[UPDATE 2/20/24]: For almost three years, we’ve been enchanted by this a one-minute clip of YEBBA singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” with twelve Jacob Collier clones adding dense harmony. For just as long, we’ve wondered where the rest of the song was. Now, it seems that Collier is ready to release the full thing—just as long as enough people want it.
In an Instagram video posted on Tuesday afternoon, Collier notes that if the post gets 25,000 comments, he’ll release the full version this week featuring John Legend and Tori Kelly. As of publication time, the post had racked up more than 12,000 comments in less than one hour. View the new post and read about the original clip below.
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[4/6/21]: We’ve all done plenty of mindless doomscrolling over the last year, but every so often the internet delivers something breathtaking. Case in point: this video of YEBBA singing Simon & Garfunkel‘s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” with an all-Jacob Collier chorus. Just watch it first and then we can gush about it together:
YEBBA ft. Jacob Collier – “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (Paul Simon)
Right? Right?! YEBBA’s rendering of the classic anthem is remarkable on its own. Add in the genius-level harmonic abilities of twelve Jacob Colliers and what you get is something otherworldly. The only gripe I can think of is that the clip is only a minute long.
Like the best internet add-on collabs, this one appears to have been a surprise to YEBBA. As Collier noted when he posted the clip, “This video of Yebba singing Bridge Over Troubled Water has long been a favourite of mine, so I thought I’d harmonise it for a bit of fun!!” As YEBBA responded in her own repost, the remote collab was “the comfort I needed today.”
YEBBA, real name Abbey Smith, is a 26-year-old vocalist hailing from Arkansas. She first garnered acclaim for her commanding performance backing Chance the Rapper on “Same Drugs” during a 2016 episode of Saturday Night Live. She soon released her first single, “Evergreen“, and has gone on to collaborate with a who’s who of high-profile artists including A Tribe Called Quest, Sam Smith Mark Ronson, Robert Glasper, and Stormzy. In 2019, YEBBA’s collaboration with PJ Morton on a cover of Bee Gees‘ “How Deep Is Your Love” netted her a Grammy Award for “Best Traditional R&B Performance.”
Jacob Collier, also 26 years old, has already been a magnet for global acclaim for years. While he unsurprisingly lost out on his long-shot nomination for the 2020 “Album of the Year” Grammy, Collier added to his collection with a win for “Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals” on Djesse Vol. 3 track “He Won’t Hold You”. In doing so, Collier made history as the first British artist to win a Grammy for each of his first four albums (In My Room, Djesse Vol. 1, Djesse Vol. 2, and Djesse Vol. 3).
These types of harmonic exercises have been Collier’s bread and butter for years, helping him capture the attention of countless music giants. As Collier’s manager and legendary producer Adam Fell told Billboard in a recent interview, “There was a period of time in Quincy [Jones]’s life where he walked into every single meeting — it didn’t matter whether it was with Queen Rania of Jordan, Hillary Clinton or Donald Glover — and the first thing he would do is pull out his laptop and a Bluetooth speaker, and play Jacob’s video of [Stevie Wonder’s] ‘Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing,’ and he would say, ‘Have you ever seen anything like this in your life? Because I haven’t.’”
Jacob Collier is set to head out on a massive world tour in 2022. For more information and a full list of dates, head here.