Boston violinist Rhett Price has come a long way from sleeping on park benches and busking in subways.
His rise to Internet fame began last year, when his cover of Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” racked up over a million views. Since then he’s made Boston a focal point of many of his videos, including this cover of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Cant Hold Us” in the Public Garden, and we had the pleasure of debuting his cover of Ozzy Ozbourne’s “Crazy Train” earlier this year.
Now, Price has teamed up with fellow viral violinst DSharp for a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” filmed everywhere from the Mass Ave. Bridge to his former stomping grounds on the Green Line playing for MBTA passengers.
According to an interview with Boston Magazine, Price chose “Beat It” for its face-melting solos.
“I chose ‘Beat It’ because it’s a badass song,” said Price. “That Van Halen guitar solo is insane, and I wanted to put my own spin on it—and it gave me a chance to shred a little bit.”
Price is also releasing an EP in January called “Kesha’s Mom,” which is available for pre-order on iTunes.
[h/t Boston Tweet]
