After months of petitions and relentless requests, fans have successfully forced the band Weezer into covering Toto's classic hit "Africa."
On Tuesday, May 29, the pop-rock band dropped their recording of the 1982 classic in honor of the "Weezer Cover Africa" movement.
Weezer Covers Toto
The Rivers Cuomo-led group dropped their rendition of "Africa" free for streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music. The cover art of the track featured a screenshot of a tweet from a dedicated fan account @weezerafrica.
@RiversCuomo it's about time you bless the rains down in africa — weezer cover africa (blue check) (@weezerafrica) December 6, 2017
The account has been requesting the band to cover the song since December 2017.
https://t.co/BTgxg0fcgy pic.twitter.com/3qJGzPrQVo — weezer (@Weezer) May 30, 2018
Last week, Weezer seemingly trolled their fans by releasing a cover of a song by Toto, the 1980s hit "Rosanna." The rendition received a glowing review from Toto guitarist Steve Lukather.
"Very flattered and thanks Weezer," he stated. "We recorded this — 2nd take NO rehearsal in 1981."
However, the band did eventually give in to what fans have been praying for, and it's nothing short of perfection. The cover has received positive responses to the original fan who tirelessly and repeatedly asked for the cover.
i don't know what's next. just let me enjoy this for a while.#WeezerCoverAfrica — weezer cover africa (blue check) (@weezerafrica) May 29, 2018
Toto was also impressed by the cover. The official Twitter account of the band retweeted the cover.
Meet The Teen Behind 'Weezer Cover Toto' Movement
Noisey reports that a young woman named Mary successfully forced Weezer into covering "Africa." The 14-year-old from Cleveland said that she started requesting for the cover as a prank, but it eventually grew larger and had added people involved.
"It was from Weezer was talking about they were inspired for their new album Daydream, what inspired them," she explained. "So I jokingly said, 'Oh I bet they were inspired by 'Africa' by Toto for their new album."
Mary is a big fan of Weezer, but she also listens to a lot of hits from the 80s. "Africa," of course, was a massive hit back in the day and it even topped the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1983.
'Africa' Enters The Modern Mainstream
The song also experienced a resurgence in the mainstream in the recent years. Its music video on YouTube now has over 321 million views five years after it had been uploaded on the video-sharing site.
"Africa" has also been used in advertisements and popular television series, most notably Netflix's Stranger Things, which is set in the 80s.
"'Africa' is a peak 80s tune. It's so completely of its time," said Ben Lunt of BMB in an interview with Vice. "'Africa' crosses generations. There's a genuine nostalgia of people of my age, and a borrowed nostalgia of younger people."
Stream Weezer's cover of the song below.
