In general, singers and bands perform their songs the way they originally wrote them. Sometimes, however, they make a change, whether it's permanent or a spur-of-the-moment decision onstage. These alternations can reflect everything from personal drama to current events.
Here are 15 times singers changed their lyrics live on stage:
1. During Coachella 2024, Reneé Rapp brought out Kesha to perform her 2010 single "Tik Tok." Kesha changed a lyric that mentioned P. Diddy, who's facing multiple civil lawsuits on accusations of rape, sex trafficking, and sexual abuse.
2. During Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest at the end of 2023, Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong altered the lyrics of "American Idiot" to call out Donald Trump and his supporters.
Watch their performance below:
View this video on YouTube
3. During the 2024 Grammys, Miley Cyrus added some lines to "Flowers," seemingly referencing her former relationship with her ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth.
4. During a 2022 performance at the White House, Sam Smith made a slight alteration to "Stay With Me" to celebrate the Respect for Marriage Act — which codified same-sex and interracial marriages — being signed into US federal law.
In an Instagram post following the event, they said, "I felt inspired to change the lyrics. Watching President Biden sign the Respect for Marriage Act was a landmark moment for freedom of love."
Watch their White House performance below:
View this video on YouTube
5. During a 2023 The Eras Tour stop in Buenos Aires, Taylor Swift changed the lyrics to "Karma" to shout out her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who was in the audience.
6. When Taylor Swift played Nashville in 2023, her high school best friend, Abigail Anderson Berard, was in attendance. At the time, Taylor was going through a breakup, and Abigail was going through a divorce. For that night's second surprise song, Taylor played "Fifteen" — which she wrote about their high school experience — with a slight addition.
7. Ending her 96-hour Witness World Wide YouTube livestream with a concert in 2017, Katy Perry changed a lyric in "Swish Swish," which is speculated to be about Taylor Swift.
Here's her performance:
View this video on YouTube
8. Joe Jonas changed the lyrics to the Jonas Brothers' song "Much Better" onstage twice — once during a Tulsa tour stop after the song's release in 2009, then again during their Las Vegas residency in 2022. The first time, he seemingly shaded his ex, Taylor Swift, but the second time, he alluded to making peace with her.
9. Kelly Clarkson divorced Brandon Blackstock in 2022. When she performed "Piece By Piece" during her Las Vegas residency the following year, she changed up the lyrics to make it about herself and her own strength rather than a relationship.
10. On a 2023 episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, Kelly Clarkson covered "ABCDEFU" by Gayle. She made some lyric changes that appeared to reference her ex-husband.
Here's a clip of Kelly's performance:
View this video on YouTube
11. While performing "Bossy" at Broccoli City Festival, Keke Palmer switched some lyrics to celebrate her new motherhood and her post-partum body changes.
12. During a 2023 performance, Pink made a slight alteration to "Don't Let Me Get Me" that changed a Britney Spears reference from negative to positive.
13. Performing at the One Love Manchester benefit concert in 2017, Robbie Williams changed the "Strong" lyrics to celebrate the community's resilience.
14. When Squeeze performed on The Andrew Marr Show in 2016, then-UK Prime Minister David Cameron was also a guest on the show. So, they changed the "Cradle to the Grave" lyrics to call him out.
Here's their performance:
View this video on YouTube
15. And finally, during a 2019 performance in Carcassonne, France, Liam Gallagher changed the "Shockwave" lyrics to seemingly shade his brother/former bandmate Noel Gallagher, as well as Bono. The brothers have been in a feud since Oasis broke up in 2009, and Noel and Bono are close friends who toured together in 2017.
