It simply doesn’t get better than “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.” Over the weekend, Ella Langley shared a beautiful cover of Willie Nelson’s classic, which was nestled in a dump of other photos from her adventures lately.
Of course, “Blue Eyes” was originally written by Fred Rose and performed by Roy Acuff. It has been covered by countless other country artists, like Hank Williams Sr. and Charley Pride, but was made most famous by Willie when he included it on his iconic 1975 Red Headed Stranger album. In October of 1975, it became Willie’s very first #1 hit as a singer on the Billboard U.S. Hot Country Songs chart.
That year at the 18th Annual Grammy Awards, Willie also won the award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for “Blue Eyes,” the first of 12 he would go on to win. Playing that song night after night back in the day took a toll on him, though.
Nelson was a notorious drinker back in the mid-to-late 70’s, saying in Hot Press interview that he would get extremely emotionally invested in the songs right along with audience:
“It’s really difficult to sing ‘Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain’ or ‘Always On My Mind’ without getting emotionally involved, especially when the audience gets emotionally involved and you feel their feelings.
You can only wallow in your own misery for so long without saying, ‘Wait a minute, I want a drink!’”
Fair enough… those two songs are over 48 years old and still resonate just as deeply with people now as they did half a century ago, so they clearly have the power to touch people at the core of their being.
Ella will release her highly-anticipated sophomore album Dandelion on April 10th, which includes already-released songs in the title track, “Be Her,” as well as her huge crossover hit song, “Choosin’ Texas.”
“Be Her”
“Dandelion”
The Dandelion Tour Dates
5/7/2026 Toledo, OH Huntington Center (+,&)
5/8/2026 St. Louis, MO Chaifetz Arena (+,&)
5/14/2026 Estero, FL Hertz Arena (@, &)
5/15/2026 Savannah, GA Enmarket Arena (@, &)
6/18/2026 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre (+,&)
6/19/2026 Independence, MO Cable Dahmer Arena (+,&)
6/25/2026 Salem, VA Salem Civic Center (+,&)
6/26/2026 Wilmington, NC Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park (+,&)
7/23/2026 Pikeville, KY Appalachian Wireless Arena (#, %)
7/24/2026 Cary, NC Koka Booth Amphitheatre (#, %)
7/25/2026 North Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum (#, %)
7/30/2026 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion (@, %)
7/31/2026 Canandaigua, NY CMAC (@, %)
8/13/2026 Austin, TX Moody Center (#, &)
8/14/2026 Corpus Christi, TX Hilliard Center (#, &)
8/15/2026 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena (#, &)
@ Kameron Marlowe
+ Dylan Marlowe
# Kaitlin Butts
& Gabriella Rose
% Laci Kaye Booth
