Purple Rain

To anyone who has the chutzpah to cover Prince, I only have one question: do you pull your own teeth? Because you have guts. Aside from his legendary status and undisputed talent, his fans are merciless. Even so, I’ve seen and heard artists humbly covering Prince’s 1984 hit “Purple Rain.” Whether or not they are successful I’ll leave up to you:

Darius Rucker: When Darius toured with Rascal Flatts during 2009, he often used this song as his encore. He would preface it with a statement about how the idea came from his bandmate Jeff, and instructed the audience to blame Jeff if it didn’t work, and to credit Darius if it did. At the show I attended in September, it worked—although it could very well be a case of “you had to be there.” This clip is from a Dierks Bentley concert:

Tori Amos: Live and boot-legged piano version, but still good. Really worth a listen.

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Holly Cole: Allegedly a jazz version. More orchestral if you ask me.

Listen to the original here: http://popup.lala.com/popup/360569483827578436