Janelle Monae Covers David Bowie’s “Heroes” Live For The First Time On ‘Letterman’: Watch

Janelle Monae visited Late Show with David Letterman to perform her space-funk take on David Bowie‘s 1977 classic, “Heroes”, for the first time. While her cover appears on Pepsi’s visual album celebrating soccer during the World Cup, Beats of the Beautiful Game, Monae’s Late Night performance made for a convincing argument that “Heroes” should be added to her live repertoire from here on out. As she raised her fists, spun in circles and flexed for the crowd, Monae was beaming.

“I just thought it would be really really cool for me of course to re-record — or re-imagine — one of my favorite David Bowie songs, ‘Heroes,’ Monae said to Idolator, in an exclusive interview about her cover. “ I was like, ‘Of course! I love it!’ Someone [like David Bowie] who has been an individual, but at the same time inspirational to just people and young people in general, empowers people to reach beyond our circumstances.” 

Watch Monae’s Late Night performance up top. Then check out the rest of our chat, where she talks about her follow-up to 2013’s The Electric Lady, her latest inspirations and the best way to get to Wondaland.

David Bowie, “Heroes”

Get an eyeful of even more pop music coverage, from artist interviews to exclusive performances, on Idolator’s YouTube channel.