Exclusive: The Oak Ridge Boys Debut New Song “Come On Home,” Talk First-Ever Willie Nelson Collaboration

Country Music Hall of Fame group The Oak Ridge Boys are facing the most challenging year of their career. With the help of producer Dave Cobb, the men have pushed through the grief of losing band member Joe Bonsall and many other family members to create some of the best music of their career.

The Oak Ridge Boys will release their new album, Mama’s Boys, on Oct. 25. Their Willie Nelson collaboration, “I Thought About You, Lord,” is out now. And their new song “Come On Home” will be available on Thursday.

“The whole concept of this album was the title Mama’s Boys, and the theme is the things that Mama taught us about life and love and leaving and coming home, and our faith,” Oak Ridge Boy Duane Allen said. “It’s all of the things that we put great value on.”

Cobb sent Allen “I Thought About You, Lord” without telling him that Nelson had written it. When Allen first heard it, he thought it was another, “Why Me, Lord.” Allen found out it was a Willie Nelson song and couldn’t wait to get into the studio to record it—and he wanted Nelson to do it with them. Nelson was in Maui.

Willie Nelson Asked The Oaks To Wait For Him To Record

“He said, ‘I would be honored to record with the Oak Ridge Boys,’” Allen recalled. “He said. ‘I’ve never recorded anything with the Oak Ridge Boys, and I would be honored. You just got to wait until I get back from Maui.’ So we did, and that’s how that came about.”

Allen thought “Come On Home” was a song for William Lee Golden to sing as soon as he heard it.

“It fit him perfectly,” Allen said. “When I played it for William Lee, he fell in love with it. He said, ‘Let me go home with this and live with it because I love this song. I love this message.’ I just think it was written for The Oak Ridge Boys because it has that type of message that Mama would teach us.”

As they regain their footing following a year of substantial losses, The Oaks are finding comfort on the road. They just made their farewell tour even longer.

“We want to go to as many places as we can possibly go to and thank the people for allowing us to have such a long and such a great career, said Oak Ridge Boy Richard Sterban. “And that’s going to take us some time. Almost a year in, we haven’t gotten close to going to all the places that we want to go to. So, we’re now booking dates next year, and we’ll take that. We’re going to take it one day at a time. We are not just ready to retire yet. We will be around for a while, and hopefully, this farewell tour will last a little while longer.”

Mama’s Boys Track Listing:

1. That’s The Way Mama Made It
2. Mama’s Boys
3. Mama’s Teaching Angels How To Sing
4. Ever With Me
5. Her Voice
6. Mama Sang For Me
7. Come On Home
8. I Thought About You, Lord (Feat. Willie Nelson) // Premiered by Whiskey Riff
9. Sweetest Gift
10. Divine Witness

(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)