{"id":2362363,"date":"2026-04-07T12:24:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T12:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2362363"},"modified":"2026-04-07T12:24:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T12:24:34","slug":"cody-johnson-releases-merle-haggard-cover-footlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/cody-johnson-releases-merle-haggard-cover-footlights\/","title":{"rendered":"Cody Johnson releases Merle Haggard cover &#8216;Footlights&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_83\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>Cody Johnson has released a cover of Merle Haggard&#8217;s \u2018Footlights&#8217;, to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Country legend&#8217;s passing.<\/p>\n<p>As an avid Haggard fan, Johnson has paid tribute to him numerous times, acknowledging that he was one of his biggest musical influences. \u201cMerle was a poet,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhen I&#8217;m happy, when I&#8217;m sad, when I&#8217;m frustrated, and everything in between, he has sung the soundtrack of my life.\u201d Watch more of what Cody had to say about Haggard\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.e2ma.net\/click\/0sjljk\/of100bjc\/w1zom5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in this interview<\/a>\u00a0with Suzzanne Alexander for \u201cOn The Record\u201d on RFD-TV.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cody Johnson - Footlights (Audio)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VVDaJDslizg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In 2025, Johnson received the ACM Spirit Award for his genuine, songwriter-focused country music that reflect Merle Haggard\u2019s legacy. The award recognizes artists who follow their own path, creating great stories and songs.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson\u2019s current radio single, \u2018The Fall&#8217;, written by Bobby Pinson, Jeremy Stover, and Ray Fulcher, is from his\u00a0\u2018Leather Deluxe Edition&#8217;\u00a0album. His headline tour continues in April and wraps in Europe this Fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cCody Johnson Live 26\u201d schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>4\/10\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Bossier City, LA<\/td>\n<td>Brookshire Grocery Arena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4\/11\/2026<\/td>\n<td>New Orleans<\/td>\n<td>Caesars Superdome \u2013 Honda Rodeo Fest*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4\/18\/2026<\/td>\n<td>St. Louis, MO<\/td>\n<td>Chaifetz Arena\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4\/24\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Indio, CA<\/td>\n<td>Stagecoach*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5\/2\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Clemson, SC<\/td>\n<td>Death Valley (Clemson Stadium) w\/ George Strait\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5\/8\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Sioux Falls, SD<\/td>\n<td>Denny Sanford PREMIER Center<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5\/9\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Des Moines, IA<\/td>\n<td>Casey&#8217;s Center\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5\/29\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Grand Rapids, MI<\/td>\n<td>Van Andel Arena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5\/30\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Rosemont, IL<\/td>\n<td>Allstate Arena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6\/5\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Nashville, TN<\/td>\n<td>Nissan Stadium \u2013 CMA Fest*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6\/13\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Atlanta, GA<\/td>\n<td>Braves Country Fest*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6\/26\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Milwaukee, WI<\/td>\n<td>American Family Ins Amp<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7\/9\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Ottawa, ON<\/td>\n<td>LeBreton Flats (Ottawa Bluesfest)*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7\/11\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Cavendish, PE<\/td>\n<td>Cavendish Beach Music Festival*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7\/17\/2025<\/td>\n<td>Columbus, OH<\/td>\n<td>Nationwide Arena (2nd Show)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7\/18\/2025<\/td>\n<td>Columbus, OH<\/td>\n<td>Nationwide Arena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7\/25\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Jacksonville, FL<\/td>\n<td>Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8\/8\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Oklahoma City, OK<\/td>\n<td>Paycom Center<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8\/22\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Knoxville, TN<\/td>\n<td>Food City Center<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8\/29\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Saint Paul, MN<\/td>\n<td>Grand Casino Arena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>9\/11\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Vancouver, BC<\/td>\n<td>Rogers Arena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>9\/12\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Tacoma, WA<\/td>\n<td>Tacoma Dome<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>9\/17\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Edmonton, AB<\/td>\n<td>Rogers Place<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>9\/19\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Winnipeg, MB<\/td>\n<td>Canada Life Centre<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>10\/24\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Manchester, UK<\/td>\n<td>AO Arena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>10\/27\/2026<\/td>\n<td>London, UK<\/td>\n<td>The O2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>11\/1\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Birmingham, UK<\/td>\n<td>Utilita Arena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>11\/2\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Glasgow, UK<\/td>\n<td>OVO Hydro<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>11\/4\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Belfast, UK<\/td>\n<td>SSE Arena Belfast<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>11\/5\/2026<\/td>\n<td>Dublin, IE<\/td>\n<td>3Arena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<p><em>*Festival dates<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Openers on this year&#8217;s tour include Clint Black, Randy Houser, Scotty McCreery, Kip Moore, Ian Munsick, Jon Pardi, Drew Baldridge, Chayce Beckham, Carter Faith, Alexandra Kay, Parker McCollum, Walker Montgomery, and Emily Ann Roberts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source entertainment-focus.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cody Johnson has released a cover of Merle Haggard&#8217;s \u2018Footlights&#8217;, to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Country legend&#8217;s passing. As an avid Haggard fan, Johnson has paid tribute to him numerous times, acknowledging that he was one of his biggest musical influences. \u201cMerle was a poet,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhen I&#8217;m happy, when I&#8217;m sad, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2263404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[333504],"class_list":["post-2362363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-cody-johnson"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Cody-Johnson-launches-his-Live-26-tour-this-weekend.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2362363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2362364,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362363\/revisions\/2362364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2263404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2362363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2362363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2362363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}