Luke Bell’s “The Bullfighter” Becomes a Country Music Standard
One artist covering another artist’s song is a form of tribute. Multiple performers covering the same song is when it becomes a “standard,” meaning a song that multiple artists perform and record. We’ve seen this happen with Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up.” A couple of years ago, it was “Jersey Giant” by Tyler Childers that many artists were recording since Childers wouldn’t record it himself.
This is the fate that has now befallen Luke Bell’s song “The Bullfighter,” originally released on his 2016 self-titled album. Luke Bell passed away tragically in 2022. But as people who’ve followed along ever since can attest, his legacy and music have only grown in the wake of his passing. The recent popularity of “The Bullfighter” is a perfect example.
Shortly after Luke Bell passed away, it was “The Bullfighter” that friend and mentor JP Harris chose to perform from the stage of the Ryman Auditorium at the 2022 Americana Music Awards. Later that year when many friends and musicians gathered in Nashville to remember Luke, “The Bullfighter” was the song Luke’s sister and fellow performer Jane Bell sang.
Now here in the first couple of months of 2025, a host of artists have stepped up to pay touching tribute to Luke Bell through “The Bullfighter.”
On January 17th, U.K.-based songwriter and performer Jack Browning released his rendition of the song.
“You may or may not know that I am also a portrait painter, and in December 2023 I painted a portrait of Luke Bell,” Browning tells Saving Country Music. “That painting took me on the wildest journey, culminating with my talking with his family and with the original painting going to his family’s home in Wyoming. I’ve played the song in my set for years, and recorded this cover some time ago. I was undecided on what to do with it, but decided to mark the adventure the art took me on by releasing it.”
Joel Timmons just released his new album Psychedelic Surf Rock. Timmons is best known as the guitar player for Maya de Vitry, and also happens to be married to Shelby Means of Molly Tuttle’s Golden Highway. On the album is a rendition of “The Bullfighter” recorded in tribute. The track also features Cary Ann Hearst of Shovels & Rope fame.
“I met Bell in the music scene in Nashville, and he stood out as a genuine cowboy in a sea of imposters,” Timmons says. “I heard him sing ‘The Bullfighter’ at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge and was struck by his voice and the plain-spoken poetry of the lyrics.”
Ever since surging Western star Noeline Hoffman has been touring around after Zach Bryan recorded her song “Purple Gas” and vaulted her into the country music conversation, Luke Bell’s “The Bullfighter” has been a part of her repertoire. On Friday, February 21st, she released a studio version of the song with an accompanying video.
“To be scared half to death, or all alone, or run ragged, or knocked down into the dirt but you get up and do it anyway, face it head on, allow your determination to outweigh your fear, never let up, follow your truth, make art of a battle – that’s bravery. Perseverance. Grit. Cowboy. That’s ‘The Bullfighter,‘” Noeline Hoffman says.
A merciless, discriminating search for authenticity in country and Western music will lead you strait to south Alberta’s Noeline Hoffman, who traded in working on ranches to become a Western singer and songwriter. There’s perhaps nobody better suited to interpret a Luke Bell song than Noeline.
“’The Bullfighter’ has become a friend of mine—a shot of courage when I’ve needed it the most. I never had the pleasure of meeting Luke Bell before he passed, but from guitar pulls to stages across North America, performing this cover has led me to making dear friendships and hearing stories from those who knew and loved him worth their weight in gold. Fans of Luke’s coming up to me after a show and telling me just how important his music is to them.”
As a young, newcomer from Canada, Noeline has had to stand in front of crowds of strangers, and endear herself to them. Their shared appreciation for Luke Bell is where many have found a connection.
“It has been a gift to learn about Luke and the wild, inspired character he was, as well as witness his impact in these ways,” Hoffman says. “Luke wrote songs that will last forever. Though my journey is just beginning in many ways, this song has guided me through the sticks so far on my mission to do the same. Recording this cover is my way of honoring Luke’s legacy.”
Three artists from three separate countries have released versions of “The Bullfighter” over the last two months. Who will be next? Actually Jake Stringer has his own version released on February 27th, with more probably on the way. You favorite might still be Luke’s original. But Luke Bell’s legacy living through the songs and music of others into the future is no longer a hope. It is a reality through “The Bullfighter.”
