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Prince Covers "Best Of You"; Foo Fighters Plan Next Move

MONDAY FEBRUARY 12 2007 9:00 AM

Submitted by B_Werner. Edited By B_Werner.

Unlike past Super Bowl halftime show performances which have incured the public's wrath, this year's Prince extravaganza has sparked mostly positive conversations. Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters is one of the many people singing praises to the Purple One, though his stake in Prince's performance is a bit more personal than the rest of us.

In case you missed it, Prince covered the Foos' "Best Of You"; a cover that was well executed, but surprising. Especially to Hawkins.

“Dude, I have no idea why he did it, but I'd love to find out. I mean, the thought went through my head that maybe he was doing it as a sort of 'Fuck you' to us, or maybe he really likes the song."

Hawkins' 'fuck you' idea plays into the music press' hypothesis that the cover was a retaliation move; the Fighters have covered both "Darling Nikki" and "Drive Me Wild" as B-sides to Prince's chagrin. His Purpleness reportedly told Entertainment Weekly that "he didn't appreciate the Foos (or anyone else) covering his work, and that Grohl and company should 'write [their] own tunes.'"

"Dave (Grohl) loved 'Darling Nikki' because it was really funky. And so we just recorded our version in my garage, and somehow it ended up getting played on radio — which was weird, because we just did it as a sort of joke. We wanted to put it out here in the States, but Prince wouldn't let us."

Though Prince's intentions may not have been as pure as Grohl's, Hawkins was honored to have the legendary performer acknowledge his band's existence, but added that the Fighters may have another trick up their collective sleeve.

Either way, it was pretty amazing to have a guy like Prince covering one of our songs - and actually doing it better than we did.

We're just getting started on a new album, just demoing and stuff right now [...] But maybe we'll get cracking on a version of 'Purple Rain' to see if maybe he'll hate it even more."

13 Comments

Prophecusp

Los Angeles, CA

October 2003

FEB 12, 2007 09:15 AM

prince and foo? now thats weird....i like em both though....

zombiheart

Augusta, GA

December 2005

FEB 12, 2007 09:38 AM

That was an awesome half-time
I love his purple majesty!

TAFKASP

Oakland, CA

June 2003

FEB 12, 2007 09:43 AM

Either way, it was pretty amazing to have a guy like Prince covering one of our songs - and actually doing it better than we did."

This is true.

Booji_Boy

Tucson, AZ

September 2006

FEB 12, 2007 10:00 AM

Lighten up, Prince. Whatever happened to "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"?

_kungfoo_

Los Angeles, CA

April 2005

FEB 12, 2007 10:36 AM

This is the kind of feud I could get into!

"Take this bitch, We're covering Purple Rain!"

"Oh yeah? I'm covering Monkey Wrench, eat it sucka!"

AstralTraveller

United Kingdom

January 2003

FEB 12, 2007 10:41 AM

Prince doing that Foos track was top notch. The sentiment in the song really suited him.

Mike_Doughty

Brooklyn, NY

December 2003

FEB 12, 2007 10:50 AM

Prince's version was so great, searing, emotional. I can't imagine it was a fuck-you.

jon_o

United Kingdom

July 2006

FEB 12, 2007 12:59 PM

have the foos not already done some kind of purple rain cover? i swear i found a really dodgy copy of it somewhere on the net ages and ages ago. it sure sounds like the foos recoreded very crudely. ??

Koleeta

Los Angeles, CA

May 2003

FEB 12, 2007 01:16 PM

Indeed. I was defintiely surprised when Prince started playing The Best of You. Although delighted when it happened now I am wondering if maybe it was a nod to Foo Fighters. I mean obviously I don't think he would have just absent mindedly chosen to cover it. I think there was probably something behind it.