Recently, it was announced that the upcoming Revamp and Restoration album will include covers of Elton John’s iconic songs. As Elton John prepares to jump-start his three-year farewell tour, artists of all genres team up to celebrate his career. One of these influential artists is Chris Stapleton, who will do a cover of “I Want Love”.
The Restoration album is branded as a “Nashville Edition” of John’s works. Country music artists, including Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Vince Gill, performed a song on the album. Chris Stapleton’s “I Want Love” cover was the first track released to the public. This was done in an attempt to offer listeners a small taste of the album. It was an honor for Stapleton to have been given a chance to cover John’s Grammy-nominated song. Chris Stapleton says he is looking forward to his cover joining other country artists’ take on Restoration. In a release, he said,
“At any stage of life you can pick out a moment and a place in time, things that were going on and there’s an Elton John song playing somewhere in the background. He’s always going to be present in every musician’s mind and mine as well because his music reaches that far.”
“I Want Love”, the Chris Stapleton Style
Like John’s original recording, the track opens with the staccato declaration of “I want love, but’s impossible.” The lyrics fall into a gloomy self-reflection with Stapleton’s guitar crying along, still holding out hope for a love fit for a cowboy. John’s original was done in his distinctive style, with plenty of pianos while Stapleton took the song and gave it a country makeover. However, he kept elements of John’s original style in there. Instead of transforming the song into something totally diverse, Stapleton’s cover grows on the solid bones of the ballad without overextending the track. He even yanks back his vocals in order to not put many alterations to the song.
But, that does not mean that his performance was not powerful. If anything, his cover additionally shows that he can sing with just as much passion in a softer song as he can when he is belting out long, sad notes. The result is an astoundingly lovely cover.
You must be really excited to hear Stapleton’s twist on “I Want Love.” Lend your ears to the clip below.
Are there any other Elton John songs you would like to hear Stapleton sing? Leave a comment and share with your friends to get their suggestions, too. We could think of a whole bunch!
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