Ex-Guns N’ Roses Drummer Matt Sorum Spotlights Frontline Workers With Tom Petty Cover
We all owe a debt to the frontline workers during the global pandemic, and with a new video, former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum is shining a spotlight on some of these workers with a cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."
Sorum serves up a mix of solo performance, playing the guitar amidst a desert setting, with shots of hospital workers dancing along to the Petty classic.
In his Instagram post discussing the cover and video, Sorum writes, "I made this video in the desert near Pioneertown (Calif.) when thinking and speaking with my good friends and partners in Brazil. Brazil is like a second home to me and I traveled there often before the pandemic to work on projects with my company @sthorm.io. Since then we have moved our @viralcure.global project into working on COVID-19 and supporting @hospitalhcfmusp (Hospital das Clínicas de SP)."
He adds, "We started the crowd funding space and raised much needed funds to help with the situation and medical supplies. Please support if you can. We’re all in this together more than ever."
Sorum calls his band "The Matts" for this project as it was primarily him completing the song, with some recording, mixing, filming, editing and a little slide guitar assistance from others. Watch the video below and check out the Viral Cure organization that Sorum spoke of here.
Petty's original version of "I Won't Back Down" was the lead single from his 1989 Full Moon Fever solo album. The song topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and crossed over to hit No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As for Sorum, the drummer has plans to detail his life in the new autobiography, "Double Talkin' Jive: True Rock 'N' Roll Stories From the Drummer of Guns N' Roses, The Cult and Velvet Revolver." The book was initially expected to arrive this spring, but got pushed to 2021 amid the pandemic.
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