Scotty McCreery‘s cover of “Hello Darlin’” has become one of the most well-known versions of the Conway Twitty classic, and for a good reason.

Since he auditioned for American Idol in 2011 (and eventually won), McCreery has tipped his metaphorical hat to the country stars who came before him. He’s always made it his mission to sing and share timeless country songs such as George Strait‘s “The Chair” and Jamey Johnson‘s “In Color”

“Hello Darlin’” has been a go-to piece in McCreery’s setlist for quite some time. One of his most notable performances was at the Grand Ole Opry a few years ago, and footage of that performance went viral.

“I think [that] introduced me to a lot of new folks,” McCreery said in a recent video about what “Hello Darlin’” means to him and his fans.

He continued to say,“It became a song that people at my concerts, at meet and greets, or online before shows, will be like ‘Please tell me you’re singing Hello Darlin’.’ We’ve started doing it regularly because of that.”

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McCreery made his Opry debut 15 years ago and has been a member for two years. He celebrated the former milestone by delivering a special, extended performance at the Opry on June 11th.

Much to fans’ delight, McCreery performed “Hello Darlin’” at the Opry that day. The full-circle moment was captured on video, which McCreery posted a portion of nearly two months later, on August 4th. That video has already generated over 2.6 million views on Instagram as of press time.

“Safe to say this one belongs on the @opry stage,” McCreery captioned the clip.

The video received widespread praise from McCreery’s followers, with some of them commenting:

“You are incredible!! Takes me back to my childhood hearing Conway playing on the radio.”

“Great job handling this classic.”

“You are as good as the day you won American Idol – if not better.”

“I love this song so much but your version just hits different…amazing cover of an amazing song.”

“You would make Conway proud I love hearing you sing Hello Darlin Makes my heart smile.”

“Thank you Scotty for keeping this legend of a song alive.”

“I will never get tired of hearing you sing this song.”

“The most perfect cover of such an iconic song.”

You can enjoy McCreery’s Opry performance of “Hello Darlin’” in the video below!

Scotty McCreery Just Released A Full-Length Recording Of “Hello Darlin’”

After years of singing “Hello Darlin’” live, Scotty McCreery finally recorded the entire song in the studio. His unforgettable cover is featured on his retrospective album, 15, which was released on July 17th to celebrate his 15 years in the music industry.

Before the album’s debut, McCreery posted a short video of himself singing “Hello Darlin’” in the studio. That clip took off like wildfire and has since generated over 46 million views on Instagram.

Needless to say, fans were thrilled when McCreery released his full recording of “Hello Darlin’” on 15. You can listen to that cover in the video below.