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 »

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 »

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

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

Continue reading »

Sep 292023
 
best cover songs
Al Green — Perfect Day (Lou Reed cover)

It’s been 15 years since the last Al Green album. Does “Perfect Day” signal the beginning of his comeback? Unclear — I thought so after his last single, another cover, and that was five years ago. But we can hope. “I loved Lou’s original ‘Perfect Day’—the song immediately puts you in a good mood,” Green explained. “We wanted to preserve that spirit, while adding our own sauce and style.” Continue reading »

Jun 232023
 

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

1970s one hit wonders

Last month, we presented covers of one-hit wonders of the 1950s and the 1960s. And we’re back to do it again!

This month, we’ll tackle huge hits by not-so-huge bands from the ’70s and, next week, the ’80s. Today, covers of classics like “Spirit in the Sky,” “Black Betty,” “Why Can’t We Live Together,” and “Video Killed The Radio Star” (I would have thought that one was ’80s given the famous MTV connection, but it came out November 1979). Then next week we’ll dive into perhaps the greatest decade for one-hit wonders cover. Continue reading »

Aug 232019
 
jim james why cant we live together

Timmy Thomas’s gorgeous, spare soul mantra from 1973 “Why Can’t We Live Together” is as much a meditation or prayer as it is a pop song. The hauntingly sad organ, the desperate wanting of the lyrics and Thomas’s plaintive, pleading vocal have sealed its destiny as a soul classic. There have already been a number of moving and reverential covers. Sade’s version from her 1984 debut album Diamond Life in particular which captures the feel and emotion nearly well enough to rival the original. Continue reading »