Skip to main content

TL;DR:

  • Some of The Beatles’ songs and The Rolling Stones’ songs inspired a Rob Zombie song.
  • Zombie revealed why he loves The Beatles’ The White Album.
  • He compared The White Album to his own work.
Rob Zombie in a suit
Rob Zombie | Jason Merritt / Staff

The Beatles‘ songs are pretty different from Rob Zombie songs. Despite this, Zombie said The Beatles introduced him to sounds he incorporated into his music. In addition, Zombie once put out a macabre Beatles cover with fellow shock-rock star Marilyn Manson.

Some of The Beatles’ songs paved the way for a Rob Zombie song that uses the sitar

During a 2021 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zombie noted there was a sitar on his song “Get Loose.” He was asked if he was interested in Eastern music on its own terms, or if he just liked the way The Beatles and The Rolling Stones incorporated Eastern sounds. Zombie said The Beatles and The Rolling Stones exposed him to to those sounds in the first place.

“Well, I think that’s how, obviously, we all got exposed to it,” he said. “The great moment in The Concert for Bangladesh when Ravi Shankar and his guys are onstage, and they’re tuning their instruments, and when they’re done the crowd applauds. Ravi’s like, ‘Well, if you like the tuning that much, hopefully, you’ll also enjoy the music.'”

Rob Zombie revealed he loves the eclecticism of the songs from ‘The White Album’

Zombie is most known for heavy metal songs, but he said he’s willing to try different styles. “You need to have an ebb and flow,” he said. “Those are, to me, the best records over time, too, because you’ll go, ‘Well, I used to hate that song, but now it’s suddenly my favorite song, because I was sort of expecting it to be like this song, but then, you know.'” 

Zombie connected this attitude to The Beatles’ The White Album. “That’s why I always liked [The White Album], because it’s so all over the place,” he said. “The later Beastie Boys records are like that too. There’s always surprises to be found in those records as the years go on.”

Related

‘The Munsters’ Inspired 1 of Rob Zombie’s Most Famous Songs

Rob Zombie put ‘Get Loose’ on a hit album and also covered The Beatles’ ‘Helter Skelter’

“Get Loose” was not a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, none of the shock-rocker’s songs ever hit the Billboard Hot 100. “Get Loose” appeared on the album The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. That album reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for two weeks. While Zombie never teared up the singles cart, his solo albums consistently hit the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

The connection between The Beatles and Zombie did not end there. Zombie and Marilyn Manson teamed up for a cover of “Helter Skelter” from The White Album. Considering that song’s ghoulish association with Charles Manson, it was a perfect fit for the pair. Their take on “Helter Skelter” is far more abrasive than the original song.

The Beatles inspired many other artists to experiment including some spooky metal singers.

Best in Entertainment