Pink’s “Just Give Me a Reason” was a chart-stomping worldwide hit, thanks in no small part to the epic vocal fireworks on the duet provided by Pink and Nate Ruess. Only a bold singer would even attempt to tackle this song live, but Sara Evans and her guitarist Billie McClaran knocked it for six in their viral cover of the ballad. The country star is widely known as a vocal powerhouse, and if anyone wasn’t convinced yet, hearing Evans go to town on “Just Give Me a Reason” is just the ticket.
The ballad is the perfect showcase for how Evans has got it all as a singer and performer. The Missouri singer-songwriter began the song with a husky yet delicate opening verse, and then lifted the energy to sing the chorus solo. Next up, it was McClaran’s turn to take the lead vocal on the second verse, and boy, the fella has got some serious pipes on him. The pair began trading lines and we know you’re gonna love hearing them nail the big chorus together.
“Just Give Me a Reason” is a very demanding song to pull off live, with both singers requiring the ability to convincingly nail parts in multiple octaves, but Evans and McClaran were just all over it. Their skills on the mic didn’t escape the notice of music lovers on YouTube, and fans tuned in 7.2 million times online. This made the cover Evans’ most popular live performance, and her ninth most popular upload on YouTube overall.
Fans couldn’t get enough of hearing Evans and McClaran vibe together on the romantic ballad and added comments such as “I love Pink, I know she wrote and sings it and I love Nate too, but I think Sarah takes it to another level. What a voice – she can sing anything or with anyone!” and “I’m sure even Pink is blown away by this cover!” Hearing Pink and Ruess sing “Just Give Me a Reason” live really highlights how much Evans and McClaran brought their own style to the song.
Here on The Music Man, we love to dig into the stories behind the hits, and the tale behind “Just Give Me a Reason” is quite a corker, as Pink said she “totally tricked” Fun’s Nate Ruess into doing the duet.
Pink and Ruess co-wrote the song together with producer Jeff Bhasker. It was from this songwriting session that the duet came about.
Pink said that during the songwriting session she realized the performance of the song needed both the story of the man and the woman heard in the vocals. She then tried to convince Ruess to step up and do it as a duet with her; however, she said the indie star “was like ‘I’ll just do the demo ‘cos I don’t know about duets’ and I totally tricked him into doing it, and I am so glad I was able to.”
Pink added that “I think now he’s very happy that he did it, I think it’s a beautiful song and I’m really, really proud of it.”
If you would like to hear more from this talented artist you can follow Sara Evans on Facebook and Instagram for more incredible music.