Jeopardy! sparked the ire of country music fans last Thursday (May 30) when a clue about the song “Life Is a Highway” was credited to the band who covered the track rather than the originators. Many viewers are saying that the show got it wrong.
The clue came under the category “Songs in the Key of Life” and read, “In the title of a Rascal Flatts’ song, ‘Life Is’ this type of road.”
Current champion Adriana Harmeyer, an archivist from West Lafayette, Indiana, buzzed in with the correct answer, “What is ‘A Highway?” adding $400 to her total.
However, some viewers were annoyed the show credited the song to Rascal Flatts instead of Tom Cochrane, the Canadian singer-songwriter and musician best known as the frontman for the rock band Red Rider, who wrote and recorded the original version of the song in 1991. The song became Cochrane’s first major solo hit after Red Rider broke up in 1990.
Rascal Flatts, the country band comprising Joe Don Rooney, Gary LeVox, and Jay DeMarcus, released a cover of the song in 2006 for the soundtrack of Disney Pixar’s animated movie Cars.
Fans took to social media during Thursday’s episode to blast the show and host Ken Jennings for not acknowledging Cochrane as the song’s originator.
“Very offensive to Tom Cochrane to call Life is a Highway a Rascal Flatts song,” wrote one viewer on X.
“Ahem! “Life is a highway” is a Tom Cochrane song!” said another.
“Why has #Jeopardy decided Life is a Highway is a Rascal Flatts song when they just produced an inferior cover?” added one commenter.
Another wrote, “This Tom Cochrane erasure will NOT stand.”
“Rasqual [sic] Flatts did not write Life Is a Highway. @Jeopardy! You will pay for this disrespect,” added another.
“I was unreasonably outraged by this!” said another fan on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum.
Even though the Rascal Flatts version is more recent, one Reddit user pointed out, “The original (by Tom Cochrane) was a pretty sizeable hit as well, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard 100. One spot ahead of the highest chart position the Rascal Flatts version achieved.”
Still, the song’s origins didn’t matter to Harmeyer, who nailed the answer and went on to win the episode. And she continued her winning streak on Friday (May 31), becoming a three-day champion with a total of $71,600. Can she keep her streak going tonight, Monday, June 3?
What did you think about Jeopardy! not acknowledging the original song? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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