Canadian DJ Dzeko has jumped on the Take Me Home, Country Roads moment, reworking the John Denver classic for a new remix.
Released in July, Dzeko’s version of Take Me Home, Country Roads notably features John Denver as the primary artist of the track. To release the remix, Dzeko worked with the John Denver Estate to ensure that the singer would be listed as the primary artist – something not many artists have achieved. Denver passed away in October 1997.
The dance version is a little over two minutes long. It follows the release of Lonely Road, which saw Jelly Roll and mgk interpolate the song for a rap meets country fusion. Australian singer Sara Berki also went viral with her cover of the song earlier this year.
Upon sharing the song on his Soundcloud a few weeks ago, Dzeko wrote on Instagram, “Country Roads is a song that has been inspiring me since I was a kid. I started working on this remix 2 years ago after hearing it at the @chiefs football game in Germany. I’ve been playing a lot of college shows over the years and this one always goes off.”
In a separate post, Dzeko wrote after Take Me Home, Country Roads was released on his label, “It’s surreal to release this one today, I’ve been a fan of this classic tune since as long as I can remember. It’s been one of the highlights of my DJ sets over the past year, so fun to watch reactions and hear sing alongs.”
On 27 July, Dzeko took to social media again after his version of Take Me Home, Country Roads had been out for a week and already gathered an impressive number of plays.
“Almost 250k streams on all platforms in first week thanks for the support fully independent,” he wrote. “I decided to finally do my first ever album which will be done by September, new sound and direction. Can’t wait for everyone to hear it @johndenvermusic”.
You can listen to Dzeko’s version of Take Me Home, Country Roads below.
Dzeko has enjoyed a global presence throughout his career, performing at music festivals such as Coachella, Tomorrowland, and Ultra Music Festival. His most successful collaboration? Jackie Chan with Post Malone, Tiesto, and Preme, which is certified five times Platinum in the US.
In an interview earlier this year, Sara Berki told Countrytown about the impact her covering John Denver has had on her career: “I know it's a really cliche thing to say, but I did not think that the most well-known country song could connect with that many people in the way that it has.
“I don't know, it’s a very different way of hearing it as well, my version of how I sing it; I like to think it’s my take on a classic.”