Awesome Tributes

Mel Brooks is a comedy legend. To celebrate his many contributions, he received an honorary Oscar at the Academy’s Governor’s Awards, and Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane presented the award. Along the way, they roasted Brooks, and like any good musical, they burst into song with a medley of some of Mel’s best songs.

To promote his Exquisite Gucci collection, Creative Director Alessandro Michele paid tribute to the style of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. The campaign recreates scenes from A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut, and The Shining, in photos and a short film by Mert & Marcus. More on If It’s Hip, It’s Here.

Now that Better Call Saul has wrapped, we’re probably done with the Breaking Bad universe. Animation Therapy paid tribute to Vince Gilligan and his team’s amazing 14-year run of some of the best television ever with a beautiful CGI short film that commemorates some of the series’ iconic props and locations.

Nichelle Nichols passed away on July 30, 2022, at the age of 89. The groundbreaking actor made a name for herself in the role of Lieutenant Nyota Uhura on Star Trek. Trek fan John DiMarco put together this great compilation of her performances in the original series, the Star Trek movies, and Star Trek: The Animated Series.

During a performance in Paris, France, a group of 1000 musicians gathered to pay tribute to late drummer Taylor Hawkins with an epic performance of the Foo Fighters’ track My Hero. A few years back, Rockin’ 1000 played the Foo’s Learn to Fly.

Among the many whose lives have been tragically cut short by COVID-19 was Adam Schlesinger, power-pop genius and co-founder of Fountains of Wayne. Conan O’Brien helps us say farewell, while looking towards a more hopeful future with the band’s cover of The Kinks’ Better Things, which they performed shortly after 9/11.

Upon hearing the news of the death of The Cars’ frontman Ric Ocasek, Grammy-nominated musician Joseph Arthur recorded a contemplative one-take performance of himself covering The Cars classic You’re All I’ve Got Tonight. Arthur’s Come Back World tour starts 10/10/19 in Kansas City.

“I wanted them to feel buying a Marvel book was like visiting an old friend.” The House of Ideas’ executives remember Stan Lee’s legacy. Stan captured the imaginations of people all over the world while championing equality, diversity and social change.

The most influential and beloved man in the history of comics has left us. Throughout his 95 years, he defined what a superhero can be, and created the juggernaut known as Marvel. While it leaves off right after 2008’s Iron Man, With Great Power… is a fitting tribute to his life.

While putting the finishing touches on his album Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars… last year, Dwight Yoakam learned the news of Prince’s death. He decided then and there to add another track in tribute to the artist, a twangy, bluegrass version of one of his most beloved tracks.

To kick off this year’s Star Wars Celebration, the official Star Wars YouTube channel released this beautiful tribute video which includes some rare, behind the scenes and interview footage of Carrie Fisher, along with some of her greatest moments playing Princess Leia.

British alternative band Portishead applies their trademark haunting sounds to Abba’s 1975 pop classic SOS in a cover version dedicated to slain British parliament member Jo Cox. We always thought the original’s upbeat sounds belied the song’s dark lyrics.

One of the more emotionally powerful David Bowie tributes we’ve heard, as Toronto’s open choir of more than 500 singers convened to perform a wonderful cover of Bowie’s 1969 classic. Their rendition of The Man Who Sold the World is excellent as well.

During a recent appearance on BBC Radio 2, original Life on Mars keyboardist Rick Wakeman plays an incredibly moving piano tribute to David Bowie. This track and Space Oddity are now available with the artist’s royalties going to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Among the many David Bowie musical tributes that have popped up in recent days, here’s one we weren’t expecting – his seminal 1969 classic Space Oddity played on bells at the 634-year-old Dom Tower in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Greg Johnson of Acoustic Labs pays respects to Leonard Nimoy, Gene Roddenberry, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan and the other greats who we’ve lost from the Star Trek universe with this moving musical tribute. Download the track here.