The best moments from music livestreams during quarantine: John Legend, Miley Cyrus, and more
Anyone who follows celebrities on social media will have noticed that Instagram Live notifications have become a little overwhelming during the coronavirus crisis. In a time of social distancing, it's hard to navigate whether to tune into one pop star's makeshift talk show, catch the newest concert set organized by Global Citizen, or attend a celeb-hosted virtual dance party.
That's why EW has combed through them for you, finding out which covers are worth watching, what weird little moments happened between songs, and how musicians have found ways to duet over the internet. Here are the best moments from all the music livestreams that have happened as people stay indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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Chris Martin teaches fans a lesson about David Bowie's "Life on Mars"
While he doesn't quite deliver on the promise of teaching everyone how to play "Life on Mars," by David Bowie, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin does explain how a rejected arrangement of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" led to the British icon writing the 1973 single.
John Legend and Chrissy Teigen improvise lyrics for The Office theme song
At the behest of The Office stars Mindy Kaling and Jenna Fisher, celebrity couple John Legend and Chrissy Teigen improvised some lyrics to the sitcom's beloved theme, and even shared their favorite lines from the show.
Garth Brooks performs "Shallow" with wife Trisha Yearwood
Singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, arguably country music's biggest power couple, channeled A Star is Born stars Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga to perform their Oscar-winning duet "Shallow" on Facebook Live.
OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder performs a couple of other people’s hits he’s co-wrote
Ryan Tedder, lead singer of OneRepublic, has written music with some of the biggest musicians in the world, including Adele and Taylor Swift. And since he recently executive-produced the Jonas Brothers' new album, he took some time in his livestream to cover "Sucker." Later, he sang "Halo," a song he co-wrote with Beyoncé that put him on the map as a songwriter.
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello sort each other into Hogwarts houses
Between singing some of their biggest hits like "Havana" and "Lost in Japan," pop star couple Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes shared that they've been marathoning the Harry Potter movies. They even took a second to place each other into Hogwarts houses.
Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato bury the hatchet
While they didn't duet during their half-hour video chat, former Disney stars Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato did reconnect over their insecurities as performers, ending any beef they had back in the days of their warring YouTube channels.
Keith Urban covers Kenny Rogers, with accompaniment from Nicole Kidman
Shorty after country legend Kenny Rogers died, Keith Urban covered his signature song "The Gambler," while his Oscar winner wife, Nicole Kidman, sat to the side as his roadie/band member/No. 1 fan.
Pete Wentz stages a Fall Out Boy concert using action figures
Bassist Pete Wentz took a bit of a different route livestreaming a concert. Rather than have everyone in Fall Out Boy break quarantine to come sing together, he played their music as a backing track for their action figures to lip-sync.
So funny! This was just in @petewentz live on Instagram pic.twitter.com/mYMEB3p3jO
— Fall Out Boy Daily (@FOBDaily) March 24, 2020
Brad Paisley does a virtual duet with Carrie Underwood
While a lot of the performers doing concerts on Instagram Live have gotten hip to how to invite fellow artists onto their livestream, country star Brad Paisley went the more manual route by calling Carrie Underwood on his desktop monitor to come sing their song "Remind Me" with him.
Christine and the Queens performs a remix of "Tilted"
Switching things up, Héloïse Adelaïde Letissier, a.k.a. Christine and the Queens, used the Paradis remix of her breakout single "Tilted" as the backing track to her livestream performance, even hitting some of the choreography in her remote location.
Hozier does a soulful rendition of Britney Spears' "Toxic"
Irish singer Hozier, another performer in Global Citizen's Together at Home series, listened to a fan's suggestion of singing "Toxic," by Britney Spears, transforming its addictive chorus into a more soulful jam.
Juanes brings on Jessie Reyez to perform with him
Latino rock star Juanes had a surprise guest on his nearly two-hour-long set. After seeing she was in the comments of the Instagram Live, fellow Colombian artist Jessie Reyez joined the "Besos En Guerra" singer. Rather than turn it into a duets set, Juanes gave room for Reyez to show off her talents, further impressing one of her music idols.
Charlie Puth breaks down how his single "Attention" came to be
Pop maestro Charlie Puth used the quiet time he had from doing his concert online to explain to the audience how his hit "Attention" transformed from a more classical sounding production into the funkier final product.
Chloe x Halle tease two new songs from their upcoming album
Beyoncé protégés Chloe x Halle performed selections from their debut album, The Kids Are Alright, before confirming that their new record will be titled Ungodly Hour and is already finished. The Grown-ish stars then played two songs of theirs that haven't officially been released yet, "Catch Up" feat. Swae Lee and "Do It."
Yungblud hosts a drinking game between Machine Gun Kelly and Bella Thorne
Rowdy British artist Yungblud paused his set for a chaotic game show segment that saw rapper-actor Machine Gun Kelly compete against actress Bella Thorne in who could think of a word to correspond with the given letter and category first. They all end up chugging a lot of beer.
Luke Combs covers “Fast Car” before premiering new song
Country artist Luke Combs did a short set on Instagram Live that led with his take on Tracy Chapman's emotional song "Fast Car," and then went into his unreleased track "When it's Raining."
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