VMAs: Fall Out Boy Rocks Updated Version of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”

Kimberly Nordyke
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Fall Out Boy hit the stage during the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday night to perform their updated version of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

The rock group released the song earlier this summer, writing new lyrics for Joel’s iconic hit song, which included references to significant events that happened from the years 1949 to 1989, including everything from the Cold War to the cola wars and Joseph Stalin to John F. Kennedy.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Fall Out Boy’s version covers the years from 1989 to 2023 and references Iron Man, MIchael Phelps, Taylor Swift, Colin Kaepernick, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, MySpace and the deaths of George Floyd, Prince and Queen Elizabeth, among other topics.

Bebe Rexha introduced the band at the VMAs, which are airing live from New Jersey’s Prudential Center. During the show, Fall Out Boy — decked out in suits — performed outside the arena on a stage filled with flames.

“I listen to Billy Joel’s [song] and so many of the things in it are either massive moments or just kind of shoulder shrugs within history now,” bassist Pete Wentz previously told The New York Times of the song. “It’s interesting to see what he referenced from the ’50s and ’60s and what he didn’t. And in some ways it’s just etchings inside of a cave — documentation that we existed and these things happened, both triumphant and terrible. We made this song for ourselves and then we hoped our fans would have fun with it.”

Fall Out Boy, three-time VMA winners, were nominated for two awards: best alternative for “Hold Me Like a Grudge” and best visual effects for “Love From the Other Side.”

The band, known for hits like “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” and Thnks Fr Th Mmrs,” recently said that they were extending their global So Much For (Tour) Dust next year with the announcement of So Much For (2our) Dust, a 20-plus date run across the United States starting Feb. 28 in Portland, Oregon, and continuing through April 6 in Minneapolis. The U.K. and European leg of So Much For (Tour) Dust kicks off Oct. 17 in Warsaw, Poland, and concludes Nov. 8 in Berlin.

Their eighth studio album, So Much (For) Stardust, debuted as the No. 1 rock album upon its March 24 release.

Check out the 2023 VMA winners, and see the night’s arrivals and fashions.

Best of The Hollywood Reporter

Click here to read the full article.