Rihanna’s twenty-fourth top ten hit, “Stay,” seems to be a popular cover for male singers. Now, it’s her most popular song for anyone to cover but it does get covered a fair amount by guys and bands with guys as the lead singer. Some of that has to do with it being a duet with a man sure, but one reason might be how spare the song is compared to her other big hits.
Winter in May is the project of Spanish musician Rubén Tejedo (not be confused with the California “indie pop folk rock duo” of the same name). Tejedo has been releasing EPs and songs under this name since 2021. His latest is an alternative rock cover of “Stay.”
His version begins with same piano part as the original, but with a drumbeat coming in almost immediately. Tejedo sings the same vocal line, though as a much lower register and with his distinctive Spanish accent. There’s electric guitar and some vocal effects. For the pre-chorus, the distortion kicks in and there’s a prominent lead guitar part in the actual chorus.
Though the original song has a lot of emotion intensity, Tejedo ups the ante here, with pounding drums, multiple guitars and backing vocals. His version is melodically very similar but in a far rockier vein. It’s “rock” but it’s also still very much recognizable as the song. Check it out:
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