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It is with a heavy heart that the music industry, and the world, says goodbye to one of the greatest female vocalists of all time today. Etta James, the legendary soul singer most famously known for her 1960 rendition of the softly swaying love song "At Last," passed away in California on Friday (January 20) after a years-long battle with leukemia. James' impact has reverberated through nearly six decades of pop music and will continue to influence future generations of musicians, as evidenced by the umpteen covers of her hits by artists and reality TV talent competition hopefuls alike.
For a taste of this, we've compiled a list of our 10 favorite Etta James covers below. Watch Adele, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson and more pay tribute to the legend after the jump. More »
Posts Tagged ‘Rod Stewart’
Watch Susan Boyle And Leona Lewis In The Helping Haiti “Everybody Hurts” Video
Mon Feb 8 2010 by Robbie Daw
The Helping Haiti video for "Everybody Hurts" is pretty much standard charity single fare—clips of the stars singing interspersed with (often graphic) footage of victims of the disastrous earthquake that rocked Haiti last month.
Simon Cowell organized the project, and wrangled in the likes of Susan Boyle, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Kylie Minogue, Take That, Bon Jovi, Leona Lewis, Robbie Williams, JLS, James Blunt, Joe McElderry and Alexandra Burke to sing on the R.E.M. cover. The song was made available on UK iTunes Sunday, and shot to #1 there by the afternoon.
Catch the video after the jump. (Again, some of the images are graphic.) More »
Simon Cowell organized the project, and wrangled in the likes of Susan Boyle, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Kylie Minogue, Take That, Bon Jovi, Leona Lewis, Robbie Williams, JLS, James Blunt, Joe McElderry and Alexandra Burke to sing on the R.E.M. cover. The song was made available on UK iTunes Sunday, and shot to #1 there by the afternoon.
Catch the video after the jump. (Again, some of the images are graphic.) More »
Hear The All Star Helping Haiti Version Of “Everybody Hurts”
Tue Feb 2 2010 by Robbie Daw
BBC 1 Radio premiered the Simon Cowell-organized all star cover version of "Everybody Hurts"—billed as Helping Haiti—this morning. Among the singers who lent vocals to the track are Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Susan Boyle, Take That, Rod Stewart, Mika, Bon Jovi, James Blunt and Cheryl Cole, as well as X Factor alums Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Joe McElderry and JLS.
The track itself, produced by Steve Robson, stays pretty faithful to R.E.M.'s original 1992 version. And, of course, the inner Anglophile in us is reveling in the fact that this marks the first time all five original members of Take That have appeared on a song together since Robbie Williams split from the seminal Brit boy band in 1995. (Though only Gary Barlow and Robbie appear to have prominent lines here.)
Hop below to hear the new Helping Haiti version of "Everybody Hurts." More »
The track itself, produced by Steve Robson, stays pretty faithful to R.E.M.'s original 1992 version. And, of course, the inner Anglophile in us is reveling in the fact that this marks the first time all five original members of Take That have appeared on a song together since Robbie Williams split from the seminal Brit boy band in 1995. (Though only Gary Barlow and Robbie appear to have prominent lines here.)
Hop below to hear the new Helping Haiti version of "Everybody Hurts." More »
Seven “Love Songs” That Are Probably (OK, Definitely) Inappropriate Mixtape Fodder
Thu Feb 12 2009 by Lucas Jensen
Back in my school days, Valentine’s Day was a time for exchanging cheap perforated Valentines cards and inedible Necco hearts, and punishing the unpopular kids by “forgetting” to give them anything. (I was perhaps one of those unpopular kids.) If you were really lucky you got a mixtape from a girl, and I did get a few in my day, even if they were from girl-space-friends and not girlfriends. What was disturbing was the presence of “Every Breath You Take” on said mixtapes, given it’s the kind of love song that John Wayne Gacy might write. Even Sting himself says it’s a paean to controlling someone:
Flea Gets Himself Out Of The Faces Reunion Rumors
Thu Jan 22 2009 by Maura
Spokespeople for Rod Stewart and Flea have both denied to Billboard that the hyperactive Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist would be filling in for the deceased Ronnie Lane during a forthcoming Faces reunion, with Stewart’s flack going the extra mile and saying that despite Ron Wood’s claims that he and Rod went on a debaucherous, songwriting-filled vacation over the Christmas holiday, there were no plans for the band to reunite and tour at all in the near future. Someone’s got a lot of explaining to do, or at least a couple of expense vouchers to reclassify!
Did Any Of Rock’s Long-Standing Icons Not Make A Poor Aesthetic Choice During The ’80s?
Thu Aug 14 2008 by Maura
My post on James Brown’s “Living In America” reminded me of a sorta-sketched-out theory I have about the evolution, and devolution, of recent years’ musical landscape: There are few musical icons from the glory days of rock and pop who didn’t make at least one indescribably awful career choice during the 1980s. (Some of the artists haven’t even recovered yet.) Evidence for this theory after the jump, along with one striking exception who leads me to believe that the product of an idle mind forced to hear one too many Rod Stewart covers while waiting on line in Walgreens might actually be fact.
Rod Stewart’s Country Dreams Denied By J Records, Devil
Thu May 22 2008 by anthonyjmiccio
Rod Stewart will undoubtedly start writing “slave” on his cheek and checking into “this whole Internet thing” now that J Records won’t let him record an album of country standards. What did you expect, Rod? Did you think you’d be able to luck into some “one for you, one for me” trade-off in this economy? Or even a “four for you, one for me” deal? It’s been 15 years since Unplugged…and Seated upended your pop career, and over five since you sold what was left of your career for a Great American Songbook. While I’d love to see you do something more daring (I’m not a big Black Keys fan, but I’d be curious to hear the musical outcome of your bromance), you’ll probably have to shut up and make that Christmas album.
Slash Finally Realizes Weiland Is Velvet Revolver’s Weakest Link
Mon Mar 31 2008 by anthonyjmiccio
Slash promises that Velvet Revolver will record a third album, with or (please please please) without Weiland. “We don’t know how or when but the core four guys will continue,” he was quoted as saying. It’s a heartwarming response to the bitchfits his estranged compatriot has been issuing to the world, as there’s no reason The Band Formerly Known As Guns N’ Roses should back a grating, obnoxious hack who can’t get his pipes around anything on Appetite For Destruction except “It’s So Easy,” making him more of a rock dodo than a rock dinosaur. But now that The Big Empty might be out of the picture, which grating, obnoxious hack (with more vocal range) should replace him?
Thu Feb 21 2008 by Jess Harvell
Indie blues dudes the Black Keys are tentatively down with the idea of doing a collabo with Naugahyde-y, septuagenarian-beloved crooner Rod Stewart after the sixtysomething made eyes at them during a recent interview. More »
Happy Birthday, Rod Stewart (Maybe You’re Not As Awful As We Thought)
Thu Jan 10 2008 by dangibs
Happy 63rd birthday, Rod Stewart. You’re going through an odd era as far as your status among critics goes, with appreciation for the Faces on the rise, while nearly everything that followed only seeming to chase trends and, in the words of Rolling Stone, “become a bilious self-parody.” While one would be justified in questioning a tribute to you, considering your later work–including the seemingly endless tribute to the “American Songbook,” which was wildly popular with my mother-in-law and sold incredibly well for being a sign of the apocalypse–everyone, no matter how severe their aesthetic crimes, deserves recognition on their birthday. So here’s ours…
