When pop princess Miley Cyrus covered Coldplay, fans didn’t know what to expect. But when they heard her heart-wrenching rendition of “The Scientist,” Cyrus won the hearts of Coldplay fans everywhere! The Tennessee star performed an emotional rendition of the band’s early hit set to a piano part, really honing in on the deeply personal elements of the song. If there was any doubt that Cyrus could sing anything, then she really put it to bed here, because she made it sound like piano rock was her bread and butter.
Cyrus kicked off “The Scientist” with a delicate and melancholy verse, getting plenty of mileage out of her smoky low register. The pop star let the tension build throughout the song before climbing to the top of her range just after the three-minute mark. The wait was worth it, as her powerhouse high range belting will definitely give you goosebumps. The Music Man is one of Cyrus’s biggest fans – and this performance just reminded us why all over again!
Cyrus performed “The Scientist” on the Montreal date of her Bangerz Tour, while promoting her album of the same name. A fan upload of the cover proved to be popular on YouTube, where it hit 3.8 million views. Fans gave plenty of praise with comments such as “Miley is such an icon. She can sing any song and it sounds amazing” and “I love her version of the song, I wish she would do a studio cover of it – pure emotion.”
Cyrus treated fans to a number of special covers during the Bangerz tour. During the Oakland date on the tour, Cyrus performed Fleetwood Mac’s ballad “Landslide.” She noted that “Landslide” was “one of my favorite songs, from one of my favorite bands.” That checked out as she sang the hit with a real passion, and her low range just sounded delectable here. While she is best known for her pop hits, as a country girl, Cyrus really excels at folk and country tunes, as this performance shows.
Coldplay released “The Scientist” on November 11, 2002, as the second single from their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. The Music Man readers may recall that the song was a critical and commercial hit, gaining quadruple Platinum certifications in the US and UK. All four members of Coldplay are credited as writing “The Scientist.” The origin of the song came when frontman Chris Martin was attempting to figure out George Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity” on piano one night. He failed to work out that song but stumbled across a chord progression that Coldplay later developed into “The Scientist.”