Josh Turner had a special guest join him this week on the Bobby Bones Show. Country music legend Randy Travis flanked the “Hometown Girl” singer during an extraordinary rendition of “Forever and Ever, Amen,” a tune the two first duetted together in 2006.
Of course, Travis made the song famous in the first place. The Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz-written “Forever and Ever, Amen” appeared on the crooner’s 1987 Always and Forever album and was released as that effort’s first single, scoring him his third No. 1 hit. Nearly twenty years later, he banded together with Turner to give the romantic song even more weight as a live collaboration.
Fast forward to 2020, and the alliance has come full circle between the two. Travis has suffered a stroke since the pair first put their joint spin on the song, but that didn’t stop the elder statesman from accompanying Turner on the broadcast — he even vocalized the closing word of the song.
Turner was there to promote his upcoming effort, a tribute to country music’s greats called Country State of Mind. The album arrives Aug. 21, complete with new renditions of the genre’s classics, aided by artists including Runaway June, Maddie & Tae, Kris Kristofferson and other featured guests.
A Travis-assisted studio version of “Forever and Ever, Amen” is also among the forthcoming collection; impressively, it was the singer’s first recording session since the stroke.
While on the Bobby Bones Show this week, Turner took time to belt his big hit “Your Man” before Travis joined him for the duet.