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February 25, 2025 @ 9:25 am
I’m in a thing with a discord I am part of called Music League. Basically the idea is there’s like 20 people in the league and each round is a prompt. Prompts will be like “submit a song with a color in the title” or “submit a song about a breakup”. Things like that. Then everyone votes on their favorite songs from the round.
I don’t do great in the league because I submit so many country songs and well that’s not everyone’s favorite. But I submitted The Bullfighter for a round and it was remarkable how many people commented some version of I don’t love country music but I love this. It’s such an incredible song that really connects with people.
February 25, 2025 @ 9:55 am
“The Bullfighter” is as timeless as Spaghetti Westerns and Jack Browning’s portrait could be of Lee Van Cleef. This song could have been recorded 200 years ago and will hopefully still be sung in 200 more.
February 25, 2025 @ 10:22 am
Luke is Townes.
February 25, 2025 @ 12:51 pm
Great song. Whatever helps keeping the memory and the music alive. I listened to the Luke Bell album the other day.. I believe it was to listen to this song, and ended up just listening to the whole album.. Quintessential.
February 25, 2025 @ 1:41 pm
Back in 2015/16, Luke was playing the Cornelia Fort Pickin’ Party (do they even still do that out there?), and lit into “The Bullfighter.” He decided, about the 2nd or 3rd time through the chorus, to change the lyrics to “I am the bravest Bullfighter to ever wear Depends.” I still remember the shit-eating grin on Luke’s face as he looked back at Leo Grassl, who was on Pedal Steel that night. “Y’hear my joke, Leo? See, I said, ‘ever wore Depends,’ instead of the original lyrics I wrote…” Leo just shook his head and rolled his eyes, and with that signature, wry grin of his, said, “Yeah, I heard ya, Luke…”
February 25, 2025 @ 2:09 pm
It is a great song, no doubt. I think calling it a standard is premature. No big names have recorded it, it’s still obscure. But i get that you are seeing interest growing in the song. Perhaps a bigger name might eventually record it. And it’s true that Townes Van Zandt was quite an underground phenomenon prior to Willie recording Pancho and Lefty. And thanks to that it is a standard these days.
Wagon Wheel is another standard that started with these obscure scrappy kids no one knew of, listening to a Dylan fragment and polishing it up and putting it out there. Then Darius Rucker came along, grabbed it and now beyond a doubt Wagon Wheel is a standard. So maybe we are almost there with this one…
The more I think about Bell and his whole story, the more im reminded of Gary Stewart. They both had potential to be stars, but neither of them could stomach the idea . .at all. Stewart avoided big gigs like the plague, instead he immersed himself in the obscure dive bars where the audience was always small. The same can be said for Bell, he gave a go to the big time with tours opening for Hank and Dwight, but ultimately he resisted that life, preferring to be more low key. And both men dealt with crippling mental health issues, and both died relatively young.
I think if Bell had lived on, we might have gotten more music out of him, but I think he would’ve continued bucking fame.
One things true, most of us discovered him here on SCM first. Kyle does have a knack for finding talent early on.
February 25, 2025 @ 6:21 pm
I’m just not sure what a “big name” is any more. Evan Horner was one of the first guys to cover “Jersey Giant” by Tyler Childers, and covering that song is what blew his entire career up. Noeline Hoffman has 820,000 unique monthly listeners on Spotify at the moment. Would we consider Colter Wall a “big name”? Most people wouldn’t, but he’s more popular than most 2nd tier artists on Music Row record labels, while doing nothing to promote himself, and barely touring.
I definitely understand what you’re saying. But our definitions and perspectives are not calibrated to really understand the relative “popularity” of anyone at the moment. Most arena acts these days are not household names, neither are some folks with a dozen #1’s on country radio that can’t sell out a theater.
February 27, 2025 @ 8:22 am
When I think of a “Standard” I think of a song that bar bands regularly play because it’s reached that level of popularity and familarity with random audiences. I would say Jersey Giant is close to being one in cover bands with younger crowds.
