Watch BTS Cover Coldplay’s “Fix You” On MTV Unplugged
It’s been about three decades since MTV Unplugged had its cultural heyday, but the franchise apparently still has enough juice around the world that the massively popular South Korean boy band BTS have taken part. BTS recently got together in Seoul to record their own edition of MTV’s long-running franchise. The BTS episode of Unplugged, which aired yesterday, mostly featured soft and tender (though not acoustic) performances of the group’s hits like “Telepathy” and “Dynamite.” But during their episode, BTS also tried out their own version of Coldplay’s 2005 power ballad “Fix You.”
For the “Fix You” cover, the seven members of BTS — all lined up in stools, wearing ensembles that look a whole lot like private-school uniforms — traded off lines on “Fix You,” taking solo runs at lines or splitting up into harmonizing pairs. The musicians, if there were any, were offscreen, and it sure sounded like BTS were singing over an instrumental version of the original Coldplay recording. That means their performance looks a lot like karaoke — but it’s seven globally famous pop stars doing karaoke, which is kind of interesting in itself.
The different members of BTS seem to have varying degrees of comfort singing in English, but all of them absolutely nail the falsetto bits. Also, it’s a bit funny to watch them swaying and looking vaguely bored during the guitar flare-up. (The group’s only real embellishment is RM saying “let the beat in” when the drums come crashing, which is also pretty funny.) Watch BTS singing their cover and the video for the Coldplay original below.