoHouston performer…the “King of Country” George Strait.
The group chose one of Strait’s most iconic songs to perform…his 1983 release “Amarillo by Morning.” Despite being one of his most popular pieces, “Amarillo” is shockingly not one of Strait’s 60 chart-topping hits.
The People Can’t Get Enough
Kings of Leon delivered a kickin’ performance of the song at RodeoHouston, one that attendees were still talking about long after it wrapped up.
Those who watched the rock band honor the King of Country flocked to social media to express how amazed they were by their performance.
Kings of Leon were amazing. And covered George Strait.
— sean ryan pruski (@SeanPruskiINC) March 13, 2019
Rock band covers George Strait, set Texas rodeo 'on fire' https://t.co/inXYLr8jLi
— MySA (@mySA) March 13, 2019
KEEP THE TRIBUTES COMING! 👏 I love seeing artists do this. It's sweet. The Kings Of Leon paid tribute to the King of Country, George Strait at RODEOHOUSTON. Listen to their version of "Amarillo by Morning." #abc13 #hounews #BREAKING https://t.co/wd5HK6qYVv
— Steve Campion (@SteveCampionHTX) March 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/toekneecheese/status/1105683209839353856
We bet you’re wishing you had been there to see it happen live! Well if you weren’t, there’s no need to worry, because one fan managed to capture a piece of the performance on video.
You can catch that video below. It doesn’t beat seeing it live, but it is the next best thing!
Now that we’ve heard how Kings of Leon sounds singing Strait’s song, we’d like to hear their take on other country classics. Do y’all have any suggestions for them?