Divine, One More Try | COVERS

In the 13^th edition of COVERS (2024), Divine delivers a compelling rendition of “One More Try,” originally performed by George Michael.

Ah, it’s time to get cozy and totally cover up! In COVERS, we highlight a musician or band covering songs by another musician (likely a popular musician). COVERS focuses solely on the musician who covers, as opposed to the original/most famous performer.  It is open to both established musicians and musicians who may not be as well-known. In the 13^th edition of COVERS (2024), Divine delivers a compelling rendition of “One More Try”, originally performed by George Michael. 

“Teacher / There are things that I don’t want to learn / And the last one I had made me cry…” Short-lived R&B trio Divine (Kia Thornton, Nikki Bratcher, and Tonia Tash) is best known for their  no. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit, “Lately”. “Lately” appears on their sole album, 1998’s Fairy Tales. While often mistaken as one-hit-wonders, Divine charted a second top-40 hit: “One More Try”, a cover of the beloved, George Michael hit.  Their gorgeous, no. 29 peaking rendition of the ballad appears as the third track on Fairy Tales.

Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy produced the Divine rendition of “One More Try”. Fittingly,  given the personnel, “One More Try” gets more of an urban, R&B sound.  The original by George Michael had R&B vibes too, so it’s not a drastic, unusual transformation. The tweaks in the instrumental come primarily from the gift that keeps on giving – keyboards! Vocally, Kia, Nikki, and Tonia serve up sweet vocals, never forcing things.  There is a cool energy, not far-fetched from Michael’s, preserving the sanctity of this pop classic. Towards the end of the song, expectedly, Divine rise to the occasion, maintaining the warmth of the performance, yet also bring some more punch. One of the biggest selling points? Vocal harmonies, which make everything sweeter! “Lately” is the song to beat by Divine but their cover of “One More Try” is sweet too!

Divine // Fairy Tales // Modern Entertainment BV // 1998

Divine, One More Try: Covers No. 13 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner /The Musical Hype; Modern Entertainment BV; Andrea Piacquadio, cottonbro studio, MART PRODUCTION, Matteo Milan from Pexels; MR1313, OpenClipart-Vectors, Vicki Hamilton from Pixabay]