Chris Stapleton: His 3 Cool Collaborations From 2024
Chris Stapleton has enjoyed an unprecedented career: before he even started making solo records, he was a respected songwriter. Over the years, his credits have included songs by Patty Loveless, Lee Ann Womack, Trace Adkins, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, Darius Rucker, George Strait, Thomas Rhett, Alan Jackson, Luke Bryan, and Jason Aldean, among others.
But he’s also collaborated with a dizzying number of artists, across different genres. Besides duetting with country singers he frequently works with rock and pop artists; in fact, his duet with pop singer Justin Timberlake (they did David Allen Coe’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and Timberlake’s own “Drink You Away”) at the 2015 CMA Awards catapulted him to stardom. In the years since, he has done songs with Timberlake, Pink, Sheryl Crow, Santana, Taylor Swift, Carly Pearce, Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheerah, Tom Morello and Dolly Parton. And last year, he added three more collaborators to his discography.
Post Malone – “California Sober”
At this point, are you even a major country artist if you haven’t worked with Chris Stapleton? Since Post Malone made his move from hip-hop and pop to country music, collaborating with Stapleton was likely a priority (his F-1 Trillion album also featured Tim McGraw, Morgan Wallen, Blake Shelton, Dolly Parton, Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson and others, along with Stapleton). Posty and Chris co-wrote the song (with a few other writers), and they opened last year’s CMA Awards with a performance of “California Sober.“
Slash – “Oh Well”
Rockers love Chris Stapleton, so it’s no surprise that Slash invited him to collaborate on his new solo album, Orgy Of the Damned. They covered “Oh Well,” by Fleetwood Mac. If you’re a fan of the Stevie Nicks/Christine McVie/Lindsey Buckingham version of the band, you may not recognize the song. That’s because it’s from an earlier iteration of the group, when the band’s founder, Peter Green, led the Mac. (That version of the band sounds nothing like the group who took over the world with Rumours in the 1970s.) Stapleton’s vocals complement Slash and his blues band perfectly; the only disappointment is that Chris only sings and doesn’t play guitar. We demand a face-melting guitar duel with Slash and Stapleton at some point!
Dua Lipa – “Think I’m In Love With You (live from the ACM Awards)”
The original “Think I’m In Love With You” is from Stapleton’s 2023 classic album, Higher, and felt like a ’70s disco ballad. And in the 2020s, no one has updated that sound better than British pop singer Dua Lipa. It was surprising to learn that she was going to sing with Stapleton at the ACMs, but the combination worked perfectly. By the way, Stapleton’s music video for the song is one of the best music videos ever and will make you laugh, cry and dance in less than five minutes.
