Credit: Far Out / Tidal

Every artist who has covered the song ‘So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ by The Byrds

Tue 8 October 2024 6:00, UK

When The Byrds released the first single from their new album in January 1967, the archetypal rock ‘n’ roll star was still a phenomenon just being born. Out of the madness that ensued when first Elvis Presley and then The Beatles exploded onto the scene, through the wild reputations of other British Invasion acts, the nascent psychedelic era, and the advent of groupies.

The so-called ‘27 Club’ only had one member at that point, the overwhelming decadence was still a long way off, experimentation with LSD was just taking hold, and the biggest artists of the ‘60s hadn’t yet seen the fruits of their work in the form of untold wealth on an unprecedented level for musicians. So it was quite a leap into the unknown for Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman to skewer this phenomenon with a satirical sideswipe, even as it was still coming into being.

They had form, though, with their previous single ‘Eight Miles High’ providing a particularly cynical perspective on a UK tour in which they were dogged by attacks from the British press. And ‘So You Wanna Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ proved to be especially prescient about the damage and destruction that would soon arise out of musical superstardom. “Was it all a strange game?” the Byrds ask tauntingly in their signature three-part harmony vocals. “You’re a little insane.” More than a little, in some cases.

It’s no surprise, then, that this masterful takedown of rock stars selling their “soul to the company” has spawned a fair few cover versions from their other rock and roll contrarians down the years. The first cover of note was the year after the Byrds’ initial release, by British psychedelic pop outfit the Move, featuring Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood. Their upbeat live rendition actually rocks harder than the original, with wah-wah guitar solos and a stunning performance by Bev Bevan on drums. The song then received glam, hard rock, roots rock, and even punk makeovers during the decade that followed.

So, who else has covered it?

Elton John’s backing band Hookfoot did their own version of the track, which is undoubtedly a fitting send-up of their frontman in 1974, before hard-rockers Nazareth recorded it for a 1976 studio album. And Patti Smith released a jangly, organ-heavy art-rock recording of the song as the third single from her group’s 1979 album Wave.

Into the 1980s, Tom Petty brought the song on tour with him, and fellow alt-rock outfit Unrest released it on their debut album. In 1984, REM performed it with McGuinn with a rhythmic variation, which made it sound like the contemporary Replacements single ‘I Will Dare’. It then made its way onto MTV Unplugged in 1993, not through Nirvana, but courtesy of Swedish pop duo Roxette. And grunge heavyweights Pearl Jam have made a frequent feature of their live sets over the past two decades.

The succinct statement that ‘So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ makes has clearly aided its enduring appeal to artists across the rock spectrum. In four tightly compressed verses, it simultaneously mocks the superficial make-up of the rock star persona, the corporate control over the record industry, and the “price” of a life lived to excess via the “game” of selling music.

These things are all elements of rock and roll that stars spanning every generation of the phenomenon can relate to up to the present day. There are thousands of self-referential compositions that glorify the life of a rock star, but not many that offer a critical perspective on what it takes to be one. This explains why so many artists of various backgrounds are attracted to this same song – it touches on a simple truth in a way that few others do.