Rhiannon Giddens Covers Bill Withers’ ‘Just The Two Of Us’

Rhiannon Giddens shared her take on Bill Withers’ “Just The Two Of Us” along with a music video. Proceeds from the song will benefit Global Giving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.

Although Bill Withers died on March 30, Giddens actually recorded the song with longtime collaborator Sxip Shirey in 2016. “We made this song in a very un-socially distanced time, a few years ago when our paths crossed in New York – it sat, untouched in our vaults since then,” Giddens said in a statement.

“When Bill Withers passed, we suddenly remembered we had made this beautiful version of ‘Just The Two of Us,’ and thought it would serve as the perfect backdrop to the reality of where we are now – staying inside so that our healthcare workers have the best chance to fight this virus that cares nothing for the artificial divisions we have put up between us,” she continued. “So whether it’s just the two of us, or just a few of us; whether the lockdown has been for months or it’s about to be lifted; Covid-19 is here for the foreseeable future, and the more we can be alone together now, the better the future will be.”

The cover also sees contributions from John Altieri on sousaphone, Attis Clopton on drums and Don Godwin on valve trombone. Created during quarantine, the video features footage and photos of friends and family as well as frontline workers in the North Carolina UNC and New York-Presbyterian healthcare systems.

Watch the video for “Just The Two Of Us,” featured in Vanity Fair, below:

Giddens also recently helped to launch Art Is Alive: A COVID-19 Directory of Give and Take, an initiative helping artists during the coronavirus pandemic. Head here for more info.