Everybody Hurts

Charles on 5 new versions of the R.E.M. classic

Given the times we live in, perhaps it’s no surprise that “Everybody Hurts” has made a resurgence. The song never went away, of course. The gorgeous centerpiece of R.E.M.’s 1992 Automatic for the People has stayed in the mix through the band’s enduring original and covers by folks like Joe Cocker, Patti Smith, The Corrs, and Tangerine Dream. It brought the house down for Father Ray Kelly on Britain’s Got Talent and a duetting Pink and Kelly Clarkson at the American Music Awards. It served as the source for an all-star 2010 benefit single after the Haiti earthquake and became a COVID response from Morgan James, Shovels & Rope, and the inimitable Puddles Pity Party. It reappears in times of collective mourning, just as individuals turn to it for comfort in their own troubled times. And it’s made its way to the bedroom guitars, living-room pianos, and singing circles of people whose names are less famous but who find sustenance in the song’s loving message, sturdy melody, and graceful rhythm.

But, over the last year, this hymn of reassurance – which R.E.M. biographer Peter Ames Carlin calls “a love letter to every vulnerable person within the embrace of its sound” – has reappeared in multiple noteworthy takes that each have lifted my spirit. The first one I heard was from Rev. Al Green, who released his a few weeks after 2024’s terrible Election Day and which felt like such a tremendous gift. I earlier tried to communicate the significance of that gift in what I wrote about Green’s version (words that I’ve reprinted below) and about my similar excitement for this year’s version from Kam Franklin and Blacknintendo. Somewhere along the way, I discovered Aloe Blacc’s smoking take, and now both Lucius and Darius Rucker have dropped new versions in the last few weeks. I’m not sure the extent to which this call-and-response has been intentional. But I’m sure glad that “Everybody Hurts” is back in our mix – and my mix – in ways that feel both necessary and surprising. Here are a few of the artists helping us all hang on in a moment when so many of us need the encouragement.

Aloe Blacc – “Everybody Hurts” (from Rock My Soul: Volume II, 2024)

Aloe Blacc dropped two E.P.s of ‘90s rock songs in 2024, where he situated songs from Oasis, Soundgarden, No Doubt, and others in the R&B-rooted pop that made him famous. “Everybody Hurts” might seem like the most obvious gesture in this regard, given the influence of Otis Redding on R.E.M.’s drummer Bill Berry, who wrote an embryonic version that he then brought to the band. But Blacc reimagines the song as effectively as he does any of the other source material. The first change is obvious right from the beginning, with Blacc turning it from 6/8 gospel into a simmering 4/4 slow drag: the snapping drums and piercing guitar fills giving the song a pulse that turns it into something approaching a call to action. Blacc’s soft insistence makes the lyric a reminder of community responsibility to take care of each other, making this “Everybody Hurts” into a march that recalls the heyday of Movement-era R&B and the gospel traditions from which they sprung. (It’s not far from Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me,” a clear predecessor for both song and artist.) Just when Blacc’s “Everybody Hurts” seems to settle into the thick grooves of Memphis’ Stax and Hi heyday, with humming organ and swooning strings. But then a screaming lead guitar emerges from the mix, calling across to the ‘90s rockers of Blacc’s inspiration and adding urgency to Blacc’s repetitions of the title phrase as a choir fills in around him to bear witness. Everybody hurts, so it’s everybody’s responsibility to take care of the ones who need it.

