Country Music Fans Blast 'Jeopardy!' Over 'Offensive' Clue
'Jeopardy!' under fire for attributing Tom Cochrane's original song 'Life Is a Highway' to Rascal Flatts, who only covered it. ABOVE: Host Ken Jennings on set of the game show.
Jeopardy! upset country music fans with the way it worded one of its clues and the "offensive" answer the game show accepted from a contestant.
The moment played out during the episode that initially aired on Thursday, May 30, with a puzzle from the entertainment-related category “Songs in the Key of Life.”
"In the title of a Rascal Flatts’ song, ‘Life Is’ this type of road," the now-controversial clue read as transcribed by TVInsider.
"What is ‘A Highway?'” guessed champion Adriana Harmeyer, who hails from West Lafayette, Indiana.
While Harmeyer's guess was accepted by host Ken Jennings and the rest of the Jeopardy! team, earning her $400 towards her total, viewers weren't so quick to agree.
"RASCAL FLATTS DID NOT WRITE LIFE IS A HIGHWAY @Jeopardy," one X (formerly Twitter) user exclaimed. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS DISRESPECT."
"Very offensive to Tom Cochrane to call Life is a Highway a Rascal Flatts song #Jeopardy," a second suggested.
"Why has #Jeopardy decided Life is a Highway is a Rascal Flatts song when they just produced an inferior cover?" someone else joked.
Related: ‘Jeopardy!’ Fans ‘Screaming’ as Contestants Appear Baffled By Pop Culture Question
As social media users pointed out, Canadian rocker Tom Cochrane originally wrote and recorded the song in late 1991. It first appeared on Cochrane's second studio album Mad, Mad World. It quickly became a number-one hit in Canada and topped charts in several other countries, including the United States.
Just shy of a decade later, Rascal Flatts covered the tune for Pixar's fan-favorite animated film, Cars. The American country music group's rendition saw a resurgence in the song's popularity but only peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100–exactly one spot lower than Cochrane's version.
Check out the original recording below!
