Chris Daughtry Talks ‘Stranger Things’ Inspired Cover of Journey’s ‘Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” with Lzzy Hale on 1071 The Boss

40 years ago this week, Journey released “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” from the 1983 album, “Frontiers,” peaking at Number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six consecutive weeks.

To commemorate the occasion, Daughtry and Lzzy Hale of Halestorm have teamed up for tribute single inspired by the Netflix show, “Stranger Things”, Chris Daughtry tells Michele Amabile of 1071 The Boss.

“We wanted to do a classic cover and we had kicked around the idea of doing something that had this eighties vibe,” he said. “There were a couple of songs we had in the mix.”

One-“The Final Countdown,” by Europe, was considered, but Daughtry thought that may come off as a little “corny.” Then, one night he and his wife watched the “Stranger Things” finale, and it all clicked.

“It was such an incredible finale and, and the way it was so cinematic, I remember the song coming on and, and the way they had chopped it up with the scenes, it was so vibey an I was like, oh, this is it,” he said. “This is the one, this is the song right here. We need to cover this song. Because to my knowledge I didn’t know if anyone had put out a, a recent cover of it. I called my producer and was like, dude, I think, I think this is the song.”

Then, Daughtry had another idea-what if the song were turned into a duet? He immediately thought of Hale.

“Lzzy and I had been talking for years about working on a song together, whether it be an original or a cover or, or anything. We have always wanted to work together. We’ve toured together. We’ve done stuff live before, but we’ve never recorded anything,” he said. “I texted her and I was like, Hey, how would you feel about doing ‘Separate Ways with us? And she was like, oh my God, that’s my go-to karaoke song. I’m all in.”

Since the two both live in Nashville, Daughtry said it was easy to get together and record in a studio together with producers Marty Frederickson and Scott Stevens a departure from the last couple of years when “everybody was in their own spaces doing their parts.”

“We were able to get in the studio and, and it was just such a fun experience just watching her work,” he said. “She’s such a pro, she’s such an incredible vocalist. There’s a few singers that make me jealous of what they’re able to do with their voice, and she’s one of them.”

Daughtry and Hale’s version, he explained “tried to honor the original without it feeling like a direct copy of it.”

“I don’t have the range that Steve Perry does, so it’s slightly different than the original, and obviously more modern and a lot heavier,” he said. “We wanted to bridge that gap. We wanted to tread that line between paying homage to the original and doing our own thing as well.”

Listen to the song below: