Usher Covers “Pumped Up Kicks” (VIDEO)

By On 06/14/2012 · 20 Comments · In American Idol

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Check out Usher all alt-rocky and stuff, playing bass on a cover of “Pumped up Kicks” by Foster the People for the BBC1. He’s in the UK promoting his latest album, Looking for Myself, which dropped this week.

Before some of you leave “what’s this got to do with IDOL!” comments, I will say…not much. Except that Usher mentored during Season 9 and has performed on the show at least once.

I just REALLY like this cover, on a slow news day.

Billboard

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  • Mateja Praznik

    HDD is predicting 120-125K for Usher. That’s really bad, considering his previous album opened with 329K. That’s 200K off and his previous album debuted 03/30/10 and sold 1.3 million.  His current urban single “Climax” is one of his biggest urban hits ever and his pop single “Scream” sits at #11 on CHR chart.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/XDQP2Y46M5B3OHOKALDDGDHQCM Leandro

    I think the video posted below the billboard link isn’t Usher. lol

  • Anonymous

    LOL! Sorry the video I posted is for a post I’m getting ready!

  • Guest

    Usher – sexiest man alive… in my opinion :)

  • Anonymous

    Great arrangement of an awesome song. Usher seems to get sexier every time I see him. 

  • Anonymous

    One of the best  live arrangements of the song. His voice ruined it for me though. He has a great voice! But not for this song.

  • Trina

    Thanks for this MJ!  Love me some Usher. Dude is a true superstar who’s beyond sexy and so unbelievably talented.  If you never listened to his “Confessions” album its a must (and the last album to sell Diamond!)

  • Anonymous

    hahaha!  I LOVE it!  Usher and LL Cool J = dimple-licious!  The intro sooo reminds me of a prince song.    Thanks for the Video!

  • Lombe Chileshe

    Lots of his fans are complaining about the album. Usher is always changing his sound, but on this album he went too far. He’s barely recognizable. And he has strayed to far from his R’n'B roots. Apart from Climax and Scream, the album is way too Pop-ish. Usher calls it ‘Revolutionary pop’ . But I call it cr*p. I miss the R’n'B ballads of old. Songs like ‘Confessions’ , ‘Burn’ , ‘Moving Mountains’ . I Regret buying the album and thats a really bad thing.

  • Anonymous

    I love this cover by Usher.  Such upbeat music with unbelievably dark lyrics.  I read recently that one of the members of Foster the People had a cousin who was in the library during the Columbine massacre.  Mark Foster said the song is supposed to be from the point of view of the mind of a kid who snaps and goes on a killing spree.  He never imagined it would become such a huge hit.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Li-Wright/100001622678180 Li Wright

     If I was a guessing man….Usher is trying to “cross over” and get a bigger global market.  The same as Kelly Clarkston is doing.  Actually, even Simon’s acts are doing the same.  Music is global and you have to appeal to whoever you can.  I appreciate that he’s trying something new, trying to get a new audience and didn’t know he played Geetar.

  • Trina

    Usher has been around nearly 20 years and has sold something like 60 millions albums worldwide, he already has a huge global market and is a huge international star. I dont think experimenting with a new sound has anything at all to do with trying to expand his global market.

  • Anonymous

    Can I just say that BBC1 is the main TV channel here while BBC Radio 1 is the    main radio station

  • Mateja Praznik

    BBC is UK’s public broadcaster with several TV and radio channels. I think most if not all European countries have national broadcasters.  Public Broadcasters are partly founded by the public, so the program is not as commercialized as it is on commercial TV and radio.

  • http://twitter.com/desireechick Kesia Monteith

    It’s not that I don’t like his pop side. It’s just that he is the next R&B act to do this euro dance pop nonsense. The lines between R&B and pop has blurred so badly, there is just no actual real R&B sound anymore :(

    That is what is upsetting fans. Plus, if the pop songs were good, I think people wouldn’t be bothered. But the songs are just run of a mill disposable pop tunes. And trust me, this is coming from someone who likes their fair share of mainstream pop. 

  • http://twitter.com/facenfield David Facenfield

    who woulda guessed – i quite like it.

    I imagine once you’ve been around for 15-20 yrs, sold millions of albums, downloads and concert tickets that you probably want to experiment a bit.  Try some new sounds, styles, genres etc… otherwise it would become incredibly boring for you.
    Thats even before you factor in the changing tastes of music audience / changes to landscape of the industry etc… that may necessitate a change of style/genre to stay current and in the charts.

    As many say, and i’m paraphrasing somewhat – if you don’t evolve and grow you die.

  • Mateja Praznik

     His first single from this album, “Climax” is Urban. It’s #1 RnB song right now, 9th week in a row, his 2nd biggest RnB hit behind “You Make Me Wanna”. So, #1 on Urban radio, #1 on Urban AC. It also got airplay on Rhythmic, but I don’t don’t where it peaked and I can’t check because the charts are broken. But Climax only got to #34 on CHR radio.

    Then RCA released “Scream” to CHR and Rhythmic. His third single is also already released (“Lemme See”) to urban radio.

    So it’s not like they didn’t  release any urban singles or gave urban singles a chance at CHR radio. It’s just that CHR radio isn’t biting. I personally don’t have a problem with Usher’s dance pop singles, even though they are a bit generic. But I absolutely love “Without You” (David Guetta).

  • http://twitter.com/Miztig Miz

    I love Usher and Foster the People’s ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ is one of my favorite current songs. It’s very cool that he did this. Definitely not as good as the original, but still cool.

    Did he and his band perform to a backing track? The chorus seems identical to the original recording and I see none of them doing the whistling part.

  • Anonymous

    I’m not surprised his album is not selling as well. I previewed it on itunes, and “Climax” was the only song I liked. The other songs are too poppy for my taste. I want the “old” Usher back, not this dance electro-pop Usher. I thought he was going back to his roots when “climax” got released, but I guess not. Which is why the album was a disappointment IMO. 

  • http://twitter.com/callitags callitags

    It’s amazing what a guitar can do. I’ve never paid much attention to Usher (just not what I listen to), but he’s pretty hot wielding that guitar. Yum!