Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson have released a cover of The Beatles 1968 classic, “Helter Skelter”, in sync with the launch of their summer tour of North America.
“We had been talking about doing something together for these shows, that he should come onstage during my set and we’d do a song,” Zombie tells Rolling Stone. “But we couldn’t think of what song. After we talked, later that night I was home and I just thought, The obvious song is ‘Helter Skelter’… It’s so obvious that neither one of us thought of it!
“And then I figured, well, rather than us just doing it onstage, why don’t we take it one step further and record it and put a new spin on it? That way, rather than just doing some impromptu jam together, now the fans will go, ‘Oh, there’s the song I’ve already heard, and now they’re doing it.’”
When Zombie suggested the tune, he had no plans to stray too far from the version that first appeared on The Beatles self-titled 1968 double album.
“Well, my thought when it comes to covers is to stick close to the original,” he explains. “Because in my mind, what’s the actual point of doing a cover if no one can recognize it? So with our version, I think it varies as much as it can from the original, but not so much that it becomes a different song.
“We used my band, and Manson and I did our parts separately. I was on the East Coast and he was in, like, Spain or something, on tour. We were communicating the whole time, but it wasn’t possible to get in the studio together.”
The "Twins Of Evil - The Second Coming Tour" opens in Detroit, MI on July 11 and will mix headline shows with festival appearances at Wisconsin’s Rock USA event on July 13, Heavy Montreal on July 28 and Maine’s Impact Music Festival on July 29.
The 2018 shows mark the follow-up to the pair’s "Twins Of Evil" tour in 2012, with the rockers exclaiming, “They said it couldn’t happen again!”
UPDATE: Watch Zombie and Manson perform their live debut of "Helter Skelter" here.
Rob Zombie / Marilyn Manson
"Twins Of Evil - The Second Coming"
2018 North American tour
Jul 11 - Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Center
Jul 13 - Oshkosh, WI @ Rock USA Festival
Jul 14 - St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
Jul 15 - Chicago, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
Jul 17 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
Jul 18 - Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Center
Jul 20 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Veteran’s United
Jul 21 - Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
Jul 24 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Pavilion
Jul 25 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Keybank Pavilion
Jul 26 - Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
Jul 28 - Montreal, QC @ Heavy Montreal
Jul 29 - Bangor, ME @ Waterfront Darling’s Pavilion (‘Impact Music Festival‘)
Aug 07 - Wantagh, NY @ Jones Beach
Aug 08 - Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
Aug 09 - Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion
Aug 11 - Hartford, CT @ The Xfinity Theatre
Aug 12 - Darien Lake, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater
Aug 14 - Atlanta, GA @ Cellairis Amp at Lakewood
Aug 16 - Dallas, TX @ Starplex Pavilion
Aug 17 - Austin, TX @ Austin 360
Aug 18 - Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Aug 20 - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
Aug 22 - Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheater
Aug 24 - Chula Vista, CA @ Mattress Firm Amphitheater
Aug 25 - Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
Aug 26 - Phoenix, AZ @ AK Chin Pavilion
Aug 28 - Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion
Aug 29 - Irvine, CA @ Fivepoint Amphitheater
See also:
Rob Zombie shares new album update
VIDEO: Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson preview summer tour
VIDEO: Rob Zombie previews Astro-Creep 2000 Live
VIDEO: Rob Zombie previews career-spanning vinyl box set
Search Rob Zombie at hennemusic
