Dwayne Johnson Fans Stunned by Country Duet with Kelly Clarkson (Even Though He Sang in ‘Moana’)

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson showed off his vocal chops on yesterday’s (Oct. 17) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show. During the Kellyoke segment, the talk show host welcomed the former wrestler to the stage to duet “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’” by the late Loretta Lynn — and fans couldn’t believe his singing voice, despite it being all over Moana. Forgot about that, didn’t you?

The performance came two weeks after the famed country singer’s death on October 4 at the age of 90. During the course of her career, Lynn had four songs on Billboard’s Hot 100, including, “The Pill”, “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, “After the Fire is Gone”, and “I Want to Be Free”. In 1980, her life was depicted in the film Coal Miner’s Daughter, starring Sissy Spacek as Lynne.

Johnson’s performance of her 1967 hit didn’t come out of nowhere. He told Clarkson that he has long admired Lynne’s music and, as a child, dreamt of being a country singer.

“I love Loretta Lynn, I really did. I loved her growing up,” Johnson said.

He shared that he grew up on “traditional country music” and lived Nashville when he was 15 years old. At the time, Johnson would “walk the streets” singing country classics, like Hank Williams Jr.’s “Old Habits”, in hopes of somebody discovering him as the next big talent.

However, he said, “It didn’t happen for me.”

Viewers were stunned by Johnson belting Lynn. One commentator on YouTube wrote, “This is unexpected, didn’t know Dwayne sang until now and loved his low voice that matches with Kelly’s high notes” and another tweeted, “I would have never guessed The Rock could sing.”

But here’s the thing, this isn’t the first time Johnson has brought out his velvety vocals. Back in 2016, the actor showed off his talent as the cocky demi-god Maui in Disney’s animated musical Moana, in which Johnson performed the solo song “You’re Welcome”. The catchy tune was released as a single and still manages to resurface on TikTok every now and then.

That said: who knew he was a country boy?