# Concert Renditions of Songs with Featured Guests **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2018, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285 "2018-01-10T05:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/1 "2018-01-10T05:16:04Z")
I’ve noticed a trend in a lot of modern music for radio singles by various artists having guest vocalists for portions of the song. The featured contribution might be a verse or a rap interlude or some such. I know that sometimes the original album version may lack the “featured” elements. Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood doesn’t have Kendrick Lamar in the album cut, but he is featured in the video on radio cuts. Obviously if Kendrick isn’t available when Taylor’s doing a concert show, she’d go with the album version. On the other hand Ariana Grande’s Love Me Harder with The Weeknd kinda needs the second voice. Does Ariana just not sing that in concert? Maroon 5’s Moves like Jagger was fairly popular on the radio. Did they ever perform it without Christina Aguilera? So, in your concert going experiences, how are these songs handled? Prerecorded vocals mixed into the live performance? other guest vocalists?, one of the back-up singers?, skip it? Looking forward to your anecdotes. -DF ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/2 "2018-01-10T09:05:14Z")
you just do what kylie Minogue did when she sang “in denial” and the pet shop boys weren’t there…you sing to a track with the music and the others part already recorded … ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/3 "2018-01-10T10:13:14Z")
When I saw **Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds** last year, Danish soprano **Else Torp** , who features singing the chorus of _Distant Sky_, joined in via a big screen video. Like at [The Greek Theater](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRKwzJQ1bfE). ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/4 "2018-01-10T14:38:24Z")
I’ve heard live versions of Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up” where he sings all the parts himself. There are also versions where his backup singer takes care of Kate Bush’s parts. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/5 "2018-01-10T14:42:08Z")
I’ve also seen where the singer from the opening act (if they’re the right gender) will come on stage and sing the appropriate parts. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/6 "2018-01-10T14:55:28Z")
I’ve seen Ben Folds in concert several times since his 2008 single with Regina Spektor “You Don’t Know Me” came out, and he either has another band member sing her part (which is weird because it’s always a dude) or he sings it himself. Also, it’s pretty well known, so he sometimes gets the audience to sing her part during the chorus. A couple times he’s had a female opening singer, but he never brought her on stage to sing Regina’s part. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/7 "2018-01-10T15:22:01Z")
Hell, the Who performed “Bell Boy” in concert even though Keith Moon (who sang it) had been dead for decades. They just used a recording of his vocal. Meat Loaf recorded “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” with Ellen Foley and performed it live with Karla Devito. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/8 "2018-01-10T15:43:30Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I’ve also seen where the singer from the opening act (if they’re the right gender) will come on stage and sing the appropriate parts. Might be nice if I gave an example: Most recently for me, Jenny Lewis did a cover of “Handle Me With Care” on _Rabbit Fur Coat_ with Ben Gibbard and Conor Oberst. When she performed the album live this summer, she had the male vocalist from the opening act (don’t remember who) perform their parts. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/9 "2018-01-10T17:08:20Z")
When Gotye performs Somebody That I Used To Know in concert and Kimbra isn’t available, he either gets a sub or has [all the females in the audience sing her part](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aNyPH1rsYw). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/10 "2018-01-10T19:21:38Z")
When Queen performed “Under Pressure” in concert, ISTR that drummer Roger Taylor would sign David Bowie’s part of the duet. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/11 "2018-01-10T21:07:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > When Queen performed “Under Pressure” in concert, ISTR that drummer Roger Taylor would sign David Bowie’s part of the duet. When I saw David Bowie in concert (after Freddie Mercury had died) he had a female backup singer do Freddie’s part. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/12 "2018-01-10T21:20:42Z")
When we saw Stevie Nicks this past summer, she sang all the parts to “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (sung with Tom Petty on the album) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/13 "2018-01-10T21:27:26Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > When I saw David Bowie in concert (after Freddie Mercury had died) he had a female backup singer do Freddie’s part. Bowie performed the song with Annie Lennox during the tribute concert for Freddie in '92. I think the song works really well as a male / female duet. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NLC6tkg38K8/hqdefault.jpg "Queen - Annie Lennox - Under Pressure") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLC6tkg38K8) ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/14 "2018-01-10T21:54:02Z")
On AxCx’s _Forty More Reasons to Hate Us_ album, Pantera’s Phil Anselmo sings on about 16 of the 42 songs, including such winsome charmers like [Bill Scott’s Dumb](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVsbTTDBPoA), [_Three’s Company_ Theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T_xrNTDZj0), and a blazing, triumphant, windswept cover of Manowar’s [Gloves of Metal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsD7PUspbK0) On the road, I’m sure vocalist/founder/_something savant_ Seth Puttnam managed fine without Phil. \*Also I’m pretty sure this is the only AxCx release that Scott “Guitar God” Hull takes on the axe chores. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/15 "2018-01-10T22:23:04Z")
Jimmy Buffett usually has Mac Mcanally or Mike Utley do the “What would Jimmy Buffett do?” part when he does “It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere” in concert. Although I have also seen him have the audience sing that line. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/16 "2018-01-11T02:33:59Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > I’ve heard live versions of Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up” where he sings all the parts himself. There are also versions where his backup singer takes care of Kate Bush’s parts. During one of his Human Rights tours, he used to have Tracy Chapman sing Kate’s parts. At the No Nukes concerts, Jackson Browne did “Stay” with Bruce Springsteen doing backup vocals. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-renditions-of-songs-with-featured-guests/806285/17 "2018-01-11T04:05:52Z")
When I saw Pink in concert she sang “Just Give me a Reason” to a prerecorded track/video of Nate Reuss.