Rob Zombie has teamed up with Marilyn Manson and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx to perform a cover of The Beatles’ 1968 classic, ‘Helter Skelter’.
Over the last year, we’ve seen some pretty wild onstage collaborations. From Noel Gallagher teaming up with Paul Weller, Eddie Vedder playing with Johnny Marr, and The Smashing Pumpkins performing with Hanson, it’s been a wild year of special performances.
However, one of the most rockin’ collaborations was left until the very last minute.
As Variety reports, Los Angeles helped to ring in the New Year with a special edition of Ozzfest at The Forum. Featuring sets from Body Count, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, DevilDriver, Wednesday 13, and Ozzy Osbourne himself, it was a rather brutal way to say hello to 2019.
However, to make things a little bit interesting, fans were treated to a rather special cover version near the end of Rob Zombie’s set, welcoming Marilyn Manson and Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx onstage to cover The Beatles’ ‘Helter Skelter’.
Check out Rom Zombie, Marilyn Manson, & Nikki Sixx playing ‘Helter Skelter’:
Having toured together throughout 2018, Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson’s collaboration wasn’t that much of a surprise, but with Nikki Sixx not billed as appearing on the evening, things got a little bit exciting.
Footage from the event shows Rob Zombie joking with the crowd about which track the supergroup should perform. “I wonder what song we should play?” Zombie mused, before recruiting guitarist John 5 to perform some Mötley Crüe riffs, including ‘Shout At The Devil’ and ‘Dr. Feelgood’.
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However, after having a bit of a chuckle, John 5 tore into ‘Helter Skelter’, which both Zombie and Manson had covered earlier in the year, and Mötley Crüe covered on their 1983 album, Shout At The Devil.
“My thinking when it comes to covers is getting close to the original,” Rob Zombie explained to Rolling Stone about the pair’s cover. “Because, in my mind, what’s the real point of making a cover if no one can recognize it? So with our version, I think it varies as much as possible from the original, but not so much to become a different song. ”
Backed by images of Charles Manson, who believed ‘Helter Skelter’ to be a coded message for a race war, the high-energy cover fit into Rob Zombie’s set, which also featured covers of bands such as the Ramones, Alice Cooper, and his old group, White Zombie.
Check out Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson’s cover of ‘Helter Skelter’:
Rob Zombie @ Ozzfest 2018, 31/12/18 Setlist
‘Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Supertown’
‘Superbeast’
‘Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A U.F.O.’
‘Living Dead Girl’
‘In The Age Of The Consecrated Vampire We All Get High’
‘More Human Than Human’ (White Zombie song)
‘Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)’
‘House Of 1000 Corpses’
‘Thunder Kiss ’65’ (White Zombie song)
‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ (Ramones cover)
‘School’s Out’ (Alice Cooper cover)
‘Helter Skelter’ (The Beatles cover) (With Marilyn Manson and Nikki Sixx)
Encore:
‘Dragula’
