Ernest Performs “He Stopped Loving Her Today” With Charlie McCoy, Who Played Harmonica On The Original Record

A special perfomance, indeed. Last night, Ernest played the hallowed Grand Ole Opry stage, and had a special guest with him as he covered George Jones' iconic song, "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Legendary harmonica player Charlie McCoy joined him to play that instantly recognizable harmonica solo, and he's also the one who played on the actual record so many decades ago, which made for a really incredible and special moment. McCoy played on songs like Roy Orbison's "Candy Man," as well as Barbara Mandrell's "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool." In fact, he's also the one who (unknowingly) inspired Bob Dylan to go to Nashville and record his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde , after recording with him in New York. Of course, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" is widely regarded as the greatest country song of all time, and was released in 1980 as the lead single from Jones' I Am What I Am album. It was written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman, was Jones' first #1 hit in six years at the time it was released, and obviously, became an all-time classic. Ernest shared a video of their performance on Instagram earlier, saying that it was an honor to play alongside such an important and legendary musician: "Special night at the Opry. I got so sing 'He stopped loving her today' with Charlie McCoy playing the harmonica- he played with Jones on the RECORD and I couldn’t be more happy to have him by my side on stage last night." Ern sounds great here, and it's really cool to see him honoring and paying tribute to those who made country music what it is. Check it out: https://www.instagram.com/p/C_QNT9POlmh/ "He Stopped Loving Her Today" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es1uCh48TNY