February 25, 2025 @ 6:47 pm
Goes back to a point i made awhile ago. No common listening platforms where everyone is on the same listening page. Radio had historically been that platform, but country radio abandoned us. Now we seek music in other corners and formats. Spotify ain’t my format so a million Spotify listens mean nothing in my world.
It’s so siloed these days.
February 26, 2025 @ 12:45 pm
“Spotify listens mean nothing in my world” But in the real, not anecdotal, world they do matter. It is the biggest and most reflective way to view popularity at the moment. You can’t accurately comment on such things as this because you’re out of the loop.
February 26, 2025 @ 4:39 pm
Jake,
Your laser focused on one sentence of mine. No I don’t use Spotify. I tend to use Amazon and YouTube as well as my own vast digital library for music on the go. At home I’m mainly a vinyl purist as I’ve been for years.
My real point is that we ( meaning country music fans, from California to Texas, to the Midwest to the eastern seaboard) at one time had a commonality in discovering and listening to country music, and that was terrestrial radio. When Willie or Hank or George had a new record out, EVERYONE coast to coast was familiar with it. And when new artists were being touted by the industry, everybody heard them, whether or not you liked it. And when you turned on the CMAs or ACMs or whatever, we all were familiar with the people featured. Thus my point, a commonality we all shared.
These days terrestrial radio of course exists, but so does a dozen or more streaming platforms. Not to mention Sirius XM, Touch Tunes, and other options. Most listeners curate their own playlists and when they listen to music ( often on the go) that playlist is literally all they listen to. With so many options at our whim, we end up all listening to different stuff than our neighbor. Thus what i mean when i say a siloed environment. So it becomes harder to define a true ” star” anymore. Kids listen to music primarily through Tik- Tok, adults more so other options. It’s a major cultural shift in how we consume music compared to past generations. But you can’t pin any one format down as the singular collective shared listening experience anymore. FYI I’m not the only one out there observing this phenomenon, others are making the same determination. Whether or not I use Spotify myself is inconsequential to my point. That is all.
February 27, 2025 @ 10:41 am
Once again, it’s amazing to me how can someone invest so much time and effort in writing such a pretty song and then swing and miss at the single most important part because the actual pronunciation of “BULLfighter” doesn’t fit his choice of melody like the clunky “bullFIghTER” which he ends up with. And they never think “this ruins the song, how about changing the text, the melody or the pronunciation” as if they are not the actual person in charge of the text, the melody and the singing. And it’s never in an insignificant word on some second verse, it just has to be the most important part of the song. Pretty amazing.
February 27, 2025 @ 6:22 pm
Erez
Consider that country music is by definition a music originating in the rural experience in the United States of America. Rural people have very unique dialects, accents and patterns of speech and also pronunciations that often vary a bit depending upon geographic region. Bell had a Western drawl to a degree. Being as it is a folk music, writers take a bit of license in where and how they place emphasis on words. Country speak, in other words. Not a thing wrong with it, and to many its a badge of honor.
February 28, 2025 @ 1:00 am
That’s a nice spin on the matter, and had any of the rest of the song be sung in such a way I would’ve accepted that, but seeing that he sings the entire song straight up and only mis-emphasise the bullfighter line because to fit his melody, I put it as a songwriting crutch rather than an accent thing. I’m not saying the song or the singers are bad, and I realize not everyone is Sinatra, but assuming Luke Bell wrote both words and music, he could’ve made the required alternation, and chose not to, which is very puzzling to me.
February 27, 2025 @ 1:26 pm
Huh??
I’ve heard Luke Bell and three other artists sing the song and not one of them put the stress on the THIRD syllable in bullfighTER. (But even if one of them did, I probably would not be amazed.)
February 28, 2025 @ 12:56 am
It’s most pronounced on the Jack Browning version. Luke Bell’s is slightly faster and he puts less stress on the syllables.
March 4, 2025 @ 11:42 pm
Amazing song!
Didn’t used to be my favorite song on Luke’s album, but now I’m changing my mind.
Actually, when it’s said and done, all the tracks on that album are my favorites.