John Mayer surprised audiences on his Australian tour by performing an unexpected cover of Beyonce’s love song ‘XO.’ The singer and his fans enjoyed the performance so much that he just released a studio recording on iTunes.

The crooner’s cover takes the mid-tempo song and slows it down even further. He strips the song of its synths and focuses on just his voice and acoustic guitar. While Beyonce’s original is undeniably dreamy and romantic as-is, John managed to tap into those emotions and transform the song into a sweet melodic number, providing a new perspective on the tune.

The ‘Paradise Valley’ singer obviously has a lot of respect for Bey, as he gives ‘XO’ the justice it deserves. Not to mention his Twitter shout-out to her talent.

We agree with John on Beyonce’s ‘XO’ being “real and raw,” and have to add that he did a pretty good job of hitting both those characteristics in his cover as well.

Check out John’s version of ‘XO’ below.

More From PopCrush