If you’ve been lucky enough to score tickets to a Maggie Rogers gig recently, you probably know about the singer-songwriter’s love for “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” The Whitney Houston dance-pop track plays at the end of every Rogers show. As the lights come up and people start filing out of the venue, Houston leads the crowd into one last sing-along and dance party, keeping the crowd buoyant for a couple extra minutes after Rogers has left.
Rogers recently visited Canadian radio host George Stroumboulopoulos’ The Strombo Show, treating listeners to a gorgeous cover of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” Rogers amplifies the yearning lyrics of the song by stripping back its dance-y instrumentation, keeping it acoustic and low-key. Rogers’ debut album, Heard It In A Past Life, is glossily produced synth-pop, but the singer-songwriter proves her versatility with this emotional cover. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” is a near-impossible song to cover — the original is so iconic, and nobody’s got a voice quite like Whitney Houston’s. But Rogers does the song justice, both honoring Houston and making the song all her own.
Listen to Maggie Rogers’ cover of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” above. (The performance starts at the 23 minute mark.)
