Luke Bryan Says ‘Heck-Yee-Haw-Yes’ After Hannah Everhart Auditions with Johnny Cash Cover on ‘American Idol’

Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie sent Mississippi native Hannah Everhart to Hollywood after she auditioned for American Idol…

Lauren Jo Black

| Posted on

February 21, 2021

7:42 pm

Luke Bryan, Hannah Everhart

Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie sent Mississippi native Hannah Everhart to Hollywood after she auditioned for American Idol with a Johnny Cash cover.

The 17-year-old Mississippi native, who somewhat resembles Perry, tried her hand at Cash’s “Wayfaring Stranger,” a song that appears on the country icon’s 2000 album, American III: Solitary Man.

While she sang the Johnny Cash hit, Bryan interrupted her to say “quit checking us out to see what our reactions are” as it was noticeable that she was paying too much attention to the judges and not enough to her performance.

After her performance, Bryan gushed, “your fifty percent whoops everybody in your little hometown, but if you start going a hundred percent, you’re going to start whooping people on American Idol.”

Following her audition of the Cash song, Everhart revealed that she was originally planning to audition with Etta James’ “At Last!” but she decided to “play it safe” with “Wayfaring Stranger.”

“Why you going to play American Idol safe?” Bryan asked.

“Yeah, give us a little bit of ‘At Last!’,” Perry requested.

During her brief performance of the Etta James hit, Perry joined in to sing the song with her while also boosting her confidence as she consistently complimented her.

“You’re sitting on a goldmine,” Richie told her.

Ultimately, the judges voted to send Everhart to Hollywood.

“Heck-Yee-Haw-Yes,” Bryan exclaimed.

Click above to re-live Hannah Everhart’s American Idol auditon.

Written by

Lauren Jo Black

Lauren Jo Black, a University of Central Florida graduate, has immersed herself in the world of country music for over 15 years. In 2008, she co-founded CountryMusicIsLove, eventually selling it to a major record label in 2015. Following the rebranding of the website to Sounds Like Nashville, Black served as Editor-in-Chief for two and a half years. Currently, she assumes the role of Editor-in-Chief at Country Now and oversees Country Now’s content and digital footprint. Her extensive experience also encompasses her previous role as a Country Music Expert Writer for Answers.com and her work being featured on Forbes.com. She’s been spotlighted among Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. Black also spent time in front of the camera as host of Country Now Live, which brought live music directly to fans in 2021 when the majority of concerts were halted due to the pandemic. During this time, she hosted 24 weeks of live concerts via Country Now Live on Twitch with special guests such as Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Brett Young, and Jon Pardi. Over the course of her career, she has had the privilege of conducting interviews with some of the industry’s most prominent stars, including Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, and many others. Lauren Jo Black is a longtime member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.