The Best Cover Songs of August & September 2025

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Sep 302025
 
Best Cover Songs
Benson Boone — When We Were Young (Adele cover)

Benson Boone gets clowned on, but dude can sing (and, yes, backflip). “When We Were Young” is not exactly an easy song to nail. But, at a tour stop in Columbus, he did just that—one of many covers he’s been doing on the road.

BRAINSTORM — The Boys Of Summer (Don Henley cover)

Every summer comes, inevitably, more “Boys of Summer” covers. This metal-ish version comes from German power-metal vets BRAINSTORM (all caps so you know they’re serious). Singer Andy B. Franck says: “Even though ‘The Boys Of Summer’ deals with rather nostalgic themes of ‘summer love’ and the memory of a past relationship, for me – at the time a 13-year-old – it was, beyond the metal anthems of the 80s, a great song that I associated with summer, girls and the corresponding feeling for many, many years…Even today, this song still evokes great memories for me, and since it’s also a song about questioning the past, this track fits perfectly into our times.” Continue reading »

Structure Sounds Make Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” Go Punky

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Aug 272025
 
Structure Sounds

Structure Sounds is an indie band currently gearing up to release their new EP, a collection of covers titled Stolen Sounds. They are signed through WireTap Records, an indie label based in California. And, according to the group, the entire EP was “Recorded in various bedrooms, closets, and living rooms in New England.” To promote the new release, Structure Sounds has chosen “Back to Black” as the lead single/cover.

As the music video to the new release opens, one can’t help but notice that the visuals are extremely nostalgic. A black and white fuzzed-out video shows us a shocked woman, and the violins sawing away are reminiscent of an old silent film. Then the music (abruptly) begins, marchy, intense, dripping with soul and sass. Continue reading »

The 75 Best Beatles Covers Ever

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Feb 232024
 

‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

beatles covers

Sixty years ago this month, The Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan Show. You don’t need us to tell you what a momentous occasion this was; entire books have been written on the subject. Suffice to say we’re using the anniversary as our excuse to finally devote a Best Covers Ever to perhaps the biggest band of them all. We’ve done Dylan. We’ve done the Stones. We’ve done Dolly and Springsteen and Prince. But there was one last giant remaining.

Though it’s difficult to measure this precisely, The Beatles are the most-covered artist of all time according to the two biggest covers databases on the internet (SecondHandSongs, WhoSampled). And that certainly feels right. “Yesterday” is often cited as the most-covered song of all time, though that needs qualifiers (a ton of Christmas standards would beat it). But, again, it feels right. The Beatles were ubiquitous in their day, and they’ve been ubiquitous ever since. They just had a chart-topping single last month, the A.I.-assisted “Now and Then,” which was duly covered widely. If “Carnival of Light” ever surfaces, no doubt a carnival of covers will soon follow. Continue reading »

Remi Wolf Belts Laid-Back “Valerie” on Like a Version

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Jan 162024
 
remi wolf valerie

When iral pop singer Remi Wolf was down opening for Paramore at the end of the year, she took the chance to take part in the legendary Like A Version covers spot on Triple J, leading with her version of The Zutons’ “Valerie.” The song was written as a tribute to Valerie Star, a Florida makeup artist that Zutons frontman Dave McCabe was dating. Legal woes stopped her from moving to his Liverpool home, but her positive brand of chaos was one that he continued to love. When covered by Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson it became a ska-infused celebration of female companionship and one of the most popular cover songs of the 21st Century. Everyone wants a Valerie at their party, and the song itself can catalyze the process. Continue reading »

The Best Covers of 1950s One Hit Wonders

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May 052023
 

‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

best covers of 1950s

As regular readers know, every month we put together a giant list we call Best Covers Ever. We take a household-name artist and count down the best covers of their songs. We’ve done Bob Dylan and Beyoncé and Billy Joel and Bee Gees and Britney Spears and Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen and Buddy Holly and those are just the B’s.

What do all of those “B” artists have in common? Not much, except for this: They all have a lot of different songs that get covered by a lot of different people.

But there are some artists who will likely never get their own list here. Why not? Maybe they just don’t get covered enough. Or maybe they get covered often — but people mostly just cover a single song. These are the artists we colloquially call One Hit Wonders. And in a special series starting today, we’re celebrating covers of their songs. Continue reading »

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