Olivia Rodrigo once again worked her magic on the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, performing an exquisite cover of CMAT’s ‘When a Good Man Cries’ on Tuesday (2 June).
The pop star, who is set to release her third LP, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, on June 12, surprised listeners by incorporating a CMAT track into the session alongside her performance of her new single, “The Cure.”
The moment wasn’t missed by CMAT (real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson), who responded with a playful Instagram post, writing: “She sang better than me so now I’m toast.”
Fans responded to the cover, and clips began circulating online. On Reddit, a listener described the cover as “so random and amazing,” while another praised it as “two worlds in one,” suggesting that the cover could introduce CMAT’s music to a wider audience.
“When a Good Man Cries” is featured on CMAT’s critically acclaimed blockbuster record Euro-Country, released in summer 2025. The album, the 30-year-old’s third studio album, was nominated for a Mercury Prize and won the Ivor Novello Award for Album of the Year at the ceremony in May.
Her profile continues to grow through appearances at major festivals, including her appearance on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in 2025 and the viral success of her Eurocountry single ‘Take a Sexy Picture of Me’. The latter inspired a TikTok dance trend called “Woke Macarena,” which earned CMAT its first appearance on the Official UK Singles Chart (peaking at #42).
Rodrigo’s performance comes at a particularly meaningful moment for CMAT. The Irish singer recently publicly addressed the body-shaming comments she received after her set on BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend on May 23, sharing her frustration and “deep sadness” at the scrutiny surrounding female artists performing. While the post sparked an outpouring of support from fans and artists alike, Rodrigo has also recently spoken out against online comments about a series of babydoll dresses she wore during her current album campaign. “I think this really shows how we’ve really normalized pedophilia in our culture,” Rodrigo told The New York Times’ Popcast last week. “And it’s just this rhetoric that we’re raised as girls from an early age: ‘Don’t wear that, and men will sexualize your body, so it’s your fault.'” So weird. ”
Rodrigo is no stranger to the live lounge format. During her final BBC Radio 1 appearance in 2023, the singer put her own spin on Noah Kahan’s smash hit ‘Stick Season’, which quickly became one of the most-watched covers of that year’s Live Lounge Month.
The 23-year-old released the album’s lead single “Drop Dead” in April, ushering in the You Seem Pretty Sad… era. Accompanied by a video shot at the Palace of Versailles in Paris, the song debuted at the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Official UK Singles Chart.
Watch Rodrigo cover “When a Good Man Cries” above and perform “The Cure” in Live Lounge below.
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