Hardly 24 hours after she teamed up with The Roots for a killer cover of Portishead’s “Glory Box” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, St. Vincent took on David Bowie’s “Young Americans” Thursday night during the star-studded Love Rocks NYC benefit concert at New York City’s Beacon Theatre.
The night was a whole a who’s-who of performers: James Taylor, Mavis Staples, Sheryl Crow, Pat Benatar, Neil Giraldo, Warren Haynes, the John Mayer Trio, Rufus Wainwright, Gary Clark Jr., Jim James, Ledisi, Allison Russell, The War and Treaty, and former Yankee Bernie Williams all took the stage throughout the evening.
Aside from St. Vincent, a few standout performances include Benatar doing “Love Is a Battlefield,” Taylor singing “How Sweet It Is,” Staples dusting off Staple Singers’ “Respect Yourself,” and Russell honoring the late Christine McVie with a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop.” St. Vincent also joined Crow onstage for a rendition of the latter’s “Real Gone,” a banger from Pixar’s Cars soundtrack that we, as a culture, do not talk about enough.
St. Vincent sure looked like she was having a lot of fun channeling Bowie for “Young Americans.” Watch some fan-captured footage of the aforementioned performances below.
Recently, St. Vincent has also performed versions of Lipps Inc.’s “Funkytown” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” Maybe it’s time for us to once again update our list of St. Vincent’s 10 Best Covers.