The Dollyrots — You Don’t Own Me (Lesley Gore cover)
“It’s My Party” was the bigger hit, but these days it feels like “You Don’t Own Me” gets covered more. It’s become something of a feminist anthem (probably an unlikely future for “It’s My Party”…). Dollyrots singer Kelly Ogden said, in sharing her band’s new revved-up cover, “The song is an anthem for female empowerment, about willing to be defiant in the face of something that’s just plain wrong. Sadly, it’s still just as timely as when Lesley sang it over 60 years ago.”
Folk Bitch Trio — Sex on Fire (Kings of Leon cover)
Remember “Sex on Fire”? Gotta be one of the dumbest singles of the 21st century. Folk Bitch Trio covered it for Like a Version, and they, against all odds, manage to redeem it. “It’s an underrated song,” they said. “It rocks. It’s filthy without you really knowing. The Folk Bitch Trio twist is kind of easy: We just sing it in three-part harmony, lock in, look at each other and we’re there.”
Jason Isbell & Norah Jones — Hangin’ on a Limb (Neil Young cover)
At the end of episodes of her podcast Playing Along, Norah Jones plays along (hence the title) with the guest on a special duo version of a song. For the recent Jason Isbell episode, the song was a cover neither has performed before: Neil Young’s Freedom tune “Hangin’ on a Limb.” Isbell leads the singing while Jones harmonizes. It’s beautiful. At the end, Isbell says the line “There was something about freedom he thought he didn’t know” kills him.
The Killers — Always On My Mind (Willie Nelson cover)
When the Killers played Austin, they paid tribute to favorite son Willie Nelson with two covers. They opened the show—as Willie always does himself—with “Whiskey River.” I can only find a short snippet of that online (or possibly they only played a short snippet). Then later in the show they busted out their cover of “Always On My Mind,” which they’ve done a few times in the past. It’s not a Willie original, of course, but in this case it was a clear, and beautiful, tribute.
Laura Pieri — Marry the Night (Lady Gaga cover)
Brazilian-born, New York–based singer Laura Pieri has done a fun series of Halloween covers. No, she’s not tackling the usual set of “Monster Mash” or Misfits tunes. She’s tackling three pop hits, all in the guise of different monsters. The first is Lady Gaga’s “Marry the Night”…vampire version. Then check out her werewolf take on Rihanna or her siren take on Charli XCX.
Lee Lewis — Maneater (Nelly Furtado cover)
LA songwriter Lee Lewis’s alt-R&B “Maneater” (that’s the Nelly Furtado song, not Hall & Oates) is a knockout. He told Flood Magazine, “My soulful reimagining of ‘Maneater’ reframes the song’s story as one of toxic love; what it feels like to be devoured in plain sight. It’s about a lover who fed off my softness, brilliance, and Blackness, someone magnetic and draining, seductive and destructive all at once. In covering the track, I wanted to strip away some of its famed pop edges and pull it into the soul genre, where the pain, obsession, and sensuality could fully breathe.”
Louisa Stancioff — Look at Miss Ohio (Gillian Welch cover)
In a press release, Maine-based singer Louisa Stancioff says, “I started covering this song when I was on tour opening for Blitzen Trapper last summer. They wanted to invite me on stage to sing a song during their set, and we quickly found that Gillian Welch was a mutual favorite artist. I grew up listening to Gillian Welch, and she has had a large influence on my songwriting and music style. I’d say she is one of the best and most prolific songwriters in my lifetime. So we all agreed to play it together on the second or third show, and from then on, every night of the tour when Blitzen Trapper would graciously invite me up on stage, I’d start singing the first line of Miss Ohio and the crowd would go wild. It became clear that this song was special to a lot of people. My friend Spencer Albee saw a video of one such show and said we MUST record this cover. We wanted it to be big, loud, moody, and energetic, and I’d say that is pretty much how it turned out.”
