EXCLUSIVE: The Oak Ridge Boys Team Up With Willie Nelson For New Duet Of “I Thought About You, Lord”

Two legends teaming up for the very first time. It's kind of hard to believe that the Oak Ridge Boys and Willie Nelson have never released a song together. The Oaks have been releasing music for over 50 years, and have amassed a catalog of over 30 studio albums and 17 #1 hits. And of course Willie Nelson has released over 100 studio albums in his career, with no signs of slowing down. So with all of that music between them, you would have thought that these two legendary acts would have collaborated on a song at some point. Well, now they have. The Oak Ridge Boys have teamed up with Willie Nelson for a duet of "I Thought About You, Lord," a bluesy spiritual which was written by Willie and first released on his 1996 album Spirit. "I thought about You And the songs that I keep singin' And I thought about You And the joy that they keep bringin' I thought about life And a love that has no endin' I thought about You, Lord I thought about You" Produced by Dave Cobb, Duane Allen of the Oak Ridge Boys said "I Thought About You, Lord" was the right song to finally make a collaboration with Willie happen: "When David Cobb played “I Thought About You, Lord," written by Willie Nelson, I felt I was listening to a masterpiece. I thought, 'Willie has recorded with just about everyone but us.' So, I called Buddy Cannon, who had recently been producing Willie, to see if Willie would sing his song with us. He replied that he would be honored to sing with the Oaks. When Willie’s vocals were finished, the masterpiece was completed!" It's poignant that the spiritual reflection is the first release from the Oak Ridge Boys without longtime tenor Joe Bonsall, who recently passed away after a battle with ALS. And with the newest member of the group, Ben James, making his studio debut on the track, he says it's still surreal to be a part of the legendary group: “They take care of me. I love sitting around and listening to their stories, just hanging out with the band. It's pretty unreal when you step out there and look over and see Duane and William Lee and Richard. And in my mind, Joe is still up there.” The song is not only a triumphant studio debut for James with his new Oak Ridge Boys family, but also a long overdue pairing of two country music legends. And we're pumped to bring it to you here first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGsrkJeYK_8