GreenDay’sBillie Joe Armstronghas teamed up with his son Jakob for a faithful cover ofDavid Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ –listenbelow.
The singer’s son,whohasrecordedhis own music as far back as 2015under the name Jakob Dangerandhas also been amember ofthe band Ultra Q, guests on the cover, which is on streaming platforms now.
It features a close replica ofRobert Fripp’sstraining, wailing guitar tonefrom the 1977 original, with the younger Armstrong taking the bulk of the lead vocals.
Listen to their version here:
Jakob spoke toNMEin 2017 about his influences, citingThe StrokesandBeach Fossils. “When it comes tothe musicandthe guitarparts and bass, I like that style of music. I love the way The Strokes and Beach Fossils sound, so I wanted to see if I could write songs like that,” he said.Ultra Q, meanwhile,signed with Royal Mountain Records andreleased their third EP ‘Get Yourself A Friend’ in 2021.
‘Heroes’ has seen a resurgence in recent weeks,thanks to its role soundtracking some of the closing momentsof theStranger Thingsfinale.It surged by almost 500 per cent on streaming after the episode debuted on New Year’s Day, clocking upnearly halfa million plays per day at the start of the year.
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It has also been a busy time for those connected to Bowie as the 10thanniversary of the release of his final album ‘Blackstar’, andtwo days later the same anniversary of his death, were both commemorated earlier this month.
His widow Iman got herself a tattoo to celebrate ‘Blackstar’,a range of bands covered Bowie classics live, including The Libertines, Anna Calvi and The Molotovs, andJehnny Beth, Donny McCaslin and Tony Visconti were among those to be part of an all-day celebrationof the music icon at theBritishLibrary.
Billie Joe Armstrong has a long history of playing cover versions,releasing an entire album of them – titled ‘No Fun Mondays’ – in 2020, a spinoff from his lockdown-era online series. It included versions of songs byPrince,John Lennon,TheClashandBilly Braggandearned a three-star review fromNME.
He also formed the all-coversband The Coverups in 2018 withGreen Day bandmate MikeDirntand touring member Jason White, audio engineer Chris Dugan, tour manager BillSchneiderand musician Greg Schneider.
They have beenjoined by Courtney Love for a version of Hole’s ‘Celebrity Skin’, as well as another Bowie song, ‘Suffragette City’, while they have also played Cheap Trick’s ‘Surrender’, Bryan Adams’ ‘Summer Of 69’ and The Strokes’ ‘Last Nite’.
NMEspoke with Green Day at the 2024 BRITs about The Coverups, where Armstrong explained: “I was texting with [Courtney Love] and I said come on out and do a song, and she did. She did ‘Suffragette City’,she did ‘Surrender’,and we got to do ‘Celebrity Skin’ – the Hole song. But shedefinitely broughtthe rock and roll back…you’llprobably behearing more from her.”