Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker’s cover of Black Sabbath classic Paranoid called ‘awesome’ by listeners

A cover of Paranoid by Jarvis Cocker has been hailed by Black Sabbath fans as an “awesome” moment.

The performance came during a tour of Cocker’s debut solo album in 2007, with the title track played more than a few times by Cocker and his band. It’s a surprising rock and roll cover from the Pulp frontman, who would perform the song a total of nine times over three years. Though he hasn’t played it live since 2009, his interpretation of the song has been hailed by members of the public. A video of his Black Sabbath cover has been uploaded to YouTube, where fans have called it “awesome”. A separate performance of the song, uploaded to Twitter, also received praise from viewers.

Cocker’s performance at Webster Hall in New York hosted the Paranoid cover, which acted as the encore for the show. The night before his Paranoid cover, Cocker covered Bruce Springsteen’s State Trooper. One listener said of the Black Sabbath cover: “Jarvis has got the right style to cover Black Sabbath with fucking awesome style.”

Other comments came from a video posted to Twitter on the day of Osbourne’s death. The veteran performer died on July 22, 2025, just weeks after performing at Black Sabbath’s last-ever show. One fan shared footage of Cocker performing the song at Rock en Seine in 2007, with the performance receiving acclaim from viewers.

One person wrote: “Holy shit, that works so well! I didn’t expect that.” Another added: “Ahh I had forgotten he did that. Saw it when he performed in London at the Astoria.” A third wrote: “This cover goes so hard.” Fans were hopeful Cocker would bring Paranoid back to the stage during Pulp’s show at Tramlines Festival in Sheffield, though this did not happen.

One fan wrote: “It’s only right he does this cover tomorrow.” Instead, Pulp performed songs from their new album, More, as well as The Last Day of the Miner’s Strike, a song which the band had never played live until their Sheffield festival show. A setlist for Cocker’ solo show at Webster Hall, NY, can be found below. A cover of Talking Heads’ Heaven also made up part of the encore.

• Fat Children
• Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time
• Heavy Weather
• One Man Show
• I Will Kill Again
• From Auschwitz to Ipswich
• Tonite
• Big Julie
• Disney Time
• Big Stuff
• Cunts Are Still Running the World
• Heaven (Talking Heads cover)
• Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)

Two songs from the set, One Man Show and Big Stuff, are still unavailable on streaming services as of today. Both songs were released physically in the run-up to the release of Jarvis, Cocker’s debut solo album. You can watch Cocker’s Paranoid cover from Webster Hall, NY, below.