Watch Beto O'Rourke rock out in a sheep costume
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
We regret to inform you that the following is true:
Former Texas congressman and failed Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke performed in an objectively bad cover band throughout 2003 and 2004. The band wore incredibly tight white onesies and sheep masks at performances. O'Rourke even tried to swing a New Zealand accent when singing. And unfortunately, it's all on video now widely available thanks to Mother Jones.
While O'Rourke was battling Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for his seat, the state's GOP reminded everyone that the Democrat was in a punk band in his youth and was also very cool. But a decade after that band broke up, O'Rourke and some friends started a punk rock cover band called The Sheeps. The ungrammatical group pretended it was "a very famous band from New Zealand" that wore masks because it "didn't want people to know our true identities," the band's bassist tells Mother Jones. Anyhow, it's pretty obvious that O'Rourke is on the right in the video below.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
O'Rourke was a fully grown adult in the above video, seeing as he'd already "started a web design company and taken tentative steps toward a career in local politics," Mother Jones says. Luckily, he proved a bit more talented at the latter careers, and The Sheeps faded as quickly as they began. Still, there are more videos of similar performances curated at Mother Jones, if you're into that sort of thing.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Switzerland could vote to cap its populationUnder the Radar Swiss People’s Party proposes referendum on radical anti-immigration measure to limit residents to 10 million
-
Political cartoons for February 15Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include political ventriloquism, Europe in the middle, and more
-
The broken water companies failing England and WalesExplainer With rising bills, deteriorating river health and a lack of investment, regulators face an uphill battle to stabilise the industry
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
El Paso airspace closure tied to FAA-Pentagon standoffSpeed Read The closure in the Texas border city stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
-
US to send 200 troops to Nigeria to train armySpeed Read Trump has accused the West African government of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks
-
Grand jury rejects charging 6 Democrats for ‘orders’ videoSpeed Read The jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers for a video in which they urged military members to resist illegal orders
