Over the past few years, Lainey Wilson has proven that she is as comfortable performing covers as she is performing songs she wrote. Today, she’s paying tribute to the late great Kris Kristofferson with a cover of “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”
Unfortunately, fans won’t be able to find Wilson’s version of the Kristofferson classic on YouTube or other digital streaming platforms. Instead, it’s an Amazon Original. As a result, it is only available on Amazon Music. Those who don’t have an Amazon Music subscription can hear a snippet of the song below.
Wilson didn’t deliver a straightforward cover of “Help Me Make It Through the Night.” Instead, she put her unique spin on the song. She leaned heavily into the classic country style with the instrumentation and arrangement. Even just listening to the sample, fans will be able to hear that she seems to be pushing her voice to the limits on this song.
Lukas Nelson’s version:
Lainey Wilson on Her Kris Kristofferson Cover
Lainey Wilson spoke about her cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night” in a statement. “I used to sing this song growing up on my karaoke machine until the CD was so scratched up that only the chorus would play,” she recalled. “So many people have done their own version of this song. To me, that says a lot about Kris Kristofferson and his unique storytelling,” she added.
“It was simple yet poetic, and it helped push boundaries in the country music genre,” she said of the song. “He was a pioneer and a force for the outlaws in country. I really hope to make Kris proud with this version,” Wilson concluded.
Wilson joins a long line of artists to cover the song. Kristofferson wrote it and included it on his 1970 debut album Kristofferson. Later that year, Sammi Smith recorded the most commercially successful version of the song. Her rendition topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Since then, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Elvis Presley, Tyler Childers, Willie Nelson, and Ray Stevens covered the song, to name a few.
