‘80s music is just something that never goes out of style. Martin Miller proved that by creating the most rockin’ viral video ever by taking on seven of the greatest hits of that decade in one legendary studio session. You know Miller wasn’t messing around when he kicked off the medley with Van Halen’s “Jump,” and his six-piece band also kicked off big time, creating a hellacious groove.
Miller, meanwhile, showed off his impressive vocal chops and even more impressive guitar skills, trading lines on the iconic Eddie Van Halen solo with guitarist Nico Schliemann. Eagle-eared The Music Man readers will note that the boys reinterpreted the solo with some tasteful harmony lines. This clever arrangement continued with the second song, “Eye of The Tiger,” which the band delivered with an especially hard-driving groove.
The Martin Miller Session Band showed that they weren’t just one-trick ponies further into the medley, as they shifted to funk and then synthpop grooves with the third and fourth songs “Sledgehammer” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” The hit medley proved that love for ’80s music is still alive and kicking as the upload drew 12 million views, making it Miller’s most popular video by a long shot.
If any The Music Man readers watched the first ‘80s medley and were hankering for more, then I’ve got good news for you. Miller’s first medley was so well received that he decided to make a follow-up video, which also hit the spot with viewers, scoring 5.9 million views. In the second medley, the band takes on six songs, including Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” and George Michael’s “Careless Whisper.”
Miller’s ‘80s medley got a very warm reception below the video, with viewers adding comments such as “I‘m 52 years old and I can’t even tell you with the right words how good it was to my soul and my heart to listen to these ‘80s songs so amazingly performed by you guys” and “The level of talent in this band. The crazy amount of work they put into every production… the solos, the fills, the way they groove. I am completely blown away!” Martin Miller is a musician born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1985. He has toured the world as a guitarist and played on many records as a session player. Miller has 867,000 subscribers on YouTube and has scored numerous hit videos with his covers of classic songs.