Taylor Hawkins says Prince’s ‘Best of You’ Super Bowl cover may have been a revenge for the Foo Fighters’ ‘Darling Nikki’ B-side
Viewers at home and in the stadium during Super Bowl XLI weren’t the only ones who found it odd that Prince covered Foo Fighters during his unforgettable Super Bowl halftime performance. Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins also found it odd that the icon chose to play the band’s “Best of You,” especially since Prince rarely played other artists’ songs. music.
Hawkins, the died March 25She had a few theories about the cover. It all goes back to 2003, when the Foo Fighters released a B-side cover of Prince’s racy “Darling Nikki.”
Prince hasn’t given his blessing for Foo Fighters to release ‘Darling Nikki’ commercially
In 2003, the Foo Fighters recorded a cover of Prince’s 1984 song “Darling Nikki” (off of Purple Rain) and released it as the B-side on the Australian version of their “Have It All” single.
However, it made its way to the United States MTVthe cover became so famous that the Foo Fighters used it as a set-closing staple at their 2004 shows.
According to Hawkins, the band took it as a joke. “Whenever we finish an album [in this case, the band’s 2002 effort, One by One], we just think it’s fun to do some covers,” Hawkins told MTV. “Dave loved ‘Darling Nikki’ because it was really funky. So we just recorded our version in my garage and it kind of got played on the radio – which was weird because we were just doing it as a kind of joke.”
However, Prince didn’t like the cover at all. According to one of Dave Grohl’s True Stories (via Instagram), the band had asked for his blessing to release it commercially. “He shut us down faster than you can say, ‘Darling…’ Grohl wrote. “I seem to remember him saying, ‘They should write their own tunes…’ or something like that.
Grohl was right. Prince told Entertainment Weekly that he didn’t appreciate the cover or anyone else’s and that Foo Fighters needed to write their own material.
“We wanted to release it here in the States, but Prince wouldn’t let us,” Hawkins said. “I heard he didn’t like our version. Or maybe he just didn’t like that we did it.”
Nevertheless, Prince still invited Grohl to jam with him after they met and covered Foo Fighters’ “Best of You” during his halftime show. However, Hawkins had a theory as to why.
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Taylor Hawkins believes Prince got revenge during his Super Bowl halftime performance
Three years later, a studio recording of Prince appeared with a blended “Along the watchtower‘ with the Foo Fighters’ ‘Best of You’ debuted on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show. Someone in Prince’s camp reportedly sent it to Stern, who loved it.
During his halftime show, Prince packed the covers into a medley that also included “let’s do crazy things‘, ‘Baby I’m a Celebrity’ and ‘Proud Mary’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
A lot of people wondered why Prince did the covers, especially “Best of You.”
However, Hawkins had a theory. He was skeptical that Prince had covered the band’s song because he admired them. Hawkins wondered if Prince wanted revenge by covering “Best of You.”
They recorded “Darling Nikki” so Prince could cover “Best of You”.
“Dude, I have no idea why he did that, but I’d like to find out,” laughed Hawkins. “I mean, the thought popped into my head that maybe he did it as a kind of ‘F—you’ for us, or maybe he really likes the song. Anyway, it was pretty amazing to have a guy like Prince cover one of our songs – and actually do it better than us.”
As Prince sang the lyrics to the song, “I have one more confession, my friend / I’m no fool,” he grinned and gave the crowd a sideways glance. Maybe he spoke to Foo Fighters.
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Dave Grohl calls Prince’s Super Bowl cover one of his ‘proudest musical achievements’
Nobody had any idea that Prince would be performing “Best of You” during this his halftime performance.
“I was watching the game at our producer Nick Raskulinecz’s house and since he’s doing the new Rush album all the guys from the band were there,” Hawkins continued. “I mean, I’ll be outside and smoke a cigarette with you [Rush drummer] Neil Peart and someone sticks their head out and says, ‘Uh, dude, Prince is doing your song.'”
However, according to True Stories, Grohl appeared to be the only person who knew. Someone told him. However, he wrote it off. He thought it wasn’t true until he saw the performance. Since then, Grohl has called Prince’s performance of “Best of You” his “proudest musical achievement” and the “greatest compliment” of his life.
Foo Fighters never heard a beep from Prince’s camp explaining the cover. Whatever did that mysterious Purple One cover, the Foo Fighters loved it.
At the time, the Foo Fighters were working on a new album. Hawkins suggested mating Prince again to see his reaction. “We’re just getting started on a new album, we’re doing demos and stuff,” Hawkins said. “But maybe we’ll do a version of ‘Purple Rain’ to see if maybe he hates it even more.”
Grohl could have contacted Prince and told him to write his own songs. However, he was too proud that one of his idols had covered his music to throw it back on him. Prince’s Super Bowl halftime performance has gone down as one of the most famous in history, and that’s thanks in part to the Foo Fighters.
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https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/taylor-hawkins-said-princes-best-of-you-super-bowl-cover-mightve-revenge-foo-fighters-darling-nikki-b-side.html/ Taylor Hawkins says Prince’s ‘Best of You’ Super Bowl cover may have been a revenge for the Foo Fighters’ ‘Darling Nikki’ B-side