Aussie band apologises after backlash for their ‘hurtful’ comments about Usher on Triple J’s Like A Version

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An Australian band has apologized to their fans after facing backlash online for critical comments they made about a well-known song by Usher.

Melbourne punk band Radio Free Alice recently performed on Triple J’s Like A Version, where artists record covers. They explained their surprising choice of an Usher song – they wanted to give a less popular song a makeover, calling it ‘the ugliest duckling’.

The band apologized on social media after facing criticism for their recent comments.

We’ve been thinking about the reaction to our Like A Version performance and want to address it directly. After some reflection, it’s become clear that we didn’t fully consider how our comments about Usher’s song might have been hurtful.

We apologize to Black artists and communities. We meant the content as a joke, but we realize that doesn’t excuse the fact that it caused offense, especially coming from a band of four white Australian men.

Oh my gosh, after everything, they actually said they’d think before they spoke! Like, they finally realized how much their words matter, especially with everything going on. It’s just… it’s a relief to hear them acknowledge that, you know? I was so worried they wouldn’t get it, but they did! I’m still reeling, honestly.

We’ve been listening to your feedback and now have a clearer understanding of your concerns. We value both the music we create and the community that supports it, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

The group caused a stir last week by explaining why they decided to cover Usher’s popular 2010 song, “DJs Got Us Fallin’ In Love.”

They explained their belief that a truly great song stands on its own, while a weaker song relies on a strong arrangement to make it appealing.

This song was truly terrible – one of the worst we’d ever heard! We decided it would be a fun, though difficult, experiment to see if we could actually make it good.

Okay, so this band really stirred things up! They made some pretty harsh comments about a popular dance track, and honestly, people were not happy. Social media exploded with criticism – it was a total backlash. They definitely misread the room and faced a lot of heat for it.

‘It’s not too late to apologise for at best the clearly thoughtless comments,’ one person wrote. 

Someone commented, “Is Usher’s ‘Love Again’ a bad song? Seriously, who are these people saying that?!”

Someone else commented, saying the performers clearly don’t have the skill to live up to their claims.

One person commented that the Usher song, while a product of its time, was incredibly popular, achieving multi-platinum status in many countries. They criticized a cover version, saying it ruined a potentially good song, and another user expressed outrage that anyone would attempt to cover Usher, even admitting they aren’t a fan themselves.

One person joked that the band’s next song should be about ruining a music career with a single sentence, while many others admitted they weren’t familiar with them.

Triple J’s Like A Version program is one of the station’s most popular and long-running segments.

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2026-04-19 02:24