--- title: Alex Trebek Recites Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Beyonce Lyrics on Jeopardy description: From Rihanna's "Umbrella," to Taylor Swift's "Mean," Trebek has shown off a rather wide musical range canonical: https://time.com/3967894/jeopardy-alex-trebek-song-lyrics/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-22T20:37:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:22:26.183Z og:title: 9 Glorious Times Alex Trebek Rapped Song Lyrics on 'Jeopardy!' og:description: His latest was "Umbrella" by Rihanna og:url: https://time.com/3967894/jeopardy-alex-trebek-song-lyrics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 9 Glorious Times Alex Trebek Rapped Song Lyrics on 'Jeopardy!' twitter:description: His latest was "Umbrella" by Rihanna twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 9 Glorious Times Alex Trebek Rapped or Recited Song Lyrics on _Jeopardy!_ by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jul 22, 2015 8:37 PM UTC by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jul 22, 2015 8:37 PM UTC Today, July 22, Alex Trebek turns 75, but the legendary _Jeopardy_ host is just as hip and with-it as ever. He likes to showcase that by occasionally rapping or reciting popular songs that have been incorporated into the clues. These instances are always a treat (and they tend to be great fodder [for viral videos](http://time.com/3941490/jeopardy-alex-trebek-raps-fresh-prince-belair/)). So today, on his 75th birthday, we offer a sampling of Trebek’s greatest musical moments, beginning with his most recent. ### 1\. “Umbrella” by Rihanna RiRi fans will note that Trebek totally mispronounced the eh-eh-eh part. ### 2\. The _Fresh Prince of Bel-Air_ theme song This came across less like rap and more like slam poetry. Genius. ### 3\. A wonderful variety of rap songs Trebek spit verses from Grandmaster Flash, Dr. Dre, Public Enemy, Notorious B.I.G. and the Beastie Boys. ### 4\. Another assortment of rap songs This time, Trebek took on Cypress Hill, Shock G, MC Hammer, Notorious B.I.G. (again) and the Beastie Boys (again.) Glorious. ### 5 “Girls Girls Girls” by Mötley Crüe This was equal parts [hilarious and disturbing](http://time.com/3693727/alex-trebek-jeopardy-motley-crue-girls-girls-girls-lyrics/). ### 6\. “Pokerface” by Lady Gaga Was he dramatically stuttering for comic effect — or because he’d never actually heard this song before? We’ll never be certain. ### 7\. “Trouble” and “Mean” by Taylor Swift Trebek kept his Tay-Tay impressions pretty low-key, but he did offer a slight southern twang when reciting the lyrics to “Mean.” ### 8\. “Drunk in Love” by Beyonce In this Beyonce-themed category, Trebek sadly only recited a few words, but he also lovingly referred to her as Bey. So there’s that. ### 9\. “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and other songs, Auto-Tuned Back in 2010, did Trebek recite an entire category in Auto-Tune? Sure did. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3967894/jeopardy-alex-trebek-song-lyrics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3967894/jeopardy-alex-trebek-song-lyrics/"},"headline":"9 Glorious Times Alex Trebek Rapped or Recited Song Lyrics on Jeopardy!","datePublished":"2015-07-22T20:37:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:22:26.183Z","description":"From Rihanna's \"Umbrella,\" to Taylor Swift's \"Mean,\" Trebek has shown off a rather wide musical range","url":"https://time.com/3967894/jeopardy-alex-trebek-song-lyrics/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrity"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3967894/jeopardy-alex-trebek-song-lyrics/","name":"9 Glorious Times Alex Trebek Rapped or Recited Song Lyrics on Jeopardy!"}}]}] ```