The heavy metal band Bad Wolves released their cover of “Zombie” as a tribute to The Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan, who passed away this week at the age of 46.
According to Rolling Stone, Bad Wolves’ experience after they created a cover of “Zombie” was every artists’ dream.
Dan Waite, a friend of O’Riordan’s who works at the band’s label, sent it to her to get her take on it. “Dan sent me a message like, ‘She loved it, and she wants to sing on it,'” Bad Wolves frontman Tommy Vext tells Rolling Stone. “It made my year just to have that kind of validation.”
The band set up a recording session so that O’Riordan could lend her iconic voice to their cover, but it was never to be. Now Bad Wolves has released the song in memory of O’Riordan, with all proceeds set to go to O’Riordan’s three children.
“Zombie” was a huge song upon its release in 1994, and has remained a pop culture staple. O’Riordan wrote it as a scathing condemnation of a ’93 IRA bombing that killed two children. In a nod to the song’s protest roots, Bad Wolves’ version—which is very metal, with some elements that are very ’80s—updated a few of “Zombie’s” lyrics to reflect our current political atmosphere.
[Bad Wolves frontman Tommy Vext] updated some of the lyrics to include a mention of drones and to make them more current: Instead of “It’s the same old theme since 1916,” a reference to the Easter Rising insurrection in Ireland that year, he sings, “It’s the same old theme in 2018.” (“That’s because we’re still dealing with a lot of these issues,” Vext says.)
Give the Bad Wolves’ “Zombie” a listen; it feels like excellent Friday music. And of course, treat yourself to O’Riordan and The Cranberries’ original masterpiece.
What’s in your head?
(via Rolling Stone, image: Wikimedia Commons)
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