Advertisement
Dublin: 4 °C Thursday 10 October, 2024
deadly duets

11 duets we can't believed happened

When you’ve got Jackie Chan, Phil Collins and Nicole Kidman around anything can happen.

MICHAEL BUBLÉ IS releasing a new album To Be Loved today and on the tracks features Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon

Now Reese has form given that she sang in 2005′s Walk The Line (And apparently that’s why Michael wanted to work with her).

Still, it’s certainly not a duet you’d expect to see happen and having dug around we’ve found plenty more duets you would never believe.

1. Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett

She’s the popstar with a penchant for outlandish outfits and a big, big voice and he’s the kind of crooner your granny grew up listening to.

When Tony Bennett released a new duets album in 2011 he featured the late Amy Winehouse, Norah Jones and even Queen Latifah (!).

But when he teamed up with Gaga for a take on The Lady is a Tramp it got plenty of attention.

They seem to have alot of fun singing together mind you:

SpanishLadyGaga / YouTube

2. Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman

When Robbie Williams took a swing-pop direction on his 2001 album Swing When You’re Winning it raised plenty of eyebrows.

Even odder was decision to rope in Nicole Kidman on a cover of Somethin’ Stupid, best known in it’s Frank and Nancy Sinatra incarnation.

Niocle was coming off of the success of Moulin Rouge at the time so we were used to hearing her sing.

But still, the fact that herself and Robbie managed a Christmas number one in the UK with this is still delightfully odd.

DJrobinsoncrusoe10 / YouTube

3. William Shatner & Ben Folds

Not a duet in the traditional sense but when alt-pop hero Ben Folds teamed up with Star Trek icon William Shatner it became an ongoing musical partnership.

It started with the pair working as part of group of musicians Fear of Pop in the late 90s before Folds produced Shatner’s 2004 album Has Been.

It had unusual but surprisingly good results such as when Shatner, Folds and the rest of Fear of Pop debuted material on the Conan O’Brien show in 1999:

fontwhore / YouTube

4. Elton John and Blue

Pop acts covering older tunes happens all the time but it’s rare they team up with the person who made the original.

Blue had a number one hit with this cover of Elton’s famous tune Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word in 2002 and even managed to rope Elton in to sing with them (Elton is currently appearing on the title track of the new Fall Out Boy album too. Busy man)

It’s still a great song either way but it is fun watching Blue try and do slow sexy dance around Elton’s piano

Julia Monteiro / YouTube

5. Bone Thugs N Harmony and Phil Collins

Yeah, the American rap outfit used Phil Collins on the their tune (Take Me) Home.

Well they sampled his vocal but it almost feels like a duet.

Although the song stiffed in America in became a chart hit on this side of the world.

We’re not sure why but is certainly an “interesting” moment.

czysta2 / YouTube

6. Madonna and Warren Beatty

When Madonna played Breathless Mahoney in the 1990 Dick Tracy movie (based on the famous comic strip) she also had her hand in the music too.

She released the I’m Breathless album which featured her mega-hit Vogue alongside songs from the film itself.

One of those tracks was a duet version of a song from the film (not sung by Madonna there) which sees her croon along with her co-star and lover at the time Warren Beatty.

It’s all very strange especially how it turns into a super 90s sounding dance-pop song about two minutes in.

MadonnaMusicHD / YouTube

7. Liza Minelli and the Pet Shop Boys

They  sing only together on parts of this track but it has so much of the traditional Pet Shop Boys sound that it does feel like a duet.

They worked with Minelli on her 1989 album Results and had a hit with their cover of Broadway favourite Losing My Mind.

Minelli used the high profile of the Pet Shop Boys at the time to her advantage, having the boys standing around looking all Pet Shop Boys-y and cool on various TV chatshow appearances such as Wogan (fronted by Terry Wogan funnily enough)

It’s very good fun to watch Liza emote and be all theatrical while the Pet Shop Boys keep it as glacial as ever.

davidmcn / YouTube

8. Nelly and Tim McGraw

Hip-hop and country music aren’t two things you usually combine but Nelly hooked up with one of country’s biggest names Tim McGraw on slow number Over and Over in 2004.

Despite the fact that it still seems like some kind of parody the song was a huge hit, topping the charts here and the UK and doing big business in the US.

This “live” version is quite entertaining, the two guys trying to look all deep with footage of them playing pool constantly cutting in.

The whole thing is just very weird

PoLThug / YouTube

9. Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave

Now this doesn’t seem that odd, two very different Australian icons teaming up on the murder ballad Where the Wild Roses Grow but at the time it was a big deal.

Kylie was in the middle of trying to jettison the bubblegum pop trappings she was known for and got plenty of people talking when she duetted with Nick Cave on this haunting tune.

It’s gone on to become something of a classic for both of them, that still packs a considerable punch

Kylie VA / YouTube

10.  Bing Crosby & David Bowie

It’s easy to forget just how unusual it was to see David Bowie at his 70s rock peak team up with legendary crooner Bing Crosby

Not long before Crosby passed away in 1977 they sang Little Drummer Boy together on Crosby’s final Christmas TV special

The whole performance is kind of brilliant and still beautifully strange, especially their little chat together at the start

Gilded Cage / YouTube

11. Jackie Chan and Ani DiFranco

Yes, you read that right. Not only is Jackie Chan an action movie legend he’s also recorded 11 studio albums in English and Chinese.

In 2002, Chan sang with folk singer Ani DiFranco on a cover of Unforgettable, best known in it’s Nat King Cole incarnation, for a compilation album called When Pigs Fly.

The album was aiming to have artists cover songs they’d never usually take on.

And we reckon it hit a peak with this number which isn’t even that bad.

But it’s such an unlikely pairing you won’t quite believe you’ve heard it no matter how many times you listen.

Kfamilyutube / YouTubenel

The Dredge: Brian and Ronan ‘taking a break from each other’

8 reasons to love Stephen Hawking even more

Your Voice
Readers Comments
1
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.