There’s no better tribute to a person than to play their music, with that in mind Shana, Chanelle, Amy, and I gathered some of our favorite covers of Michael Jackson songs. That’s right, today we’re covering for Michael, and it’s about time someone did…
“Billie Jean” Chris Cornell
I’m not sure this song was ever meant to be played something reminiscent of a 1996 grunge-alt rock ballad. But after thinking about what the song is really about—Jackson proving to a crazed fan that he is not her baby’s daddy—it kind of makes sense that Chris Cornell turned this dance-pop rhythm and blues into more of a somber tale of a mother and her father-less child. —Amy Williams
“Beat It” Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy is both audacious enough to open an album with a song called “Thriller” (not a cover) and to cover such a monstrous hit as “Beat It,” which they released in 2008 with John Mayer subbing in for Eddie Van Halen. But it was never about upstaging the master: they’re just reverent fan boys who suddenly found themselves with rock star-sized budgets. The video for “Beat It” is essentially one of the most expensive fanvids ever made, an homage to essentially every scene that ever rocked MTV. Keep an eye out for Tony Hale (Buster from Arrested Development) teaching dance moves to karate-clad dancers, plus (among other cameos) Donald Faison and Hal Sparks. And of course there’s the band, at their most make-up’d ever, who play both over-the-top rockers and wide-eyed, wandering children making their way through a dream-nightmare of King of Pop proportions. —Shana Naomi Krochmal
“I Want You Back” KT Tunstall
Hands down, this is my favorite song Michael has ever sung, and it takes some serious balls to play this song without a bass, much less without James Jamerson or one of the other Motown bassists that ripped off his sound, but KT pulls it off. I also love that the French fans screwed up her rythm with their clapping. F*cking French people. —Peter Grumbine
“Human Nature” Miles Davis
Miles Davis can’t really mess anything up. Give me a funked up jazz version of Michael Jackson any day and I’ll jam out. Perfect for a country drive on a summer day. R.I.P. Miles and Michael. —AW
“Smooth Criminal” Alien Ant Farm
Alien Ant Farm haven’t been on the charts in a while, but during the early part of the decade, they were pretty hard to miss. Their cover of MJ’s “Smooth Criminal” was released in 2001, which, appropriately, was also the year that Michael performed with NSYNC at the MTV Video Music Awards and was gearing up to drop his last studio album, Invincible. Here, AAF lead singer Dryden Mitchell does his best impression of MJ’s vocals during the ad-libs, while he and the rest of the band reference several other famous Michael Jackson music videos. And who can forget that random preteen kid popping and locking in the medical face mask? I mean, I know I like it when my music videos include hip dancing but also remain conscious of possible airborne germs. —Chanelle Johnson
“Rock with You” Triceratops
This post just wouldn’t be complete without a Japanese band rocking out some MJ. Usually whenever I hear someone bust out funk chords on an acoustic guitar, I want to smash it over their dreadlocked head, but I’m lettin’ this one slide. It’s a pretty tight cover, but it is nice to know there’s still on thing Japan can’t take from America and improve upon. —PG
“Thriller” Chris Brown
Chris Brown doesn’t cut it for me here. It’s all fun and exciting when you watch from a distance—but once you start to dive in a little deeper you discover he does no justice to the classic American pop song. The singing is off and there is not nearly enough dancing. Ehh… I want the 14 minute music video, please. —AW
“Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” Umphreys McGee
We’ve posted this cover before in our Friday series, but it’s probably the best version of this song, short of Michael’s. If you want proof just how much Michael moved a generation, just listen to the crowd’s reaction when they realize what song Umphreys is playing. These are people that have probably made more Michael Jackson jokes than me, but all they can do is dance when they hear the music.
PS: Chris Brown, this is how one sings out of their range. You, suck. —PG
Get more Michael Jackson videos, songs and news at Current.com.
June 26th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Ben Gibbard of Death Cab does an acoustic Death Cab-y cover of Thriller
June 29th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
[...] check out the rest of the post and let me know some of your favorite Michael Jackson covers as well. I’m probably going to [...]
June 29th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
My all-time favorite MJ cover is the Youngblood Brass Band doing Human Nature Pt. II – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mkZqMWp7Xo (don’t have your speakers up all the way or it’ll both hurt and sound bad)
August 1st, 2009 at 12:26 am
Michael Jackson will be the greatest pop singer in the whole world. Everyone will miss him.