Billie Eilish, Rock Star?


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One of the seminal musical events of the 80s was Aerosmith teaming up with Run DMC to do a fusion version of “Walk This Way.” It was an earthquake because rap threw down the gauntlet — it was here and it was here to stay.

Now, flash forward to 2020 and we got a problem. Adult Contemporary, which is just warmed over Steely Dan that’s been reanimated like some sort of musical zombie, has dominated the Top 40 for about 15 years. Something. Has. Gotta. Fucking. Give.

So, maybe we plot a return of pop rock. I call it Rona Rock because it’s catchy and ties into what is at the center of life right now — COVID19. But here’s what I would do — get Billie Eilish to team up with Guns & Roses to do a rebooted version of their cover of Paul McCartney’s Live And Let Die.

Here’s how you do it. You open with Axel singing the song then — plot twist — Billie Eilish belts out the chorus. It would be a symbolic changing of the guard, if you will. I pick Ms. Eilish to pull this off for a specific reason. She has a very strong, very rock voice.

Something about Miley Cyrus’ voice is just too light to ever be a true rock voice. I point out how out of place her attempts to sing Led Zepplin are. She’s a beautiful woman who has an excellent singing voice, but Ms. Cyrus is better cut out for more pop songs. Or she needs to stop screaming at the top of her lungs songs that don’t need to be — like Heart of Glass. (Ugh.)

I see Ms. Eilish as a secret weapon for the forces of rock. She’s young. Has cross-generational appeal and her voice is so strong that she could carry the weight of a song like Live And Let Die.

Author: Shelton Bumgarner

I am the Editor & Publisher of The Trumplandia Report

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