Al Green – “Everybody Hurts” (single, 2024)

What a blessing. What a great idea. What a remarkable reminder of Rev. Green’s astonishing gifts as a singer, both in terms of the voice that now exhibits the deepened resonance of his age and the interpretive abilities that transform every song he considers, especially the already-famous ones. What a song: R.E.M.’s aching anthem of love and heartsickness that offers each listener assurance and shelter. What a band: an all-star group of Memphis musicians (including several members of the legendary Hi Rhythm Section) that slides easily and effectively into the gentle groove that Green and his background singers build to gospel heights. What a time to be alive, to bear witness to this remarkable recording. What a time to be alive, to need it as badly as we do. What a gift, from one of our greatest vocalists who we are so lucky to still have with us. What a track. What an amazing track. (originally published on 11/25/2024)

Kam Franklin and Blacknintendo – “Everybody Hurts” (from Mad Black Woman, 2025)

There’s something both fitting and moving about the fact that we’ve gotten remarkable, soul-rooted versions of R.E.M’s “Everybody Hurts” in consecutive years. Last year’s came from Rev. Green, and this new knockout is from Houston’s great Kam Franklin, who records with the Suffers and solo as well as maintaining a presence as activist and educator. Collaborating with Houston pianist and producer Blacknintendo, Franklin makes the song into a midnight prayer, foregoing the swelling climaxes of the R.E.M. original (or Green’s version) in favor of spare, humming gospel that rises only near the end when overdubbed responders urge us (and perhaps themselves) to “hold on.” It’s a showcase for Franklin, whose voice both trembles and assures as it fills the expansive space made by Blacknintendo’s keys. A beautiful and necessary addition to the “Everybody Hurts” canon that keeps growing by the year. Especially in our current nightmare, I will not mind if this is an annual trend. (originally published on 8/4/2025)

Lucius – “Everybody Hurts” (live at Sirius/XM) (single, 2025)

The two members of Lucius stand facing each other. Dressed in matching red outfits, they sing both to and with each other in the trembling harmonies that have made them so distinctive. Backed only by guitarist Peter Lalish and drummer Dan Molad, who each add responsive background vocals, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe offer an “Everybody Hurts” that cradles the song in a late-night embrace that draws equally from the Everly Brothers and Staple Singers. Spare and lovely, the song’s traditional climax here draws inward, as though the group is moving in to surround us even more protectively. Lucius regularly closes shows with the song, in what Laessig calls “our moment of communion with the audience.” Even from a digital distance, this version draws each listener into the same fellowship.

Darius Rucker – “Everybody Hurts” (live on TikTok) (2025)

To coincide with his announcement of supergroup Howl Owl Howl with the Black Crowes’ Steve Gorman and R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Rucker launched a series of TikTok posts where he plays versions of songs that he wishes he’d written. He began with “Everybody Hurts,” a perfect fit for his supple baritone and the gift for big melodies that link his Blowfish breakthrough with his run as a country hitmaker. But he, like Lucius, is after something more intimate here. He straightens the rhythm into 4/4, as Aloe Blacc does, but his delivery draws most from the country roots that R.E.M. recognized even in Berry’s first demo. Low in his range, singing quietly, backed only by acoustic guitar, Rucker only makes it through the first verse before the video cuts out. (I really wish he’d release a full version.) The informality of Rucker’s performance emphasizes how “Everybody Hurts” – for all of its cathartic grandeur – has always worked best as a conversation between singer and listener. First Michael Stipe and then so many others have reached out for those whose “nights are [theirs] alone” and who need someone to share, or at least acknowledge, the burdens they carry. Including those who are alone in their room, scrolling through TikTok, and landing on an old friend who greets them with warmth and kindness.

@dariusruckerIn honor of announcing my new band @howlowlhowl with Mike Mills & Steve Gorman here’s episode 1 of Songs I Wish I’d Written

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I can’t imagine that we’re done hearing new versions of “Everybody Hurts.” And I really hope we’re not. Regardless of performer or arrangement, outside of setting or context, this remarkable song reminds each of us of some of music’s most important lessons: We’re not alone. We need each other. And it’s possible to find beauty amidst the catastrophic. Or, as Rev. Green said when his “Everybody Hurts” was released in 2024, “There’s always a presence of light that can break through those times of darkness.” We just need to keep singing and, crucially, to keep listening. That’s what songs like this do. They always have and – God willing – they always will.

So, hold on.

You’re not alone.

Now it’s time to sing along.

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