Watch Kesha’s Stark Cover of Tom Petty’s ‘Into the Great Wide Open’
Kesha honored Tom Petty with a stripped-down cover of “Into the Great Wide Open” during her concert in Boston Wednesday. Petty died Monday at the age of 66 after going into cardiac arrest.
“I’m not trying to be a downer, but I just think this is one of the most beautiful songs ever written and I wanna pay my respects,” Kesha said, as her guitarist began to pluck the opening chords to “Into the Great Wide Open.” The cover found Kesha delivering a smoldering vocal performance over the lone guitar, expertly capturing the hope and ruin of Petty’s wannabe rock star, Eddie.
Kesha is an avowed Petty fan and has performed twice at the annual Petty tribute concert, Petty Fest. In 2012, she teamed with the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney and the Cabin Down Band for a performance of “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” while in 2014 she sang “Free Fallin.'”
Kesha recently released her new album, Rainbow. The singer is on tour in support of the LP, with the trek scheduled to wrap November 1st in Los Angeles.