The 40 Best David Bowie Covers Ever

Head back to the beginning.

40. Biffy Clyro — Modern Love

When asked to participate in a posthumous Bowie tribute project Howard Stern (of all people) was putting together, Scottish hard-rock trio Biffy Clyro deliberately chose a Bowie song that sounded nothing like them. They stripped it for parts, dramatically remaking the classic entirely in the band’s image. I love it, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it appear on someone else’s Worst David Bowie Covers list—it’s that divisive. They dispense entirely with the original’s swing, and the gospel choir, in favor of a pummeling rage. Singer Simon Neil tempers the throat-shredding screamo verses with more melodic choruses, providing moments of welcome relief from the hollering. This will surely be one of the most polarizing covers on this list, but their willingness to go full-throttle puts this above many more reverent Bowie covers released in the wake of his death. – Ray Padgett

39. David McAlmont & Janette Mason — Win

David McAlmont has been making lustrous anthemic pop for decades (first within lustrously soulful shoegaze duo Thieves and then w/Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, with whom he made one of the ’90s greatest pop singles, the I’m-over-you anthem “Yes”). This oh-so-lovely cover is a hopeful bookmark and a wish that maybe someday David McAlmont and pianist Janette Mason will record a studio album of Bowie songs… and that within that will lie a seminal reading of spaced-out, dreamy, arguably all-time greatest Bowie ballad “Win.” But until that happens, if it ever does, we have this fabulous, fuzzy-edged live take from early 2025. Please enjoy David McAlmont’s jaw-droppingly ridiculous, multi-octave voice, groove to Mason’s keys in the bridge and raise your hands in hallelujah to that crazy falsetto in the coda. – Hope Silverman

38. Feel Freeze — Rebel Rebel

“Rebel Rebel” is perhaps Bowie’s purest rock and roll single. (Well, this or “The Jean Genie.”) It has a memorable riff and a propulsive rhythm. Danish duo Feel Freeze’s version is a slow piano cover. Sure, slow piano covers of uptempo rock songs are something of a cliche now. But Feel Freeze endow their version with real feeling. Lead singer Raymonde Gaunoux’s voice is so high, he sounds like a woman, adding a new layer to Bowie’s lyrics about gender-bending in the glam rock scene. Ganoux is accompanied only by the piano, some muted bass and synthesizer, and brief backing vocals from his bandmate. It’s extremely tasteful and manages to sound entirely different from the original while still being very recognizable. – Riley Haas

37. Saint Etienne — Absolute Beginners

“Absolute Beginners” is somewhat of a deep cut in the Bowie canon, the theme tune to the 1986 film of that name, in which Bowie also played a significant role. The film was received poorly, but the song did well enough in the singles charts. Unsurprisingly, Saint Etienne strip back much the vocal doo-wop of the original, and they gift it rather more timelessness than it originally possessed, removing the clunky post-rock style of the day that was welded on. A looped vocal repeats, a little in the style of Chumbawamba, while Sarah Cracknell croons the tune convincingly. Yes, it does then dip into those street corner vocals, along with some turntable scratching, but before you can get too sniffy, it returns then to the earlier style. It’s really rather much better than the original. – Seuras Og

36. Tawny Ellis — Let Me Sleep Beside You

“Let Me Sleep Beside You” saw Bowie, still in his fledgling stages, getting away from his mannered Anthony Newley impressions. This and “Karma Man” were his first teamings with producer Tony Visconti, a partnership that continued throughout his life. Listening to them now, it’s like hearing a baby bird testing the strength of its wings, not quite ready to soar but more than ready to believe one day it could. Bowie’s record label Deram wouldn’t put it out at first, for it being too sexual (this was the same year the Rolling Stones had to sing “Let’s Spend Some Time Together” on The Ed Sullivan Show), though they would have no trouble releasing it once “Space Oddity” had become a hit.

Tawny Ellis, a Los Angeles-based musician who somehow hasn’t gained the nationwide traction she deserves, said that “I love David Bowie because his music sounds so fresh still, and I find much of his music prophetic.” Covering pre-fame Bowie indicates the depth of her knowledge of the subject; the fact that she goes so far afield, less aping than new exploration, shows she shares his restless spirit too. – Patrick Robbins

35. Jesca Hoop — John, I’m Only Dancing

“When Bowie died, I felt like I had lost a dear friend. I cried for two weeks (with) a very sweet, sad, and grateful melancholy. I had not experienced this feeling of loss for an artist before, and have not since,” Jesca Hoop told Under the Radar in 2016. Her cover of “John I’m Only Dancing” is riotously good. Recorded for the 2015 tribute album A Salute to the Thin White Duke:The Songs of David Bowie, Hoop struts and wails to a driving acoustic backing that’ll make you sing along with abandon. Oh lordy, oh lordy. – Hope Silverman

34. We Are KING — Space Oddity

Going to space to escape the earth and its literal and metaphorical pressures appealed to Bowie. He saw himself as the oddity, at the time, in a world of Apollo 11 and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Major Tom is the oddity, a man out of sync with the world. The world is dull, but he is special.

We Are KING are not looking up to Major Tom’s space capsule or moon, nor are they in the capsule looking down; they give every indication that they are looking from outside. Perhaps Earth is the space oddity, a planet of carbon-based creatures who have not evolved to the next stage of evolution. Their woozy vocals and delivery speak of a different plane of operation. Ethereal, magnetic, enigmatic, the Strother twins ask us different questions. – Mike Tobyn

33. The Fur Ones — Watch That Man

Starting out with an electronic drum-pad beat and a lighter but strong vocal, you can tell immediately that this is going to be a twist of a cover. The guitar and piano duo of the original instrumentation gets swapped for bass and organ, resulting in a quieter groove, more offbeat than the original’s more traditional rock-and-roll sound. Little bursts of electronic punctuation continue throughout, like the sound you hear when you hit the wall on an old-school video game (a little “nope” of sound to let you know you are off course). Small percussion interludes keep that quirkiness alive. – Sara Stoudt

32. Spoon — I Can’t Give Everything Away

As an avant-garde jazz-influenced album, David Bowie’s final record Blackstar would seem damn near uncoverable (unless you’re an avant-garde jazz band). But the songs keep getting covered, and well too—this is just one of three Blackstar covers on this list. This one comes from indie-rock vets Spoon, who tackled “I Can’t Give Anything Away” on The Strombo Show, a radio program that was briefly Canada’s answer to other international cover-shows BBC Live Lounge and Triple J “Like a Version.” Britt Daniel’s understated vocals deliver the quiet melody and bigger chorus perfectly, but the secret star of this stripped-down version might be pianist Alex Fischel. – Ray Padgett

31. King Crimson — Heroes

“Heroes” has long been my favorite David Bowie song, even before I knew that Robert Fripp played the distinctive guitar part, and before I became a fan of Fripp and King Crimson. The title track from Bowie’s Berlin-recorded 1977 album, the backing tracks were finished in advance, and producer Brian Eno invited Fripp, in between iterations of Crimson, to contribute. For “Heroes,” Fripp cut three takes, which were processed and combined by Eno in ways that this mere mortal does not understand, creating an unforgettable “guitar role,” as it is referred to on King Crimson’s website.

In 2016, the three-drummer version of Crimson performed the song at the Admiralspalast in Berlin, thirty-nine years and one month after the original sessions, “as a celebration, a remembrancing and an homage.” It’s pretty faithful to the original, although Jakko Jakszyk’s vocals lack the distinctiveness of Bowie’s, but that’s not why you’re listening to this. – Jordan Becker

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