Okay, Kelly Clarkson nailed this.
She’s known to cover country songs quite often on her daytime talk show The Kelly Clarkson Show, and usually she pulls from many different genres across the musical spectrum, which I love. And this past week, she honored country legend Keith Whitley with a gorgeous cover of his hit song, “When You Say Nothing at All.”
Written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz, it was also famously recorded by Alison Krauss & Union Station, Irish singer Frances Black and Irish pop star Ronan Keating, all of whom had versions chart in the Top 10 (and higher) on various charts.
Of course, Whitley first made the song most famous when he included on his iconic Don’t Close Your Eyes album. The single eventually topped the the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1988, and remains a fan-favorite to this day.
It’s since been covered by plenty of country artists over the decades, and while Kelly is obviously a pop star, is a Texas girl who often talks about her love for country music and especially the classics.
The woman has an extremely impressive vocal range and incredible voice in general, so it’s rare that she misses (if she ever has, honestly) on a cover from any genre. And I personally think she did a great job here that Whitley and his family would be proud of.
Seriously, of all the pop artist “going country” these days, I think Kelly would do it better than anybody… do yourself a favor and check it out:
“When You Say Nothing at All”
