Michelle Branch and Maren Morris Reunite on Goodbye to You

Michelle Branch and Maren Morris have released a new duet version of "Goodbye to You," the song that defined Branch's early career and soundtracked a generation of reality TV. The track is out now via BMG, and it comes with a music video that recreates the prom scene from MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, featuring Kristin Cavallari, who rose to fame on that same show. If you were alive and watching cable in the early 2000s, this one is going to hit.

The rework is not a straight re-recording. Branch and Morris trade verses and split the song's themes of change and letting go between them, turning a solo breakup anthem into a conversation. Morris has long cited Branch as a formative influence, and that framing comes through in how the two talk about the project. "Michelle was really encouraging to let me make it my own," Morris said. "Her songwriting has always been ahead of its time." Branch returned the compliment, saying she actually prefers Morris's take to the original.

The two first previewed the collaboration when Branch made a surprise appearance at Morris's 10th-anniversary celebration of her debut album Hero at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium last month. A public moment between two Grammy winners in that room signals that this is a real creative partnership, not a promotional stunt.

What the Laguna Beach Video Brings to This Release

The video is doing real work here. Laguna Beach season one famously featured "Goodbye to You" during a limo scene where cast members sang along, which helped push the song into cultural memory beyond radio. By recreating that moment with Cavallari present, the video closes a loop that has been open for more than 20 years.

Cavallari called the shoot "a fun, full-circle experience," and that framing is accurate. The video is not just nostalgia bait. It is a deliberate recontextualization of a song that was already layered with cultural meaning before this version existed. For a 2002 track, that is a strong move.

How This Fits Into Branch's Bigger 2025 Picture

"Goodbye to You" is the second confirmed track from Everywhere and Back Again, an EP marking 25 years in music for Branch, due November 6 via BMG. The project revisits songs from across her catalog through new recordings with guest collaborators. The first track was a reworked version of "The Game of Love" reuniting Branch with New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander, a pairing that originally produced her first Grammy win.

The EP release arrives alongside Branch's Everywhere and Back Again Tour, a nearly 20-date fall run that sold out nationwide within a week. The demand was strong enough to prompt a 17-date 2027 leg already. That is not nostalgia-circuit numbers. That is an artist with a genuinely active audience.

For context on the original song: "Goodbye to You" peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2002. Branch's debut album The Spirit Room sold three million copies worldwide and was certified double-platinum in the U.S. She went on to win a Grammy for "The Game of Love" with Carlos Santana, which reached No. 5 on the Hot 100, and topped the Hot Country Songs chart with the Wreckers in 2006. Morris, for her part, has her own crossover credibility, reaching No. 5 on the Hot 100 with "The Middle" alongside Zedd and Grey.

Two Grammy winners with proven pop and country crossover reach, a legacy song with built-in cultural placement, a video that taps genuine nostalgia without being lazy about it, and a tour that already sold out. Every piece of this is working together.

For independent artists and creators, this release is worth studying. Branch spent years out of the mainstream spotlight and is now engineering a return that is coherent from the ground up. The EP format lets her revisit her catalog while bringing in collaborators who add contemporary reach. The video concept is rooted in real cultural history, not manufactured sentiment. The tour was priced and marketed to convert. There is a playbook here.

Watch the "Goodbye to You" video now, and if you are tracking Branch's tour dates or looking for events in the culture space worth following, check out our [events calendar](/events) for what is coming through.