Beyonce Covers ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’ in ‘On the Run’ Trailer
Beyoncé and Jay Z promoted their On The Run tour with a star-studded trailer for a non-existent action film, and they’re harnessing a similar vibe in a new preview for their upcoming HBO special.
The trailer opens in black and white, with Beyoncé decked out in glittering torch-singer style, performing the 1966 song “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).” Jay Z looks on while smoking a cigar, before the trailer shifts into quick-cut, strobe-lit shots from the couple’s joint tour.
The vintage song choice that opens the trailer finds Bey in different mode from her other recent releases, reworkings of “Flawless” and “Crazy in Love.” Written by Sonny Bono, “Bang Bang” was huge hit for his then-wife Cher when she released it as a single in 1966. Beyoncé’s sultry take, however, is closer to the version recorded by Nancy Sinatra that same year, which has been heavily sampled after featuring prominently in the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill Vol. 1.
Beyoncé and Jay Z’s On the Run special, which will feature footage from their two-night residency on September 12th and 13th at the Stade de France in Paris, premieres on HBO on Saturday, September 20th at 9 p.m.
On top of On the Run, Beyoncé is also gearing up for a huge night at the Video Music Awards next week. In addition to being nominated for eight awards, the most of any artist this year, she’s also set to receive MTV’s Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, which honors an artist’s body of work. She’ll also perform during the awards ceremony.