‘Deeply personal’: ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ singer speaks on JoJo Siwa’s cover and what bothers her most about it

Kim Carnes, the singer who originally made the famous 1981 song Bette Davis Eyes, has spoken out about JoJo Siwa’s recent cover of the track, saying it feels “a bit too close” to her own version. Carnes made it clear that while she supports women in music, the cover made her feel like her “voice is being borrowed,” which hit her in a “deeply personal” way.

Siwa put out her version of the song last week, and it quickly caused a lot of discussion online. Many people criticized it for not being original enough and for relying too much on autotune. Carnes had first shared a vague post on TikTok (which she later deleted) that seemed to suggest a difference between “singing a song and truly making it your own.” Fans thought this was a direct criticism of Siwa’s cover.

In a full statement to TMZ, Carnes explained her thoughts in more detail. She pointed out that “The way the words are sung, the tone, even the small vocal details—it all felt a bit too similar.” She mentioned that many other artists, like Kylie Minogue, Taylor Swift, and Gwyneth Paltrow, have covered Bette Davis Eyes over the years, and she has always liked hearing different takes on it. But Siwa’s version, she said, went too far in copying her style, which doesn’t help Siwa’s current look.

Even get the original singer of Jojo Siwa’s controversial cover didn’t think it was unique

Carnes also talked about how her own hit version of the song came to be. She explained that Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon first brought the song to her in 1980. Carnes said she “changed the melody to fit my voice and make it special to me.” She also shared that she recorded the whole song live in one take with a “talented group of musicians,” including Bill Cuomo, who came up with the famous synth riff.

“There were no extra recordings or edits. What you hear on the track is exactly how we played it. And that’s why it turned out so magical,” Carnes said. This is very different than what the controversial Siwa did.

The original singer said she’s proud that her version of the song still connects with people today, getting over 130 million streams every year. She also announced that she’s working on a new EP with remixes of the song by dance artists. She ended her statement by saying she wants to “keep the song’s legacy alive and honor what made it special.”

After listening to Jojo Siwa’s version, I have to agree with Carnes. Siwa’s version did have heavy autotune, but it seemed like it was there to make it sound as raspy as Carnes’ version. The only real difference was that it wasn’t the same voice; otherwise, it was like Siwa was trying to copy the original exactly. It’s not hard to see why Carnes didn’t like this version.