(Photo by Roger Kisby/Getty Images)
I'm a cover lover, baby. And I especially love a good Soundgarden cover. I did not think this would be one, but it is.
My boss tipped me off on this one yesterday. The email went something like: "What do you think about plugging that you’re gonna play the new REDACTED at whatever time tomorrow, like later in your show? I heard she did a fantastic cover of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" … if that’s not true, obviously forget it." Yes, I'm playing coy with the "redacted" bit. That's kinda the point here. I don't want you to know who's doing the cover. Yet.
Anyway, I did some sleuthing and saw that this cover is just from a few days ago. And yes, the artist is what you'd consider a "mega star." But she's certainly not an artist we'd ever play on ROCK 92.9. Like, ever. It would stick out like a sore thumb if we did. And probably confuse you at the very least and upset you at the very worst. But here's the thing: she kinda crushes the cover! Apparently it's a regular bit she does on her TV show. I don't watch, so I'm not wise to it. But it was good enough to make me say...
This Soundgarden Cover is Better Than We Expected
Have you figured out the artist yet? It's Kelly Clarkson. As part of her "Kellyoke" segment, she belted out a version on her TV show last week. It's only two minutes long and, yeah, it's pretty damn good. Which got me thinking about Norah Jones' version, which was even better. And of course Chris Cornell's many acoustic versions from over the years. And the Steve and Eydie Gorme lounge version that's an absolute classic. I've shared them all below. And while Kelly Clarkson won't be cracking the ROCK 92.9 rotation anytime soon, she has my respect.
