10 Huge Songs That Bands Refused To Play Live

9. Don’t Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin

With that very sad story now out of the way, let's move onto a song that is joyous by its very nature.

In 1988, Bobby McFerrin released Don't Worry, Be Happy, inspired by the mantra of Indian mystic Meher Baba. The song was a huge hit, becoming the first acappella song to top the US Billboard charts. It has since gone onto achieve musical immortality, living on forever in various movies, TV shows, and spoofs.

The popularity of the song is ultimately what led to McFerrin retiring it from his repertoire.

In an interview with USA Today in 2013, which could oddly be found in the magazine's tech section, McFerrin stated that he'd had enough of this whistly tune.

"I got tired of singing it," he said of his biggest hit. "I sang it millions and trillions of times."

Whilst it's highly doubtful that he's actually sung the song trillions of times, unless he's been trapped in some sort of reggae hell since the late '80s, you can understand why McFerrin is done being asked about it.

Although he's probably still more than happy to collect those royalty cheques that roll in every year.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.