Luke Combs & Marcus Mumford Team Up For Stellar Duet Of The Willie Nelson Hit, “Always On My Mind,” In London

Not on my 2025 bingo card.

As country music’s global popularity continues to grow, highlighted primarily by huge shows across the pond from the likes of Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan, Luke Combs and more over the past few years, the push to expand the genre into Europe has been a fairly common talking point recently. From the aforementioned names playing massive stadiums to the likes of 49 Winchester, Evan Honer, Willow Avalon and more, also booking full-fledged European tours, the market is undoubtedly expanding.

Over the weekend, the Grand Ole Opry held their first-ever international show in London at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday night. Featuring the likes of Opry members, Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde, Darius Rucker, Carly Pearce and Marty Stuart, the historic night also featured appearances from the English folk group, Mumford & Sons, and the Scottish folk group, Breabach.

As expected, the night featured a plethora of memorable moments. Early in the night, Breabach joined Darius Rucker for a performance of his massively popular cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel,” complete with the inclusion of some bagpipes as a nod to their Scottish heritage. Pearce and Stuart would also honor the likes of Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash, playing “9 to 5” and “Orange Blossom Special” respectively, while Rucker and McBryde would honor Cash and Patsy Cline and perform “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Sweet Dreams (Of You).”

Despite there being a plethora of killer performances and moments throughout the night, Luke Combs managed to provide not one but two never-before-seen duets that all but stole the show that night in London.

Taking to the stage during Pearce’s set, Combs would deliver the first-ever performance of her #1 hit with Lee Brice, “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” something she would later call a “full circle moment,” given that the pair wrote it together back in 2019 with Randy Ennis Schlappi and Jonathan Singleton.

“Many of you don’t know that I wrote ‘I Hope You’re Happy Now” with Luke Combs. Tonight in London, we sang it for the FIRST time since we wrote it six years ago. Thank you Luke for this full circle moment!”

With that being said, however, the biggest and most symbolic performance from Combs came later in the night when he was joined by Mumford & Sons’ frontman, Marcus Mumford, for a performance of Willie Nelson’s classic 1982 single, “Always On My Mind.”

As we all know, “Always On My Mind” has become one of the most iconic country songs of all time. Though it’s not Willie’s song (it was by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher and Mark James and recorded by Gwen McRae), the track has been cemented in history thanks in part to its three Grammy wins for Song of the Year, Best Country Song and Best Male Country Vocal Performance, along with two consecutive Song of the Year wins at the 1982 and 1983 CMA Awards.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Combs absolutely crushed the cover along with Mumford. Though it would be downright sacrilege to say that the “Beautiful Crazy” singer surpassed Nelson’s original performance of the track, he comes pretty damn close here. If there were any questions on whether or not Combs’ vocals are at the top of the genre right now, this performance pretty much settles it. It’s that good.

Watch here:

@jon1x1 Luke Combs and Mumford & Sons singing the classic Willie Nelson you are always on my mind at the grand ole Opry 100 year anniversary live in London! @Luke Combs @Mumford & Sons #lukecombs #countrymusic #grandoleopry #live #london ♬ original sound – nameless the country gig guy

Luke Combs Tour Dates

October 3 – Austin, TX –  Austin City Limits Music Festival

October 5 – Ocean City, MD – Country Calling

October 10 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits Music Festival

October 23, 25 – Miramar Beach, FL – Bootleggers BonfireThe post Luke Combs & Marcus Mumford Team Up For Stellar Duet Of The Willie Nelson Hit, “Always On My Mind,” In London first appeared on Whiskey Riff.