Nov 072025
 

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

Warren Zevon Covers

This weekend, Warren Zevon gets inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after decades of eligibility. So, as the culmination of a week-long tribute to the 2025 Rock Hall class where we posted covers of every artist (catch up here), we are sharing a countdown of the 30 best Zevon covers ever.

Warren Zevon is one of those musicians that other musicians love, so he bats way above his commercial weight in cover songs. The most casual person probably only knows one Zevon song—and it’s appropriate this list is posting just after Halloween. Many music nerds, though, including many musicians, revere the full catalog. Artists way more famous than Zevon, from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen, have paid tribute, as have a host of younger acts that consider him a primary influence.

So whether you always hum along with the air conditioner in “Desperados Under the Eaves” or just like aah-ooo-ing to “Werewolves of London,” dive into the Zevon catalog via thirty amazing versions of his songs.

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Oct 312025
 
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.” Continue reading »

Oct 062025
 
Sleep Token

During Sleep Token’s most recent tour for Even in Arcadia, the group shocked their audience in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by performing Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 single “Dancing in the Dark” in a stripped-down style. With piano and the lead singer Vessel alone, the intro was both simple and heartrending. From the effortless vibrato and vocal depth to the emotive crescendo (which led into the chorus), the performance had live listeners awestruck.

While the cover is currently facing stark criticism on Instagram, the cryptic diction and delivery are utterly spellbinding. “This man pours his heart and soul out through music and provides a sense of connection to others through our shared emotional experiences as humans,” one defender wrote. Listen to the music below, and see how Sleep Token transitions from “Dancing in the Dark” to the heartrending “Rain.”

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 »

Jul 312025
 
Best Cover Songs
Benson Boone — Seventeen Going Under (Sam Fender cover)

Bruce Springsteen — Poor Side Of Town (Johnny Rivers cover)

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Jul 092025
 
springsteen johnny rivers

Much has been made about Bruce Springsteen‘s new boxed set Tracks II, which includes seven previously unreleased albums recorded throughout his career. And while the box is fascinating and wonderful for all sorts of reasons, there’s only one reason we’d talk about in these pages. In the 83 songs, only one is a cover: Johnny Rivers‘ “Poor Side of Town.”

The cover appears on the Somewhere North of Nashville album, which was recorded in 1995, in some of the same sessions that produced The Ghost of Tom Joad. Though, Springsteen’s version of the song would also have fit quite nicely on Western Stars or the newly released Twilight Hours. Continue reading »