Grammy foresight? When local singer Kendra Checketts was one of the final 24 candidates on NBC’s “The Voice” last spring, she was invited to choose a song to perform. She begged to sing “Bad Guy” — a departure from her usual repertoire. Teen pop sensation Billie Eilish had just released the tune a month earlier.
“If I could do ‘Bad Guy’ ... that would be insane,” Checketts texted “Voice” producers. “It’s a new song and I think I could do a super cool rendition of it.”
Little did Checketts know the song would go on to win Eilish one of four Grammys Sunday night. Checketts got permission to perform the tune on the show, and it was included on an album of the top 24 Season 16 “Voice” performances.
So when listeners stream “Bad Guy” on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming services, they can listen to Billy Eilish’s or Checketts’ rendition. “I knew it was going to be popular,” Checketts said of “Bad Guy,” “but I never expected it to blow up this much.... This song is huge.”
Meanwhile, the Del Mar singer has cut back on live performances to concentrate on releasing her own album, “Twelve Hundred,” due in mid-April.
