The 35 Best Led Zeppelin Covers Ever

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10. Rasputina – Rock and Roll

“It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled,” Rasputina sings on their strange and mesmerizing cover. Bear in mind, however, this is a goth cello trio. It sounds like they have never rock and rolled. But then again, has Robert Plant ever goth-cello’d? – Ray Padgett

9. Lizz Wright – Thank You

Proving yet again that it is female voices that best interpret songs sung originally by Robert Plant, Lizz Wright, who straddles the worlds of jazz, soul, blues and gospel, takes this psychedelic ballad and makes it something spiritual. With a slow burn of gospel fumes building up behind her, Wright shakes the song by the scruff, rendering it into an act of sanctity, blessed by the cool and smooth control her voice brings to the words. Thank you, indeed. Glorious. – Seuras Og

8. Amy Lee – Going to California

“Going To California,” Robert Plant’s lovesick and worshipful tribute to Joni Mitchell, isn’t technically a lullaby. If anything, it’s more of a, gonna say it, lusta-by. Still, for Evanescence’s Amy Lee, it is, quite literally, the former. She would often sing it to her young son Jack to soothe him to sleep. She says it was “a regular rotation naptime hit…this song is a classic that I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. It puts me at peace.” That last bit might sound funny if you know anything about Amy Lee, because from a musical perspective, she doesn’t really do “peaceful.” She can’t. Her voice is too immense, too mind-blowingly massive. It positively fills the sky.

Lee’s Evanescence bandmate Troy McLawhorn provides the beauteous, perfectly picked backdrop for her take on “Going To California.” Unsurprisingly, it is the opposite of sleep-inducing. It is straight-up, gorgeous-ginormous. Put some flowers in your hair, turn it up loud, and go f-ing rock that heavy machinery. – Hope Silverman

7. Chris Cornell – Thank You

Soundgarden were obviously hugely influenced by Led Zeppelin, so it’s not a surprise that Chris Cornell would cover them live. “Thank You” might be Zeppelin’s sappiest song. Cornell strips everything away so it’s just his guitar and voice. There’s no tasteful acoustic solo in the middle. There’s no long Hammond outro. (Though he does sing an outro.) He plays with the phrasing and repeats the bridge. And though he uses his full voice the whole time – he never uses a hushed voice as Plant does in the original – he doesn’t overdo it. Quite the opposite. Instead, his passionate, powerful singing removes any possible cheese of the original. – Riley Haas

6. Maya Beiser – Black Dog

Israel-born, avant-garde classical cellist Maya Beiser’s 2014 album Uncovered is a collection of ten rock songs completely reimagined by Beiser and arranger Evan Ziporyn, a fellow member of Bang on a Can All-Stars. Beiser’s cover starts quietly, with her almost-whispered vocals being about as un-Plant-like as possible. But her cello mimics the classic guitar riff, first as a tease, and when the drums (courtesy of Wilco’s Glenn Kotche) and bass (Jherek Bischoff) crash in, the song begins to rock. Beiser wails on the cello (a phrase I never thought I would write), standing in for both Page and Plant. It’s a stunning reinvention of a rock classic. – Jordan Becker

5. Jeff Buckley – Night Flight

Even though this cover feels laid-back at the beginning with the acoustic guitar accompaniment, Jeff Buckley doesn’t disappoint, unleashing that yell/sing combo of the original. It takes skill to pack some power behind those pitches, especially those that reach highest, but Buckley builds up to it in this extended cover. By the end, it doesn’t even sound like it takes a reach when he quickly switches, low to high. That balance, putting the highest notes just shy of a screech, is the finesse that really makes this cover shine. – Sara Stoudt

4. Frank Zappa – Stairway to Heaven

Frank Zappa was no fan of Led Zeppelin’s pomposity and massive successes and excesses—he lampooned their most famous alleged cartilaginous-fish-related misadventure on his Fillmore East-June 1971 album. When he put together what turned out to be his last tour in 1988, Zappa not only hired a big band, with a horn section, but also decided to play a number of unexpected covers. Apparently, Zappa was aware of “Stairway,” but hadn’t heard it all the way through. When he did, although he had issues with the song, he decided to cover it, in a version that is part homage, part satire, and all Zappa. A reggae-based arrangement, sung by soulful-voiced Ike Willis, stripped the pretension from the song. But that wasn’t enough—after each line, Zappa’s band inserted silly sound effects. But the arrangement of the horns, keyboards, guitars, voices and percussion is so complex and interesting that he must have had some respect for the source material. Maybe the cleverest part of the cover, though, is that Zappa, one of the greatest electric guitarists, chose not to play the legendary guitar solo made famous by Page, another of the greats—instead, transcribing the solo for the horn section. – Jordan Becker

3. Micadelia – Going to California

For me, it is always the folkier side of the Led Zeppelin canon that imprints the deepest, and this song, in the original, encapsulates that. But Swedish artist Mika Sundqvist, aka Micadelia, channels so much of her breezy personality into her version as to make it her own. The mawkish lament becomes a trippy statement of intent, a reverie, the arrangement jauntier than the woozy vocal. A hint of Indian exoticism simmers at the fringes and it is altogether lovely. About the singer, I know little, the song coming from what appears to be her only release, Free Ride, all covers bar one, and, on the strength of this I have now invested in it. – Seuras Og

2. Bettye LaVette – All My Love

When I got the chance to interview Bettye LaVette, I almost instantly blew it by referring to her songs as “covers.” She quickly set me straight, explaining that what she did was “interpret” the songs the best she could.

“All My Love” comes from a place of pain, written by Robert Plant after the death of his five-year-old son. In her take, LaVette taps into the vein of the song, drawing on the hurt located deep in the song’s soul. Her voice channels loss, pain and sorrow. But when the chorus comes in, the minor chords that permeate the verses disappear. The major chords of the chorus add sunshine, letting us know that there is a morning after. The pain will lessen, even if it will be ever present. It is a great example of why Bettye LaVette is one of the best interpreters out there. – Luke Poling

1. Ann and Nancy Wilson – Stairway to Heaven

Ann and Nancy Wilson are super-steeped in all things Zeppelin. Their versions of “The Battle of Evermore,” both in Heart and in their offshoot the Lovemongers, were both nominated for this list, and deservedly so. But nothing, literally nothing, tops their rendition of “Stairway to Heaven” at the Kennedy Center in 2012. Starting with Ann’s solo acoustic guitar, it builds up to a full band, a bowler-hatted choir, an orchestra, and John Bonham’s son Jason on drums. Robert Plant’s previously stated dislike of “that bloody wedding song” was well known, but in the HD video of this night, you can see the very moment his eyes fill with tears. “It’s just a magnificent performance to watch,” he said in a later interview, “and it kills me every time.” – Patrick Robbins

Check out more installments in our monthly ‘Best Covers Ever’ series, including Abba, Aretha Franklin, Warren Zevon, and Fleetwood Mac.

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