The Best Cover Songs of April 2026

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May 012026
 
Noah Kahan
Arlo Parks — Yukon (Justin Bieber cover)

The talk of Coachella this year was Justin Bieber—specifically, his controversial headlining set that featured, in part, him singing along karaoke-style to videos of himself he pulled up on YouTube. Plus, Geese debuted their old “Baby” cover live (while Sabrina Carpenter watched sidestage no less). But maybe the best Bieber happening this month was this great lo-fi cover by Arlo Parks.

Jamey Johnson – Pretty When It’s New (Merle Haggard)

Merle Haggard’s birthday saw two new covers drop. One’s in the next section. This first one’s even better though. Country singer Jamey Johnson dug deep—and late—for this pick. The song comes off one of Haggard’s final albums, 2010’s I Am What I Am. This is the same album that included “Bad Actor,” which Bob Dylan covered in concert a couple years ago. The album’s seemingly on its way to be the country version of Blackstar or You Want It Darker, a late-in-life masterpiece for the true heads. Continue reading »

Gigi Perez Reimagines Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”

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Apr 102026
 
Gigi Perez

What’s Green Day’s biggest hit of the ’90s? At least in terms of total sales, not chart position, it’s probably the least Green Day-like of all their hits, “Good Riddance.” Nearly three decades later, it is one of their top five most-streamed songs too, no matter how unlike the rest of their (’90s) oeuvre it is.

Gigi Perez is a Cuban-American singer-songwriter based in Florida who has been releasing singles for about half a decade. Her song “Sailor Song” blew up on TikTok in 2024. Hollister enlisted her for their new ad campaign and she’s done a cool thing with it: she’s covered “Good Riddance” as country rock. Continue reading »

The Best Cover Songs of March 2026

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Mar 312026
 
best cover songs
Anna Prior — No More Drama (Mary J. Blige cover)

Metronomy drummer Anna Prior is back with a new EP, Firefly. The first single is a cover of the Mary J Blige classic. “I’ve wanted to do a cover song for a long time and I just never found the right one that fit with my sound,” Prior wrote. “The overall tone and feeling of the original fit so well with the ‘A minor’ theme of the EP that I just couldn’t resist. It’s a song that shaped my late teenage years and I really hope I’ve done it justice and I don’t get sued.” [Editor’s note: You won’t. That’s not how covers work…]

Bonnie “Prince” Billy — Trustfall (Pink cover)

Last December, the prolific Bonnie “Prince” Billy hopped onstage with Yo La Tengo to cover—of all people—current Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee Pink. The song was a pretty deep cut too, a single from 2023. Will Oldham must really like that song, because he’s returned to it again in a solo incarnation. As if that combo wasn’t wild enough, add this one: This video was recorded at the early 18th-century pub The Lamb in Bloomsbury London, regular haunt of Charles Dickens. Continue reading »

mad/no/mad Releases Campy Folk Cover of Green Day’s “Basket Case”

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Mar 122026
 
mad/no/mad

“Basket Case” was Green Day‘s second hit single and their international breakthrough, as it was their only Top 10 hit in the UK in the ’90s. Infamously, it’s about experiencing confusion due to panic attacks but was treated as salacious by some because a word was censored on American radio and there was controversy around the words “whore,” the bleeped word, and “stoned” in the lyrics.

mad/no/mad is another pseudonym of Barry Gottlieb aka the internet humorist Mad Dog. It’s his folk singer persona which he uses to cover famous songs on occasion.

Instead of the aggressive, palm-muted strumming of the original, his cover opens with a sort of country shuffle on rhythm guitar. Gottlieb speaks the lyrics as if he’s doing a talking blues and the pace is a gentle one. His delivery is just the tiniest bit campy, as if he’s willing to let on that this might not be the most serious he’s ever been, but you have to think about it. Continue reading »

The Best Cover Songs of February 2026

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Mar 032026
 
Sombr
Asher White — Casper (Jessica Pratt cover)


Why does Asher White have a record titled Jessica Pratt? Because, as it turns out, it is a full-length cover of singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt’s 2012 debut record—which happens to be self-titled. Pratt herself approves: “White’s curiously inventive renditions took me by surprise,” she said in a press release. “A broad sweep stylistically and production-wise. Not just homage, but a record in its own right.”

The Belair Lip Bombs — Happiness (The 1975 cover)

“It was the first single that came out of their latest record and I just listened to it for like two years straight,” singer Maisie Everett said of the 1975 song the band covered on Like a Version. “I still do.” Continue reading »

Watch Wisp’s Spellbinding Cover of Green Day’s “Last Night on Earth”

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Feb 182026
 
Wisp

Interscope Records artist Wisp (aka Natalie Lu) has been making waves in the music industry for several years now. She recently brought her nu-metal-meets-shoegaze sound to Green Day’s romantic ballad “Last Night on Earth.” “I chose this cover, it’s a very simple reason, I just think it’s a cute song,” she said. “I was curating a bunch of songs that I wanted to find inspiration in for the next album that I’m writing, and the Green Day song was one of those.” Continue reading »

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