The Jonas Brothers paid tribute to Earth, Wind, and Fire at last night’s 42nd Annual Kennedy Center Awards. The pop trio tried singing EWF’s hit Boogie Wonderland.
Honestly, though? We really, really wish they wouldn’t have.
When I first heard about the tribute, I felt a twinge of excitement. After all, The Jonas Brothers generally perform well, so I didn’t understand exactly why my Twitter feed was filled with negative commentary.
Then I saw the sad reality of the performance on YouTube.
After sitting through three minutes of torture, I wish I could turn back time and not watch. Maybe Nick, Joe, and Kevin should learn the words to songs before they even attempt to cover one of the greatest musical trios of all time? Instead, the boys looked confused and completely unprepared for what should have been a top performance.
The crowd’s reaction says plenty as well. Although some people smiled, clapped, and sang along (because they actually knew the words), the majority of the packed seats looked frustrated.
The Jonas Brothers clearly didn’t fully prepare for this performance or take it seriously, and the audience could definitely tell. In fact, nearly anyone who watched it wasn’t impressed.
This was easily a huge mistake on the Jonas Brothers’ part. When you’re paying tribute to a group, you should put everything you can into emulating the original. And if you can’t live up to the legendary original, then don’t cover the song! Anything less than amazing is just insulting to the artists who made the song famous.
The worst part? This was the closing act for the night. The Jonas Brothers ended a wonderful night of music and tribute to a legendary group on a bad note (literally).
Hey, Jonas Brothers: Next time you’re a closing act, especially playing such a well known (and easily worded) song, try to learn the words. Put some effort into what you’re doing, guys! If this is what you call a tribute, then I would seriously hate to see your performance for someone who can clap back at you.
