John Mayer has paid tribute to Dolly Parton with an instrumental guitar cover of the country music legend’s enduring hit, I Will Always Love You.
The Queen of Country died at the age of 80. News of the hugely influential artist and pop culture icon’s passing was met with an outpouring of tributes from all corners of the world.
The inimitable musician rose from humble beginnings to conquer the music world, with a unique guitar style and generational songwriting ability that led to some of the biggest hits of her time. Among them was her epic ballad, I Will Always Love You.
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In honor of Parton, Mayer included the 1974 cut in his SiriusXM concert at Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, New York, last night (August 26). A clip of the tribute has been shared online.
Armed with his Dead Spec Silver Sky, Mayer made his way around the song’s progression, imitating Parton’s main melody while throwing in some blues-y inflections of his own. At around the minute mark, Mayer then spring-boarded into his own song, Gravity.
Notably, Mayer was flanked by his Dumble and Two Rock amps, meaning he ran through his usual gig rig as opposed to a Neural DSP Quad Cortex loaded with his signature Archetype plugin. Whether we’ll ever see Mayer play a Quad Cortex live for a headline show (he has played one for guest appearances in the past) remains to be seen.
Mayer’s full SiriusXM set will be broadcast on Life With John Mayer this Saturday (August 29) at 8pm ET. The special will begin with a 25 minute conversation between Mayer and Andy Cohen, leading into the full set.
Previous artists to play at the Stephen Talkhouse for SiriusXM shows include Dave Matthews, Coldplay, Metallica and The Killers.
Keep your eyes peeled on SiriusXM to catch the full set.
