UNITED STATES – Italian rock band Maneskin took to the stage at the American Music Awards tonight (Sunday 21 November) for a live performance – but not everyone was happy.
The Eurovision champions, who are enjoying huge success with singles including “MAMMAMIA” and “I Wanna Be Your Slave”, performed their viral cover version of “Beggin”.
Wearing matching black suits, the band delivered an energetic version of the singing, which began with frontman Damiano David singing a drawn-out, a cappella intro. Watch footage of Måneskin’s AMAs 2021 performance below now.
The song was originally written by Bob Gaudio and Peggy Farina, and was first popularized by The Four Seasons in 1967. A number of artists have covered the song since, perhaps most memorably Madcon in 2007.
On social media, fans accused the AMAs of preventing Maneskin from performing one of their own songs.
“Everyone and their mother has done a cover of ‘Beggin’, why are Maneskin at the AMAs doing the same? ‘Zitti e Buoni’ was freaking amazing do that I’m beggin,” one fan wrote.
Fighting Maneskin ur gonna be free of this cover soon,” another joked.
“The US is so horrid, how are they gonna have Maneskin performing ‘Beggin’?! the disrespect…I get that they only want songs in English… but the cover over all the originals? I’m so tired,” one fan tweeted.
Many more expressed shock as they discovered the song was not an original by the band.
“I was today years old when I learned that “Beggin’” by Maneskin is a cover of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons,” one tweeted.
