See Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin Cover Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’
In honor of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which started tonight, Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin have released a cover of the Beastie Boys' 1994 hit "Sabotage."
It's the first in a series of eight songs by Jewish artists the duo plan to release, one coming out each night of the holiday. The video, embedded below, features Grohl recording his vocals while drumming, with Kurstin on keyboards. At the 2:07 mark, Grohl drops the drumstick in his left hand, but he carries on playing and he's able to pick it up off the floor 20 seconds later without missing a beat.
The description on the YouTube page for the sing reads, "As the only Rock and Roll Hall of Famers with a lyric about [Jewish delicacy] kugel, we thought it would be a shanda [Yiddish word for "disgrace"] to not kick off this party with New York’s (and Abraham’s) finest…known by some as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedenego, known by others as Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA…known by their Imas and Abbas [Hebrew for "mothers and fathers"] as Adam Horovitz, Mike Diamond and Adam Yauch… Beastie Boys!"
The duo announced the series, dubbed "The Hanukkah Sessions," yesterday in a video, with Grohl saying that he and Kurstin, who is Jewish, decided to record songs by Jewish musicians instead of going with a traditional Christmas tune. Kurstin produced Grohl on Foo Fighters' upcoming record, Medicine at Midnight, which arrives Feb. 5, 2021, as well as their last effort, Concrete and Gold. He also helmed most of Paul McCartney's 2018 album, Egypt Station.