5 Unlikely Rock Duets That Worked Perfectly

Sometimes, blending genres in a duet just works out. And sometimes, those duets are actually quite incredible. Let’s look at five times a pair of unlikely musicians got together for killer rock (or rock-adjacent) duets!

Pop and rock come together in the most beautiful (and strange) way with this 1995 collaboration between Australian rock outfit Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and pop star Kylie Minogue. It’s a stellar, nostalgic murder ballad, and not one you would expect from these two radically different musicians.

This pair also collaborated in 1982 on the song “The Girl Is Mine”. However, nothing beats this excellent example of unlikely rock duets from 1983. The Beatles’ rock star Paul McCartney and King of Pop Michael Jackson got together for “Say Say Say”, and it was a massive chart-topping hit at the time. The pair never collaborated again after this duet, notably after Jackson purchased the ATV catalog of The Beatles’ songs from under McCartney’s nose.

Scottish alt-rock band Texas decided to do things a little differently with their collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan rapper Method Man in 1998. The musicians collaborated on “Say What You Want (All Day Every Day)”, and it just works. It actually works better than most rock-rap collaborations that didn’t quite hit the way they intended to, especially during that particular era.

The late great Joe Cocker was a blues-rock icon, known for his incredibly powerful voice. You’ll recognize him from his cover of The Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends”, which is arguably better than the original. Jennifer Warnes, on the other hand, is known for her stellar vocal skills in the country and pop categories.

The pair’s collab on the 1982 song “Up Where We Belong” is otherworldly and surprisingly romantic. It was a chart-topper on the Hot 100 for a few weeks that year, and it won several awards for Best Original Song for its use in the film An Officer And A Gentleman.

This duet isn’t as unlikely as it is surprising. It isn’t easy to have two powerhouse singers on the same song. However, Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers really poured their hearts out on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” from 1981. It was a great introduction to Nicks as a soloist, and she and Petty complimented each other quite beautifully.

Photo of ‘The Girl Is Mine’ Single via Michael Jackson’s Official Site