It’s finally here.
You don’t have to look very far throughout country music history to find some legendary covers from different artists. From Chris Stapleton reinventing David Allan Coe’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and George Strait taking Terry Stafford’s “Amarillo By Morning,” to new heights to Johnny Cash completely transforming Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” and Luke Combs recently reintroducing Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” there have been countless beloved covers that have made a huge impact on artists and fans alike over the years.
Over the past few years, in particular, it seems as if Cody Johnson’s cover of “Travelin’ Soldier” has become the most popular viral performance despite never officially being released on streaming platforms. He first debuted it back in June 2020 during the height of the pandemic in a live stream with his backing band. At the time, fans loved it and, quite frankly, were just excited to get a taste of “live” music. Two years later, however, the “On My Way To You” singer and his cover of the track exploded in popularity upon the release of an acoustic cover posted to his YouTube channel in March 2022.
As of today, the video has over 58 million views and 247,000 likes on YouTube alone. Of course, that’s not even counting the countless number of TikToks and other reposts of the cover on various platforms. Simply put, Johnson’s rendition of “Travelin’ Soldier” has remained one of the most beloved covers in the genre in recent history, and fans everywhere have been clamoring for an official release for nearly six years at this point
Last week, Johnson turned heads everywhere on social media when he began reposting any and all viral videos from fans over the years asking for the song to be officially released. This, however, wasn’t just a couple of random reposts here and there. Since Thursday, October 30th, Johnson has reposted well over two dozen different videos on TikTok from fans, either uploading live performances of the track or begging for it to be released on streaming platforms. The same can be said on Instagram, where Johnson has continually uploaded similar videos from fans on his story.
Taking notice of his Instagram stories, multiple fans would upload videos to TikTok to point out the odd timing of so many “Travelin’ Soldier” videos and further ask if an official release was coming soon. Even last Thursday, it was clear that something big was on the horizon, and the continued posting throughout the weekend simply added even more fuel to the fire.
With so much anticipation building online, Johnson finally dropped the bombshell this morning and officially announced that his cover of “Travelin’ Soldier” will be released on all streaming platforms this Friday, November 7th.
In an Instagram post, Johnson would upload a video from the studio containing the song’s iconic intro with the simple caption, “Friday.”
“Travelin’ Soldier,” of course, was first independently written, recorded and released by Bruce Robison in 1996 on his self-titled debut album. The track would then later be re-recorded by Ty England on his 1999 album, Highways & Dance Halls, before The Chicks, who were still going by Dixie Chicks at the time, released the song in 2002 and eventually scored a #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart along with a platinum certification from the RIAA.
As for Johnson’s cover, it can be argued that his version has remained one of the most highly sought-after performances of the past decade. As previously mentioned, fans everywhere have been begging for a release for the better part of the last five years. Though it may sound a bit unlikely, given the anticipation that has been building over the years, Johnson’s cover of “Travelin’ Soldier” is ultimately one of 2025’s premier releases.
While we wait for the official release on Friday, fire up the world-famous acoustic performance from 2022 here:
Cody Johnson Tour Dates
February 6-7 – Birmingham, Alabama – Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex
February 13 – Champaign, Illinois – State Farm Center
February 14 – Louisville, Kentucky – KFC Yum! Center
February 27 – Winston-Salem, North Carolina – LJVM Coliseum
February 28 – Columbia, South Carolina – Colonial Life Arena
March 6 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – PPG Paints Arena
March 7 – Baltimore, Maryland – CGF Bank Arena
March 22 – Houston, Texas – Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
March 28 – Little Rock, Arkansas – Simmons Bank Arena
April 10 – Bossier City, Louisiana – Brookshire Grocery Arena
April 24 – Indio, California – Stagecoach
May 2 – Clemson, South Carolina – Death Valley (Clemson Stadium)
May 9 – Des Moines, Iowa – Casey’s Corner
May 30 – Rosemont, Illinois – Allstate Center
July 11 – Cavendish, Prince Edward Island – Cavendish Beach Music Festival
July 17-18 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena
