Throwback Thursday: Haley Reinhart, ‘The House of the Rising Sun’

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly series showcasing an album, single, music video or performance of a bygone era and its personal and/or cultural significance.

Gonna be frank here: Haley Reinhart was completely robbed. During American Idol‘s 10th season, she had to work 100 times harder than her competitors, often to scathing reviews by the judges panel. Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez seemed to have a vendetta against her ⎯⎯ this isn’t conspiracy talk. Here’s the proof. And here and here. Ok, so, Tyler might have been in her corner more often than not, but it never felt like enough.

In the Top 3, they saddled her with Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” (which is a great, biting kiss-off but doesn’t quite work on these shows without coming across as karaoke), fating her to get the boot before the finale. When it was evident her fan base was swelling around the season’s halfway point, that’s when the fangs came out. We’re looking at you, JLo.

Regardless, Reinhart made an indelible mark on singing competition shows. A voice both gritty and sultry, her interpretive skills were nearly unmatched that season. Ahead of her striking reimagining of The Animals’ “The House of the Rising Sun” (the second song of the night in Top 5 week), Sheryl Crow called out her version, saying, “I think people are going to be shocked when they hear her sing. She is interpreting it in a way I’ve never heard…”

Opening with an a cappella intro, Reinhart takes her time and lets the song simmer. It’s a delicate and nuanced approach, which explodes into Reinhart’s classic rock roar in the climax. “Oh, mother, tell your children / Not to do what I have done / Spend your life in sin and misery,” she wallops the listen across the face, pulling the reigns in at just the right moments to leave a chilling aftertaste. “In the house of the rising sun…”

Watch below:

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