Lucy Dacus — Time in a Bottle (Jim Croce cover)
Lucy Dacus just released her new collection Forever Is A Feeling: The Archives, which tacks various live tracks and outtakes onto her recent album Forever Is A Feeling. One is a cover of the Jim Croce soft-rock classic “Time in a Bottle.” It’s simple—just her, a picked acoustic guitar, and a violin—but beautiful.
Margo Price — Maggie’s Farm (Bob Dylan cover)
Margo Price’s 2025 album included a Waylon Jennings cover, and she’s already out with another cover, a stand-alone take on Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm.” She performed it at Farm Aid, naturally, where she’s ascended to be one of the organizers alongside Willie, Neil, John, and Dave, and then dropped this studio version.
Nadia Re — Poor Mum (Molly Drake cover)
Back in 2023, Nadia Re covered Nick Drake’s “Poor Boy” for the (excellent) tribute album The Endless Coloured Ways – The Songs Of Nick Drake. Now, she’s taken on Drake’s mother Molly, a singer, songwriter, and cult favorite in her own right. Not only that, she’s covered Molly’s response song to Nick! Nick wrote “Poor Boy” about himself; Molly wrote “Poor Mum” after she heard it. Re wrote:
“When I was given the privilege of recording one of Nick Drake’s songs for a Chrysalis Records compilation, this Molly Drake song was also mentioned. I can’t quite remember why, but I fell for it instantly. For a moment, I thought it might even belong on one of my own albums.
The song struck me in that deep, hidden place. God. I could see myself as poor old Mum, and suddenly I felt how we are all, in some way, guilty of taking our mothers’ dreams away, little by little. The sacrifices of mothers so often go unseen.
It’s a beautiful song, and somewhat tragic that the Drakes never witnessed how far their music would travel. But as it goes, true and good art lives forever.”
Red Cell — Disease (Lady Gaga cover)
Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball toured arrived in Sweden this month, so Swedish synth duo Red Cell cell-ebrated (boo) with a cover of Gaga’s recent single “Disease.” “We totally fell in love with the quirky vibe and harmonies in Gaga’s version that reminded us or Nirvana or grunge somehow,” they explained. “We knew we wanted to do our take on it. Romantic, dark, and haunting.”
Thou — Suck (Nine Inch Nails cover)
Next month, the label Magnetic Eye records is putting out not one but two Nine Inch Nails tribute albums. One, The Downward Spiral (Redux), tackles every track from the band’s most iconic album. The other, Best Of Nine Inch Nails (Redux), tackles the rest of the catalog. Thou’s sludgy, heavy take on “Suck,” originally a hidden track on the 1992 Broken EP, has me excited to hear the rest.
The Best of the Rest
Anna Calvi ft. Perfume Genius — I See A Darkness (Bonnie “Prince” Billy cover)
Cheekface — Sucked Out (Superdrag cover)
Dan + Shay — Back To December (Taylor Swift cover)
Emma Donovan — Take Me To The River (Al Green cover)
The Format ft. Jim Atkins — Hey Jealousy (Gin Blossoms cover)
Jake Owen — Middle Age Crazy (Jerry Lee Lewis cover)
Keli Holiday — I’m on Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover)
Lukas Nelson & Sierra Ferrell with The Travelin’ McCourys — Unknown Legend (Neil Young cover)
Pale Waves — Zombie (The Cranberries cover)
Parlor Greens — Jolene (Dolly Parton cover)
Pennywise — Ace of Spades (Motorhead cover)
Sam Smith — Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers cover)
Show Me The Body — Sabotage (Beastie Boys cover)
Stephen Brodsky — Windows (Snapcase cover)
Wet Leg — Walking On A Dream (Empire Of The Sun cover)
Check out previous months’ best covers lists.
Correction – ‘Suck’ originally appeared on Pigface’s album ‘Gub’ in 1991 (sung by Reznor). So Thou is doing a cover of a cover.