All year, Italian rockers Måneskin have kept fans “Beggin'” for more, and they think they know why their unexpected cover of a 1967 song by The Four Seasons became one of this year’s biggest hits.

In addition to scaling the pop charts, “Beggin'” has also spent more than 11 weeks at number one on Billboard‘s Alternative Rock airplay chart.  So why did the song, which was also a worldwide hit in 2007 thanks to a remix by Madcon, connect with listeners across the board so strongly in 2021?

“I think maybe just the way we reinterpreted it and we made it like it was our own song,” bass player Victoria De Angelis tells ABC Audio. “We tried to not think about the original, and just felt free to change it however we liked. I think this shines through the song.”

“Beggin'” isn’t the the only cover version that Måneskin has done, either: When they played their debut U.S. headlining shows in New York City and Los Angeles a few months ago, they performed a mash-up of Franz Ferdinand‘s “Take Me Out” and The Killers‘ “Somebody Told Me.”

“I think it’s fun to give different interpretations to a song that already exists,” says Victoria. “It’s just a way of sharing the music.”

And speaking of sharing music, “Beggin'” came in as TikTok‘s number-two song of 2021 globally, after being used in more than 10 million videos.  It made the top 20 in the U.S.

 

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