Impromptu Duet
The names Keith Urban and John Travolta don’t exactly seem like they should go together. But this week at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, the country crooner joined forces with the famous actor to put on an incredible cover of the Beatles’ “Yesterday.” This happened during the 10th anniversary of G’Day USA in Los Angeles, in 2013.
Keith Urban, is one of Australia’s most successful musicians, was guest of honor and performer for a 20-minute set for the VIP guests. During his intermission, he called Travolta up on stage. John Travolta leaped on stage and did an impromptu duet of “Yesterday” with the Nashville based star. It was sort of high spirits seen at these parties during the past decade. You can just imagine how the crowd was thrilled with their unplanned number.
While Urban quietly strummed the melody to the classic 1960s tune on his guitar, Travolta belted out the emotional lyrics. Not one to avoid a good harmony, the country singer chimed in to sing the chorus, and the crowd cheered with excitement.
G’day USA
The G’Day USA program of events brings together industry leaders and key influencers in government, business, tourism, academia, and the arts to successfully cultivate and enhance the long-term and deep Australia–United States relationship.
“Yesterday” by the Beatles
The melody of “Yesterday” came to Paul in a dream. He didn’t have the words at first, hence the ‘scrambled eggs’ scratch lyrics he started with. He thought he subconsciously copied another song, so kept playing it to people to see if anyone recognized it. After a few people said they hadn’t heard it before, he decided to finish it.
When it was time to record it, the other Beatles said that they couldn’t really add anything in terms of the arrangement, so Paul recorded it solo. George Martin suggested strings to go with it, which Paul didn’t like the idea of, so they compromised on using a string quartet, playing in a ‘classical’ style. This made it the first Beatles recording that only had one member on it.
“Yesterday” holds the record as the most covered song in history. That’s according to the Guinness Book of Records.
“Yesterday” wasn’t released as a single in the UK at the time. Instead, it was released as one in the US, where it got to no 1.
Meanwhile, watch how Urban and Travolta made a classic duet.
Just a reminder fella, Keith Urban’s brand new album, Graffiti U is hot on the market today. Grab your copy while it lasts.
And folks, if you like to read more articles about our favorite country stars, you can check Country Thang Daily website or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Tags
G’day USA, John Travolta, Keith Urban, The beatles, Yesterday