00:00It's not every day you get to sing with a queen.
00:04Welcome to Moots Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the live
00:08collaborations that really shouldn't have worked as well as they did.
00:12I ain't got a feeling that I'm alone.
00:17Number 10, Metallica and Lady Gaga, Moth Into Flame
00:22Who cares at all?
00:25Over the years, Gaga has delved into a lot of different genres.
00:31Heavy metal was not necessarily one we would have expected to see.
00:35But by the way she blended right in with the genre legends Metallica at the 2017 Grammys,
00:41we would have thought it was the style she felt most at home in.
00:50She gives a full-throated assist on this song, and Metallica lead vocalist James Hetfield
00:56looks genuinely happy to perform with her.
00:59What's more, her harmonies give the song's melodic, hard-driving choruses an extra boost.
01:07Unfortunately, on the night of, sound issues plagued the performance.
01:15Luckily, we have a pristine dress rehearsal to listen to.
01:19Number 9, Adele and Darius Rucker, Need You Now
01:30The 2010 CMT Artist of the Year gala was a celebration of country music crossing over
01:36into the pop charts.
01:37Saluting Lady A's ubiquitous hit, Need You Now, former Hootie and The Blowfish singer
01:43Darius Rucker joined Adele, who had already achieved acclaim for her debut album.
01:48They drove home the theme of the evening.
01:57As the band watched, the two delivered the song like it was their own.
02:01Rucker's gruff voice and Adele's soulful rasp brought new life to a song that was all over
02:06the radio.
02:07It's also a fun little snapshot of Adele's career just before she blew up with the release
02:12of 21.
02:19Number 8, Freddie Mercury and Monserrat Caballé, Barcelona
02:31A duet between the Queen frontman and an opera megastar might not seem like the no-brainer
02:37it turned out to be.
02:38Freddie Mercury was a longtime admirer of Spanish soprano Monserrat Caballé's work,
02:44and the two had met a few years before they ended up collaborating on a song for the 1992
02:49Olympics.
02:50But the first live performance of the song took place in 1987 when the duo wowed the
02:55crowds of Ibiza.
03:05It all suddenly made sense.
03:08Mercury's flexible range and Caballé's thrilling high notes are two sides of the same coin.
03:13The best part about it, though, is how clear it is they love singing together.
03:25Number 7, Cyndi Lauper and Patti LaBelle, Lady Marmalade, Time After Time
03:30At first listen, these two pop divas might sound like polar opposites.
03:41Cyndi Lauper was a high-pitched, high-energy pop sensation of the 80s.
03:45Patti LaBelle started in a 60s girl group and became an icon of soul and R&B with gospel
03:51inspirations.
04:01Harmonizing and vocalizing, their voices are a surprising fit.
04:05Layering over each other so naturally, it's like they've been singing together forever.
04:10The two legendary singers are actually friends in real life.
04:13LaBelle is even godmother to Lauper's son.
04:22Number 6, James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti, It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World
04:34Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, famed vocalist Luciano Pavarotti performed a series
04:40of charity concerts featuring him and some of the biggest stars of popular music.
04:45The operatic tenor's soaring, technically precise talent was paired with artists as
04:49varied as Sheryl Crow, Grace Jones, Barry White, and Mariah Carey.
04:55But the most surprising duet, and the most transcendent, may have been with the King
04:59of Soul, James Brown.
05:08Pavarotti was the real surprise.
05:10He kept up with Brown and tailored his own pristine operatic style to assist on a soul
05:16classic.
05:23The two giants of their respective genres seem delighted to showcase their greatness
05:28together.
05:29Number 5, Annie Lennox and Hosier, Take Me to Church, I Put a Spell on You
05:34The Irish singer-songwriter and the former Eurythmics vocalist were both nominated at
05:44the 2015 Grammys, but their joint performance was the masterstroke no one saw coming.
05:50It was a fantastic and epic intergenerational crossover.
05:54Hosier and Annie Lennox performed a mash-up of their nominated work that completely stopped
05:59the show.
06:09Scintillating and powerful, the duet became an immediate sensation.
06:13Many declared it the best performance of the night, and that's a tall order when a show
06:18also includes appearances by Paul McCartney, Madonna, and Beyonce.
06:24Lennox was flabbergasted by the response on social media.
06:33Number 4, Beyonce and Eddie Vedder, Redemption Song
06:37A lot of unexpected pairings in pop music came about because of charity.
06:42There's nothing like a common cause to bring two very different artists together.
06:46Case in point, this performance from the 2015 Global Citizen Festival.
06:58Beyonce joined Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder for a stripped-down low-key duet of
07:03Bob Marley's protest track, Redemption Song.
07:06The performance is just the two of them sitting in front of microphones, pouring their hearts
07:12out.
07:19There were no pyrotechnics, no dancers, and no distractions.
07:23All that was on display was Vedder's raw vocal and Beyonce's angelic crooning, and they complemented
07:29each other beautifully.
07:39Number 3, Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar, Mad City, Radioactive
07:49Lauded rapper Kendrick Lamar was nominated for seven awards at the 2014 Grammys.
07:54Rock group Imagine Dragons was nominated for two.
07:57Together they pooled their talents and presented two of their nominated works in one glorious
08:03mashup.
08:04Following Lamar's autobiographical Mad City and Imagine Dragons' hit Radioactive, the
08:10unlikely duet stole the entire night.
08:20The mashup was released as a single, which was credited with boosting album sales and
08:24streams for both artists.
08:26It was such a magical collaboration that they were invited to recreate their performance
08:31on Saturday Night Live the next week.
08:40Number 2, Eminem and Elton John, Stan
08:49The rapper behind the Slim Shady alter ego was at the height of his fame when he dropped
08:54Stan, a song about an obsessive fan that became a total culture shift.
08:59Eminem's aggressive and vulgar style was already at odds with the song's original collaborator,
09:04the angel-voiced Dido.
09:06But facing allegations of homophobia for his lyrics, Eminem surprised everyone with a duet
09:11with Elton John at the 2001 Grammy Awards.
09:23Two artists with very distinct styles, their pairing was somehow a pitch-perfect match.
09:29That chemistry carried over offstage as well.
09:32The two have remained friends for years.
09:39Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
09:43Axl Rose and Elton John, Bohemian Rhapsody, genres clashed at the Freddie Mercury tribute
09:49concert.
09:59Britney Spears and Michael Jackson, the way you make me feel.
10:03The King and Princess of Pop's talents complemented each other well.
10:14David Bowie and Cher Medley, two pop icons just having a great time.
10:19Super casual.
10:27Rihanna and Jennifer Nettles, California king bed.
10:31Country met R&B on this ballad at the Academy of Country Music Awards.
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11:11On paper, it doesn't sound too surprising.
11:14You'd assume two artists who recorded the same song have a similar musical style.
11:18But that's not the case with Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs.
11:21Chapman is a folk, R&B, and soul artist with many years of experience in different genres,
11:27while Combs was an up-and-coming country star exploding onto the charts with his cover of
11:32her song.
11:40If the cover's success didn't already prove it, their performance at the Grammys is a
11:45testament to how the right song transcends genre.
11:48The two seamlessly blend their own styles in this touching performance of Chapman's
11:53timeless folk rock ballad.
12:03What's a surprisingly good live duet that you'll never forget?
12:07Tell us in the comments!
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