Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox cover Living Colour’s ‘Cult Of Personality’
King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his wife, singer Toyah Willcox, have shared a cover of Living Colour’s ‘Cult Of Personality’ – watch it below.
The cover is a part of the pair’s ‘Sunday Lunch’ video series which was launched in 2020. The series has so far seen the couple share renditions of songs by Ramones, Nirvana, David Bowie, Metallica, Billy Idol, The Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, The Prodigy, Guns N’ Roses, Alice Cooper and many more through Willcox’s YouTube channel.
In recent weeks, they’ve covered Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’, ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ by the Smashing Pumpkins and Kaiser Chiefs‘ ‘I Predict A Riot’; last week’s cover saw the pair deliver their take on Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Can’t Stop.
This week though, the pair have revisited Living Colour’s ‘Cult Of Personality’. The hard rock song was originally released in 1988 with Willcox and Fripp covering the track at the start of last month as a display of solidarity with Ukraine, following the invasion by Russia.
This new take is a slightly more joyful affair, with a hand-painted Living Colour sign in the background of their kitchen alongside a peace sign, though Willcox can still be seen clutching a toy gun.
“We take another look at this belter of a song,” reads the caption of the video. Check it out below.
Speaking about the track in 2019, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid told NME that “with the likes of Trump and the rise of other populists, that song feels even more relevant. ‘Cult of Personality’ is a song that makes Living Colour constantly relevant, but it’s a pyrrhic victory.”
Back in August, Willcox released her 16th studio album ‘Posh Pop’, which she previewed with the single ‘Levitate’ featuring Simon Darlow and Bobby Willcox.
Discussing the album in an interview with NME, Willcox explained how it came about. “When COVID stopped everything last year, it allowed me to concentrate on writing and recording the next album,” she said. “We recorded in Simon’s outdoor studio with just him, my husband and I.
“‘Posh Pop’ was a magical experience created out of the need and ability to make contact with our fans in a heartfelt way. Also the terrifying distance between those who run the world and those on the ground inspired my writing.
She added: “Working with Fripp in the studio, we just handed him the chord charts the day before and said: ‘We want you to come in and improvise and that’s what we’ll use’. It was spontaneous.”