This week on American Idol, Haley Reinhart sang Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” She did a good job, and it may have been the best song choice of the night. Her performance helped her avoid being the second person in three weeks to go home after singing a song with the word “deep” in the title.
Adele’s version of “Rolling in the Deep” is hard to beat, as her voice perfectly balances the song’s heartbreak pain (“The scars of your love, they leave me breathless”) and kiss-off anger (“Think of me in the depths of your despair”). But there are some excellent covers of the song. John Legend does a great acappella cover of the song. While looking for a video of Legend singing the song, I ran across an abbreviated cover of John Legend’s version by a new rising artist named Jason Ray. [April 2014 Update: Unfortunately, Ray no longer has the “Rolling in the Deep” video on YouTube, but you should check out some of his other songs at his website, linked below.]
Jason Ray, whose real name is Jason Raymond Garrett, is a classically trained pianist and singer-songwriter from Houston with influences ranging from Prince to Led Zeppelin. He started off with a successful YouTube page, and his website states that his first album will be released soon. The website appears relatively new, so it seems like he is just starting out. Check him out, as you likely will hear more of him soon.
For those looking for the American Idol version of the song, here is the link to Haley Reinhart’s version. There is not an official video of John Legend’s acappella cover, but you may hear his excellent version here. Finally here is a link to Adele’s official video of “Rolling in the Deep” and a live version from a performance on Ellen.
What do you think of the various versions of “Rolling in the Deep”? Leave a comment.
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