Joe Nichols Crushes A Cover Of “On The Other Hand” With Randy Travis On Stage

Honoring the living legend.

Simply put, Randy Travis’ journey over the past twelve years has been nothing short of incredible. If you recall, the “Three Wooden Crosses” singer suffered a massive stroke back in July 2013, which was caused by a complication of his congestive heart failure. At the time, doctors only gave him a 1% chance to live, but Travis pulled through.

The stroke, as we all know, did not come without its consequences, however. Despite surviving in what can only be described as a miracle, Travis has remained severely affected by it, developing aphasia and being extremely limited in terms of both speech and his ability to sing. In fact, Travis’ wife, Mary, recently revealed that the doctors advised her to “pull the plug” on the 7x Grammy winner after he developed a plethora of different hospital-born viruses, including Serratia, Pseudomonas and a staph infection while in the hospital.

Thankfully, the living legend has been seemingly making more appearances than ever over the past few years. Beyond releasing two new songs, “Where That Came From” and “Horses In Heaven,”  with the help of AI (which has opened up an entirely new can of worms around the music industry recently) and guest vocalist, James Dupré, over the past year and a half, Travis has recently been touring extensively around the U.S. along with his original backing band and Dupré once again serving as a guest vocalist for all of his hits.

Recently, Travis joined none other than Joe Nichols at a show in Las Vegas at Penn & Teller Theater back on December 12th. Though the pair have collaborated in the past, notably on the George Jones tribute, “Tonight I’m Playin’ Possum,” back in 2013, this time, it was Nichols honoring the living legend with a performance of his 1985 hit, “On The Other Hand.”

It should go without saying that “On The Other Hand” is one of Travis’ signature hits. Appearing on his iconic debut album, Storms of Life, it was first released as a promotional single in 1985 to minor success, only peaking at #67 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Just a year later, however, it would be reissued as a single once again and fly up the chart all the way to #1, becoming his first career chart-topper. Since then, it’s been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and currently sits as Travis’ fifth-most-streamed song on Spotify with over 64 million streams.

Before the Las Vegas performance, Nichols would admit how nervous he was to play the song with Travis on stage.

“Man, that makes me even more nervous knowing that you’re watching.”

It’s safe to say that the “Brokenheartsville” singer didn’t let the nerves get the best of him, delivering a flawless rendition of the ’80s country staple. As time passes on, it’s become increasingly apparent that Nichols has one of the most underrated voices in the genre today, and it’s showcased beautifully here on “On The Other Hand.”

If you’re a fan of both Travis and Nichols, this is nothing short of a must-watch.

Watch here:

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