Jeff Buckley Archives

The Best Cover Songs of March 2026

Posted by Ray Padgett at 9:00 am No Responses »

Mar 312026

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 »

The 35 Best Led Zeppelin Covers Ever

Posted by Staff at 10:00 am 7 Responses »

Mar 272026

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

Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were veteran session musicians. Robert Plant and John Bonham hadn’t turned 21 yet. The first time the four of them got together, they played “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” and in Jones’s words, “the room just exploded, we could see the grins spreading, and we said, ‘Right. We’re on, this is it, this is going to work!'”

Eleven years and change later, the band released a statement: “We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep respect we have for his family, together with the sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were.”

In between, the band that someone predicted would go over like the world’s biggest lead balloon became the biggest band in the world. Led Zeppelin were pioneers in so many ways. Hard rock, AOR, studio wizardry, stadium touring, album cover design – all saw the band at the forefront. Most importantly, their music was what brought people to them, and what kept them there. All the members were among the best in the world at what they did, and together their alchemy made their songs, whether loud or soft, catch in their listener’s minds and hearts.

When Francis Malofiy called Led Zeppelin “the greatest cover band in all of history,” he didn’t mean it as a compliment. Malofiy was the attorney suing Zeppelin for stealing “Stairway to Heaven”‘s opening riff from the Spirit song “Taurus,” and he certainly wasn’t the first to take the band to court to get songwriting credit. But whether the greatest cover band in all of history synthesized, swiped, or supplanted their influences, the cover bands that came after them were given deep, deep cupboards to plunder, and plunder they did.

We’ve come up with thirty-five top covers of Led Zeppelin songs. Like the band, they branch into blues, country, reggae, folk, and hard rock (and, unlike the band, even jazz). Like the band, they take something great and make it greater. And like Robert, Jimmy, John and John, once you hear it working, your grin is going to spread.

–Patrick Robbins, Features Editor

St. Vincent Covers Jeff Buckley’s “Grace” at Intimate Live Performance

Posted by Luke Poling at 2:00 pm No Responses »

Mar 102026

At a March 4th show at the 280-seat club Little Saint in California, St. Vincent performed an emotional cover of Jeff Buckley‘s “Grace.” Introducing the song by saying, “I love this song, that’s all,” Annie Clark played the song for the second time publicly. (She also played it at a surprise show in Los Angeles the week before, but no cameras were allowed.) She was joined on-stage by keyboardist Rachel Eckroth, who did not accompany her on the cover. Continue reading »

The 30 Best Van Morrison Covers Ever

Posted by Staff at 12:00 pm 9 Responses »

Aug 292025

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

I do not consciously aim to take the listener anywhere. If anything, I aim to take myself there in my music. If the listener catches the wavelength of what I am saying or singing, or gets whatever point whatever line means to them, then I guess as a writer I may have done a day’s work. – Van Morrison

When I wrote my first post for Cover Me, it was in celebration of Van Morrison’s 66th birthday. In it, I called him “perhaps the most incantatory singer in rock history; the words tumble from his mouth so fast they become never-quite-meaningless sounds, or they emerge bound and struggling themselves raw, or they flow out like brook water. Truly, he’s mastered what he calls ‘the inarticulate speech of the heart.’”

Fourteen years later (my gosh, has it been that long?), as Morrison reaches his four score, that still holds true. He is rock’s most spiritual curmudgeon, inscrutable and evocative, grouchily but magnificently folding into the mystic. His songs tap into their listeners in ways that would be eerie if they weren’t so universal. You don’t listen to Van Morrison’s music – you respond to it.

Today we’re looking at thirty responses, in the form of cover songs. These artists felt the hand of Van and responded accordingly. We think you’ll find them to be worthy rejoinders, what with their acuity and grace. They will make you feel good, and they will make you feel whole, when their spirit moves you and fills you through and through.

—Patrick Robbins, Features Editor

The 30 Best Sly & The Family Stone Covers Ever

Posted by Staff at 9:00 am No Responses »

Jun 272025

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

Sly Stone died on June 9 at the age of 82. Two days later, Brian Wilson died, also 82. It was a rough week for eccentric musical geniuses years ahead of their time. We paid tribute to Wilson here, and a couple years ago did a full Best Beach Boys Covers Ever list that now serves as a de facto tribute too. After all, he wrote just about all of those songs.)

So today, the great Sly Stone gets the same treatment. Thirty covers of all the hits, and a few deeper cuts too. Hot fun begins on the next page. (And once you’re done with this, check out our new Five Good Covers piece on “Family Affair.”)

The Best Cover Songs of July 2022

Posted by Ray Padgett at 11:44 am No Responses »

Aug 012022

Brett Eldredge – Cold Heart (Elton John, Dua Lipa cover)

Against all odds for a rocker of his generation, Elton John had a genuine hit with a single he released just last year, at age 74: “Cold Heart.” It topped the chart in the UK – his first song to do so in 16 years. It did nearly as well in the States, reaching number 7 and topping a number of secondary charts. Having current pop hitmaker Dua Lipa on board no doubt helped, as did releasing it as a remix by Pnau (“Hot Dance/Electronic Songs” was one of those secondary U.S. charts). It also fairly shameless incorporates bits of earlier hit singles “Rocket Man” and “Sacrifice” as well as deeper Elton cuts “Kiss the Bride” and “Where’s the Shoorah?” In country star Brett Eldridge’s live cover, though, it all blends together seamlessly. Continue reading »