Billie Jean chords by Chris Cornell

"Billie Jean" was recorded by American rock musician Chris Cornell for his Carry On album in 2007. Cornell said of his cover, "I didn't plan on it. It just sort of happened organically. I changed the music quite a bit, I didn't touch the lyrics. And it's not a joke. I took a completely different approach to it, musically." Cornell had previously performed the song live in Europe, including an acoustic set in Stockholm, Sweden in September, 2006. He later added, "I was getting ready to do some acoustic shows on a promotional tour for Revelations and I just wanted to have fun with it." The cover received favourable reviews from critics, MTV noting the "bluesier, more pained and impassioned feel" which stripped away "any pop elements of the original". Los Angeles Times described the track as "a grim, spooky take" on Jackson's "Billie Jean", adding that it's "amusing enough, even if it sounds a lot more like Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters". The newspaper concluded that "Jacko's mega hit survives the stunt translation". Cornell's version was performed live by David Cook on the seventh season of American Idol. After covering Cornell's cover, the Idol judges praised him for his "originality". Whilst some news organisations criticized Cook for covering a cover version, others praised him for singing the song well. Cornell was surprised and flattered by the cover, but was also concerned that Idol viewers may have thought Cook created the interpretation. Cornell said of Cook's cover, "This is something where they know I came up with this arrangement and reinvented the song. I stuck my neck out being a guy that comes from the indie rock world doing a Michael Jackson song." He added, "Don't get me wrong. He sang it great. But it was literally a note-for-note take on what I came up with." Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.