First he copied The Beatles iconic mushroom bangs look and now he’s doing cover tunes by the band on live TV? The 2011 New Years Rockin’ Eve with hosts Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest sparked the first music scandal of 2012 when fans of the classic rock band seemed to get offended when the young Canadian teen scene celebrity and famous Latino musician Carlos Santana did their own rendition of the British pop stars classic tune Let It Be.
Pop music singer Justin Bieber rang in the New Year with a performance at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with hosts Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest and Jenny McCarthy in Times Square in New York City. Among the other hits he sang, the Biebs did a cover of one of the most iconic rock bands in the history of the world. That’s right, the young star treated the audience to his 21st century rendition of the classic rock song “Let It Be” by The Beatles. The audience screamed wildly when the singer (who played piano) announced he was being backed up on guitar by Carlos Santana. But many folks were critical about the two famous musicians performing the piece. Why? We have no idea.
Capital FM reported the music scandal news about the Biebs, first retelling his words before divulging view critiques. Before the song started, Justin Bieber said:
“What has happened happened, and what will be will be,” Justin added, before breaking into the opening chords of the iconic song supported by guitarist Carlos Santana.
Most of the fans were pleased with the performance, though arguably some probably didn’t think much of the young green celebrity trying to cover such a well known hit.
The Biebs has been compared to the Fab 4 before, as early as 2010. In fact, he made the comparison himself, but only in jest, remarking that, like The Beatles, he also had scores of teenage girls chasing him around. [And he was quick to add that he had not problem with that.] Critics were angered by the fact that he also copied the iconic shaggy bang look that was started a men’s hairstyle trend back in the late 1950s and carried through (almost) 1960 and the early 1970s.
It was the musical comparison, though, that raised the hackles of fans and non-Belieber critics alike noted website The Hollywood Gossip. Some Beliebers [devoted Justin Bieber fans] cringed verbally on Twitter, perhaps knowing what critics would have to say; and others, who never much cared for Bieber’s style anyway, got quite rude, calling him talentless, girly, auto-tuned, and worse on the social networks when sharing their impressions of how the talented 17-year-old did.
His manager Scooter Braun hadn’t helped much either late last year in promoting the idea that the Biebs has always been capable of being a stand alone music icon on his own. Copycat comparisons started in the rumor mills attacking his music talent when he publicly compared the pop star celeb to The Beatles again back in October, much to the Bieber camp’s chagrin.
Certainly Braun should have known the right publicity move was to stress Justin Bieber had come into his own. By that time, Biebs was celebrating the upcoming release of Under the Mistletoe, his new Christmas album [one he donates most of the proceeds from to a variety of food bank charities].
Even though Braun tried to hint at the comparison rather than make it directly (perhaps anticipating more criticism in spite of Bieber’s acclaim), everyone knew just who he was talking about. He was claiming the Biebs was just as great or greater of a musical talent than Sir Paul McCartney from The Beatles.
Entertainment Weekly reported:
“I don’t want to draw comparisons,” he is quoted as saying by Billboard magazine, “but there was a band during the British Invasion that had girls screaming at them. I think you know who I’m talking about.”
But neither the criticism nor the adoration seems to have gotten to the Biebs. He’s got a thick skin and a big heart, and arguably he spends his time doing just what he does best: giving back. The star celeb singer is a supporter of the Give Back Hollywood Foundation, Pencils of Promise, the Red Cross, and more.
Why anyone would want to criticize a kid who, for his 17th birthday, asked fans to donate to his personal MyCharity: Water campaign in lieu of gifts in the hopes of raising $17,000 to get clean water to developing nations, is beyond this author. That’s just straight up and down goodness.
And to ping Carlos Santana, the famous humanitarian who advocates for Latino causes, for doing his own rendition of a classic rock tune? It’s clearly ridiculous (in most musician’s opinions).
This author’s advice? If you don’t like Justin Bieber or Carlos Santana, just… Let It Be.
The performance was good. But don’t take my word for it. Push the play button and watch the video clip below and make your own decision about whether or not the young man and famous humanitarian sang the song because he was truly moved by it. Was he as good as Paul McCartney? Nah. But that really is not the point, is it? What was great about the rendition is everyone around the world — no matter what their age or generation — for that brief moment in time were able to sing the words in unison while they were rocking out to it.