Sturgill Simpson covers INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart" at LA's Kia Forum

On Friday night, Sturgill Simpson performed INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart" at LA's Kia Forum. He was playing as his Johnny Blue Skies alter ego alongside the band Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds. The 1988 ballad got a convulsive sax solo midway through, and the group went straight from it into "Brace For Impact (Live A Little)," a song from the 2016 album A Sailor's Guide To Earth.

The tour has been loose enough for surprise covers before. A warm-up show in Nashville last month was built mostly on them. Now that same tour is playing arenas.

Simpson released the album Mutiny After Midnight earlier this year.