They were a one-hit wonder by design, releasing their single “You Get What You Give,” seeing it grow in popularity, then immediately disbanding in 1999. But 22 years later, Gregg Alexander got the band back together for a special show, to help celebrate Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th president of the United States. Watch the performance below:
Alexander says that when he found out the band’s lone hit single was a favourite song of President Biden’s late son Beau, he agreed to perform the song in a special show for the Biden-Harris Inauguration.
Alexander hasn’t exactly fallen completely off the radar for the past two decades. He’s written and produced for artists like Rod Stewart, Hanson (who were namechecked in the closing bars of You Get What You Give), The Struts, and won a Grammy for his work on “The Game of Love” by Santana and Michelle Branch. He’s even an Oscar nominee for the song “Lost Stars” from Begin Again starring Keira Knightly and Mark Ruffalo, losing to John Legend and Common’s “Glory” from Selma.
As a fan of the New Radicals when that track came out, it was great to see them on stage performing again. The hat doesn’t quite sit as well as it used to, and they feel a little out of practice, but they still delivered an earnest performance, and I really dug it. I don’t think they should go full on reunite and drop a new album. I think letting The New Radicals exist in our collective memories as a delightful nugget of the 90s pop-alt-rock scene is the best route. And this performance can help solidify that status. But I can think of no finer send off for Trump than the line “God’s flying in for your trial.”
Also performing at the inauguration or inauguration adjacent festivities were Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Garth Brooks, Foo Fighters, and Tim McGraw.
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