Sevendust’s LJ Witherspoon and Chris Daughtry Team for Temple of the Dog Cover
LJ Witherspoon of Sevendust – Story by Charles Ken, photo by Anne Erickson
Listen to Lajon Witherspoon and Chris Daughtry cover the Temple of the Dog classic “Hunger Strike”
Often times, the best rock star collaborations are the most surprising ones. Such is the case with a new collaboration between Sevendust lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and Chris Daughtry of “American Idol” fame. The two joined forces for a cover of the Temple of the Dog hit, “Hunger Strike,” and the result is a passionate, cohesive take on one of grunge music’s biggest hits.
Seattle music fans will recall that the original “Hunger Strike” featured vocals from Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and late Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell. For the new version, Witherspoon and Daughtry keep things pretty close to the original “Hunger Strike,” adding their own tones and style to the classic track with Witherspoon singing Vedder’s part, and Daughtry taking on Cornell.
Witherspoon and Daughtry’s version of “Hunger Strike” is available now via digital outlets. Stream the song below.
This is the second time Witherspoon has covered a Cornell song in the past few months, as Sevendust’s latest studio album, “Blood & Stone,” features a cover of Soundgarden’s “The Day I Tried to Live.”
Witherspoon told Audio Ink Radio in a recent interview that covering Cornell was “the hardest thing, probably, I’ve ever done.” He added, “When the song (‘The Day I Tried to Live’) got mentioned, I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is great. It doesn’t matter! I would love to hear any Soundgarden or Chris Cornell song to cover,’ but I said, ‘But, who’s going to sing it?'”
He also said that doing the song “kind of gave me anxiety” but that “the lyrics are so timeless and fitting with what’s going on in even the world today that it was very important for us to at least put the song out first before everything, with what’s going on.”
In other news, Sevendust will kick off a summer tour beginning June 26 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and running through a July 24 show in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Daughtry, on the other hand, has been jetting up the rock radio chart with his latest single, “Heavy Is the Crown.”
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