Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)

Album: Planet Jedward (2010)
Charted: 2
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • John and Edward are an Irish duo, popularly known as Jedward, comprising of identical twin brothers John and Edward Grimes. Their unique performances and distinctive blonde quaffed hair on the 2009 series of X-Factor bought them to the attention of the UK public. After they were eliminated from the competition, the twins signed a £90,000 one album contract with Sony BMG. This mashup of the Queen and David Bowie hit "Under Pressure" and Vanilla Ice song "Ice Ice Baby" was released as their debut single.
  • John and Edward first performed this song on the Freddie Mercury/Queen week of X-Factor on November 14, 2009. They later performed the song during the National Television Awards on January 20, 2010, with Vanilla Ice joining them on stage in the second half of their performance.
  • Vanilla Ice himself is featured on the track. He praised their version of his song to ITN: "I think they're great. I didn't know anything about them until a couple of weeks ago, but YouTube is a great thing. I got the invite to come over here. The song is great and it is a compliment to me."
  • Jedward explained their songwriting process to CMU: "We go into the studio and we never know what's going to happen, it's like an experiment. We hear a beat, and we get on a vibe for a song, and start writing and sharing ideas! You know, it's really a great feeling to be in the studio, we are loving the music right now and working with all different producers is really exciting, and that adds loads of different flavours to an album, like sweets, and each track is unique! We have to be in the zone. When we are in the studio we have to think like we are performing to thousands of people to get the energy and life in our vocals! We have a huge input and are always looking for something different, and they are the types of songs we as artists get excited about! We always want every track on the album to be a potential single and Jepic and Jeadly, just like Jedward (John and Edward together! Name given by our fans!)."

Comments: 1

  • Mjn Seifer from Not Listed For Personal Reason, EnglandYeah, I know it's Jedward, but I actually quite like this song. I've always found samples to be kinda cool - and this song does what I have often thought about trying myself (singing both the sample and the original together).
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"They're Playing My Song

The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Black Sabbath

Black SabbathFact or Fiction

Dwarfs on stage with an oversize Stonehenge set? Dabbling in Satanism? Find out which Spinal Tap-moments were true for Black Sabbath.