Justin Bieber left pop, rap and dance duties to Pitbull, Nicki Minaj and LMFAO during last night’s Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration and went classic with a cover of The Beatles’ “Let it Be.” Should he have let it be?
Bieber, who sang and played the anthem at the piano, was accompanied by guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana.
The song has significance in Beatles lore because it was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney and became the writing team’s final single. The album by the same name was released after McCartney’s departure and the break-up of the group.
McCartney sang and played Blüthner piano; Lennon played six-string electric bass; Billy Preston played organ and George Harrison and Ringo Starr were on guitar and drums.
Given it’s history, it may have seem a little pretentious to Beatles devotees for Bieber to cover the song, but he does a credible job, and Santana saves it with a solid flourish on guitar.
Justin introduces the song with a little soliloquy. “New York with all your history your spirit has never been broken. We all do the best we can each year. Learning from my past, to do better in the future.
“What’s happened has happened, and what will be, will be. So what I say is…” and with that he launched into the song.
To his credit he was true to the song and lyrics, unlike Cee Lo Green, who changed the lyrics during a performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
Check Justin out below: