Remember When: Stewart Copeland Heard Limp Bizkit for the First Time (And Absolutely Nailed His Cover)

Both on his own and as part of The Police (among several other bands), Stewart Copeland is one of rock’s greatest and most inventive percussionists. He’s proved that notion time and time again, and he hasn’t slowed down at all at 73 years old. He proved that fact even further in an appearance on Drumeo’s YouTube channel earlier this year. 

You won’t believe what song Copeland managed to master after listening to it just one time. Spoiler alert: If you love nu-metal, you’ll recognize the song right away. In fact, the 2000 nu metal tune was recently given a new breath of life recently. It was featured in Netflix’s recent animated release, Devil May Cry, as the show’s theme song.

Stewart Copeland Nailed “Rollin’” by Limp Bizkit

The Drumeo channel has a habit of tasking talented drummers with learning wildly different songs after just one thorough listen. And for this particular episode, they had Stewart Copeland on to learn none other than Limp Bizkit’s famed track “Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle)”. According to the video, Copeland had never really heard the song in full before.

Brandon Toews, the show’s host, began playing “Rollin’” with the drum track intentionally removed. As if moved by the very spirit of some drum-related god, Copeland immediately started to play along with what he believed would make the most sense percussion-wise for the tune. It’s clear that Copeland’s precision and talent aren’t really things that can be taught. Rather, his talents are intrinsic to him and wholly natural.

In the previous episode of this series, drummers provide a first take before taking on a second, more thorough run-through of the song. Copeland, naturally, opted to flip the script and complete the performance with just one single take.

Copeland said he had never heard the song previously, and he was notably surprised when the host said that Limp Bizkit was behind the track.

“Oh, really?” Copeland said. “I like those guys in concept, but I’m not that familiar with their music.”

After Stewart Copeland completed his rendition of the song, he was shown the original drum track, featuring Limp Bizkit’s founding drummer John Otto.

If you’re considering picking up the drums as your newest instrument to master, consider Copeland’s performance as your much-needed inspiration.

Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images

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