Aug 032026
 
Alexis Taylor & Mike Simonetti — I See a Darkness (Bonnie “Prince” Billy cover)

Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip released an amazing electropop cover of “Wild Horses” earlier this year, and now he’s back with a similar take on Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s most-covered song. He writes, of the mesmerizing music video, “I saw the room that we see in the film — the scene, the two men facing each other and getting closer in their armchairs as the intensity of what they sing to each other increases. I saw the lady at the centre and back of the same space, illuminated by lamp light for the choruses, and the red balloon hovering over the 4 people in the scene. I wanted this to be like a televised Samuel Beckett play, and to be surreal, simple, and emotionally direct.”

Bandit Voyage — Hotel California (The Eagles cover)


It’s hard to do a fresh version of “Hotel California,” but Swiss duo Bandit Voyage pull it off on their new EP. They ditch many of the theatrics, stripping it down to sound more like a DIY indie-rock song. It’s The Eagles if they played a basement show. Eventually a hyper-distorted guitar does come in to play the closing solo, but even that feels done with a bit of a wink. Continue reading »

Dec 192025
 

Follow all our Best of 2025 coverage (along with previous year-end lists) here.

Last year’s unexpected theme was Tom Petty covers. For no obvious reason, he popped up again and again on our 2024 year-end list. And whaddya know, Tom’s back this year, with two more Petty covers on our list. This year, however, he is not the most-covered artist on our list.

That’s a tie between two artists, one extremely of-the-moment, one timeless. With three covers apiece, Chappell Roan and Neil Young share the most-best-covered crown. (Artists with two covers apiece this year, in addition to Petty, are Gillian Welch, John Prine, and—this one’s surprising—Nelly Furtado!)

Spoiler alert: None of those appears in the number-one position. Number one covers an artist who I don’t think has ever appeared on one of our year-end lists. But don’t skip ahead. There are 49 equally (well, almost) as good covers to get through first, spanning genres and sounds and eras and ages. Here we go.

Cover art by Hope Silverman

NEXT PAGE →

Oct 062025
 
Rosé Covers Lana Del Rey and Paul Simon

BLACKPINK’s Rosé took to The Howard Stern Show last week to deliver a striking medley that blended Lana Del Rey’s “Norman Fucking Rockwell” with Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” Stripping both artists’ songs down to their essence, Rosé crafted a seamless throughline between Del Rey’s atmospheric pop and Simon’s timeless folk to create the cover song “50 Ways to Leave Your Norman.” Continue reading »

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)

Continue reading »

Jul 172025
 
mallrat

Australian indie-pop darling Mallrat (Grace Shaw) has transformed Lana Del Rey’s cinematic track “Radio” into her own ethereal anthem. This marks her first official cover amid her ongoing world tour, Light Hit My Face Like a Straight Right. Mallrat doesn’t quite have the same languid nature as Lana Del Rey’s vocals. But her voice does evoke a surprisingly similar sense of the old Hollywood glamour, for which Lana Del Rey is known. Continue reading »