Sturgill Simpson Covers INXS

Sturgill Simpson! Sturgill Simpson was standing! You were there! Two words collided!

"Never Tear Us Apart," the smoky ballad that INXS released in 1988, was a global hit when it first came out, and it has endured as a forever song. Michael Hutchence really went for over-the-top maximalist devotion on that song, and he nailed it. Plenty of other artists and karaoke hopefuls have tried to take on "Never Tear Us Apart" in the decades since then. Over the weekend, Sturgill Simpson took a stab at it.

Simpson loves to bust out live covers. Right now, Simpson is on tour under his Johnny Blue Skies alter ego, with his band Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds, after releasing the album Mutiny After Midnight earlier this year. When they played a surprise warm-up show in Nashville last month, they played a bunch of covers. Now, they're hitting arenas. On Friday night, they played LA's Kia Forum, and they busted out "Never Tear Us Apart," complete with convulsive sax solo, before transitioning into the Sailor's Guide To Earth track "Brace For Impact (Live A Little)." Below, watch Simpson's cover and the OG INXS video.