Put On Your Red Shoes & Stream Umphrey’s McGee Cover Of Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’ Featuring Huey Lewis

Umphrey’s McGee cover of “Let’s Dance” originally recorded in 2018 for Howard Stern’s David Bowie Tribute on SiriusXM is now available for streaming and purchase. The sextet is joined on the studio cut by famed vocalist Huey Lewis and Dave Matthews Band saxophonist Jeff Coffin.

The “Let’s Dance” cover marks Huey Lewis’ last studio recording before meniere's disease and hearing loss sidelined the legendary musician. “We’re honored. And want to apologize to Uncle Huey that he got stuck with us for his final encore,” wrote UM on X (formerly Twitter).

David Bowie put out the chart-topping “Let’s Dance” in 1983 as the title track to his 1983 studio album. The song went on to be one of the iconic musician’s best-selling and beloved tunes. Both Huey Lewis and Umphrey’s McGee guitarist Brendan Bayliss weighed in on their collaboration, stating the following:

Huey Lewis

“Bowie is obviously one of our important artists, and ‘Let’s Dance’ is probably my favorite Bowie song for a lot of reasons. First of all it’s very funky. It was produced by the great Nile Rogers, and the all star band was Nile on guitar, Tony Thompson and Omar Hakim on drums, Bernard Edwards on bass, Lenny Pickett and the Uptown Horns, with special guest star Stevie Ray Vaughn. Also, the record was cut and mixed by Bob Clearmountain at the Power Station in New York, where we (HLN) mixed our records with Bob. I can hear the room sound on the track, and, the time delayed echo tuned to the track … an early mark of Clearmountain’s mixes.

“It was a real thrill to sing this with the Umphrey’s guys…I have been a fan from the first time I heard them, and was keen to join them for this tune. We tried to stay mostly faithful to the original, as this was originally cut for a tribute album.”

Brendan Bayliss

“I still can’t believe that we actually got to collaborate with these two musical powerhouses on one of my favorite David Bowie tunes of all time.

“I remember seeing the video for “Let’s Dance” for the first time on MTV when I was a kid, probably right before or right after one of the many hits Huey Lewis and The News had out at the same time. Getting a chance to record the song with Huey is a dream come true. Add one of my favorite saxophone players on the planet into the mix, and I think we can all agree that this is a pretty cool take on a very classic song.”

Hear Umphrey’s McGee’s “Let’s Dance” featuring Huey Lewis and Jeff Coffin below:

Umphrey’s McGee launched an extensive winter tour with a concert at The Fillmore Charlotte on Thursday night. Drummer Kris Myers has returned to active duty after shoulder surgery kept him off the road for the second half of 2023. The trek continues tonight in Raleigh, North Carolina.