Earlier this year, alternative rockers Our Lady Peace performed their song “Whatever” for the first time ever in concert. The tune was originally used as the theme for disgraced wrestler Chris Benoit who shockingly killed his wife and son before offing himself back in 2007.
Singer Raine Maida told an audience for on of their 30th anniversary shows about the decision to reclaim the song. “This next song, it’s a song we never played actually,” he explained to the audience. “We recorded it and it ended up on this big kind of soundtrack. It has this troubled past tied to it, so we didn’t play for a long time until tonight actually. But we decided to take back ownership of the song, cause it is our song, and it has to do with mental health. That’s how we’re kind of taking control. This is about, again, not being scared to reach out. For anyone that is struggling, there is hope, there is help.”
Earlier this week, Our Lady Peace officially re-released the song as a new “Redux” version. They explained the decision in a press release: “It’s been 23 years since the tragic events surrounding WWE wrestler Chris Benoit and the theme song we wrote for him. We feel that enough time has passed that it was necessary to re-record ‘Whatever’ to help shine a light on suicide prevention and mental health awareness.”
The band also said that all streaming revenue from “Whatever (Redux)” will be donated to suicide prevention initiatives. The song originally appeared on the WWE, then-WWF soundtrack “Forceable Entry” alongside tracks from Kid Rock, Creed, Disturbed, Limp Bizkit and more.
The new version of the track can be head below.
