Chills. After a 2025 that was filled with ups and downs, highlighted primarily by suffering a blown-out eardrum in October and following it up with his first-ever CMA Male Vocalist of the Year award just a month later, Cody Johnson has already gotten off to a hot start in 2026. From a release standpoint, he’s been keeping singles coming early and often, dropping back-to-back Monday morning surprise releases the past two months with a brand new ode to his home state, “Blame Texas,” as well as an incredibly personal cover of Merle Haggard’s 1979 deep cut, “Footlights.” From a touring perspective, he’s hitting the road hard this year. Along with the sprawling, 28-show tour, which recently added the likes of Kip Moore, Clint Black, Randy Houser, Jon Pardi, Carter Faith and more as openers that kicked off back in February, the “Dirt Cheap” singer is also making his largest festival appearance to date, headlining California’s Stagecoach for the first time in his career on April 24th. Johnson has also been scoring some major career accomplishments as well. Not only did he receive four nominations at the upcoming ACM Awards (Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Single of the Year for “The Fall” and Visual Media for “The Fall”), but he also broke George Strait’s Rodeo Houston’s concert-only attendance record, performing to a crowd of 80,203. View this post on Instagram Over the weekend, he took the momentum down to the Bayou to perform at Hondo Rodeo’s New Orleans stop at Caesar’s Super Dome. In typical CoJo fashion, he delivered a plethora of hits to the New Orleans crowd, performing the likes of “Dirt Cheap,” “Diamond In My Pocket,” “The Fall,” “‘Til You Can’t,” his cover of “Travelin’ Soldier and more. However, it was a never-before-heard cover that quickly went viral over the weekend: The Band of Heathens’ “Hurricane.” In case you’re not familiar with the track, it appeared on the band’s stellar 2011 album, Top Hat Crown & the Clapmaster’s Son, and has remained their signature song to date. Though The Band of Heathens have consistently remained one of the most underrated groups in the alt. country scene for 20 years, “Hurricane” netted the Austin natives their first-ever gold record from the RIAA in 2023. Additionally, it would receive a boost in popularity when fellow Texas powerhouses, Shane Smith & the Saints, covered it in 2018. Unsurprisingly, the “Me and My Kind” singer absolutely crushed the cover. Giving both the Heathens and the Saints a run for their money, Johnson rose to the occasion and delivered what can only be described as a jaw-dropping performance of the track. Fans in the comment section felt the same. Praising his soulful performance of the track and noting that it gave them chills, many would beg for an official release: “COJO can sing the phone book” “and it was LEGIT” “Need this out asap” “Gave me chills” “It was f****** amazing” “Instant chills” It should go without saying at this point that CoJo hasn’t missed on a cover yet, but this one might be his best to date. Watch here: @nicksoffical__ Only in NOLA #fyp #cojonation #hondorodeo ♬ original sound – nick Cody Johnson Tour Dates April 24 – Indio, California – Stagecoach May 2 – Clemson, South Carolina – Death Valley (Clemson Stadium) May 9 – Des Moines, Iowa – Casey’s Corner May 30 – Rosemont, Illinois – Allstate Center July 11 – Cavendish, Prince Edward Island – Cavendish Beach Music Festival July 17 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena with Drew Baldridge July 18 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena with Ian Munsick & Walker Montgomery July 25 – Jacksonville, Florida – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena August 8 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Paycom Center August 22 – Knoxville, Tennessee – Food City Center August 29 – Saint Paul, Minnesota – Grand Casinoa Arena September 12 – Tacoma, Washington – Tacoma Dome The post Cody Johnson Delivers Jaw-Dropping Cover Of The Band Of Heathen’s “Hurricane” At Hondo Rodeo In New Orleans first appeared on Whiskey Riff.