Pop GENIUS or Sellout? The 'Cheeseball' Song that Split Seether’s Fanbase!

Описание: The story of Seether's cover of George Michael and Wham! song Careless Whisper

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#seether #carelesswhisper #georgemichael

Seether's "Careless Whisper": The Prank That Became a Hit
By the mid-2000s, Seether had established themselves as a legitimate force in rock music. Following their 2002 breakthrough with "Fine Again," the South African band achieved mainstream success with their 2004 duet "Broken" featuring Amy Lee of Evanescence, which peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, this success threatened to pigeonhole them as a radio-friendly ballad act. In response, they doubled down on their heavier sound with 2005's Karma and Effect, an album that debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 and established them as authentic post-grunge artists defined by drop-tuned guitars, distorted riffs, and frontman Shaun Morgan's dynamic vocal range.

By 2006, however, the band was struggling. Morgan had entered rehab, his ex-girlfriend Amy Lee publicly aired their relationship drama in the song "Call Me When You're Sober," guitarist Pat Callahan departed due to touring exhaustion, and Morgan's brother Eugene tragically took his own life. The year was brutal, but it produced one of their most personal and successful albums: 2007's Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. The album debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 and featured emotionally raw tracks like "Rise Above This," written by Morgan for his deceased brother.

Despite their artistic authenticity, their record label Wind-up Records made a tone-deaf request: they wanted a Valentine's Day love song for commercial release. For a band built on finding beauty in negative spaces and railing against industry superficiality, this was insulting. Their response was pure sarcasm—they would create the most over-the-top, dramatic love song imaginable: a cover of George Michael's 1984 classic "Careless Whisper."

The transformation was surgical. The iconic saxophone was replaced with a heavily distorted, groaning lead guitar. The smooth synth rhythm became aggressive drumming and a thick bass line. Most importantly, Shaun Morgan's gritty, pained vocal delivery twisted George Michael's heartfelt regret into dark irony and self-loathing. What began as a mockery accidentally became a genuinely compelling rock song—the original's strong songwriting proved undeniable even through layers of distortion.

The label didn't understand the joke. Instead of seeing sarcasm, they recognized a potential hit. Released initially as a B-side bonus track, the song gained unexpected traction online and eventually peaked at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 while hitting number 4 on the Mainstream Rock chart. In 2009, the label reissued Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces with "Careless Whisper" as an official bonus track, complete with an 8-bit animated music video.

The prank had catastrophically backfired. The cover split Seether's fanbase completely. Purists viewed it as either a silly novelty or worse—a sellout move that contradicted everything the band stood for. Meanwhile, a massive new audience embraced it as a brilliant rock reinvention, with many discovering Seether through the cover. Morgan later acknowledged that some older fans would "stare and flip us off" during live performances due to homophobia attached to covering a George Michael song.

Today, "Careless Whisper" remains a footnote in their catalog—absent from recent setlists but forever part of their legacy. It's a perfect encapsulation of how artist intent and audience reception can diverge, proving that sometimes a joke can accidentally create something genuinely worth loving.

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