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 »

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

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Mar 102026
 
St Vincent Covers Jeff Buckley

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 »

Good, Better, Best: “Need You Tonight” (INXS)

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Jan 232026
 

Some covers are more equal than others. Good, Better, Best looks at three covers and decides who takes home the gold, the silver, and the bronze.

Need You Tonight

As booty call songs go, INXS’s “Need You Tonight” is as hot, sweaty, and ’80s as it gets. Never rhyming once, Michael Hutchence seduces with words, breaths, and dance moves that I guarantee young men practiced in front of their MTV screens. Meanwhile, the rest of the band matches him with a groove that shows no mercy and no signs of stopping, even as it stops (twice!) before song’s end.

Can a song that’s fast approaching its 40th birthday still sound fresh? Absolutely yes – and it doesn’t need people covering it to sound that way. But as it so happens, people do cover it, and not infrequently. Most of the cover artists keep That Riff, so as to keep relentlessness as one of the song’s eternal perks. But some went further with it. Here are a few of them.

So who earns the bluest of blue ribbons? Well…

Continue reading »

St. Vincent Covers Bowie’s ‘Young Americans’ on ‘The Late Show’

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Jan 162026
 
St. Vincent Covers Bowie

St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert back in December for the show’s Under the Covers segment. Under the Covers is all about, you guessed it, cover songs, and St. Vincent chose to celebrate David Bowie with a cover of “Young Americans.” In the pre-song interview, she mentioned her first cover of this song was back in 2023 during the annual Love Rocks NYC benefit show. Continue reading »

St Vincent Celebrates “Lush Life” in Carlyle Debut

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Nov 042025
 
St Vincent

St Vincent just wrapped up a three-night stand at the Cafe Carlyle and each night featured a unique cover as part of her setlist. On the opening night, Clark performed jazz standard “Lush Life,” by Billy Strayhorn. (Other songs she covered during the stand were Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day,” and Rufus Wainwright’s “Poses.”) Video of her “Lush Life” performance from the Carlyle hasn’t surfaced yet, but thankfully her warm-up show at The Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, CT has surfaced. (The introduction to the song begins around one hour and fifteen minutes into the performance.) Continue reading »

Sheryl Crow, John Legend, St. Vincent, More Join Dawes for “I Love LA” at the Grammys

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Feb 042025
 
i love la grammys

The city of Los Angeles has been put through the wringer the past month and the fact that the Grammy Awards were able to be held there on Sunday seems like a minor miracle. The ceremony opened with a heartfelt introduction by host Trevor Noah acknowledging the city and its role in popular music. The show then kicked off in earnest with a supergroup paying tribute to the city. And they did so with what seems like the obvious choice: Randy Newman’s “I Love LA.”

The group was led by the Goldsmith brothers, Taylor and Griffin from Dawes, who both lost their houses, their childhood home and their studio in the fires. They were joined on-stage by a diverse group of musicians including John Legend, Sheryl Crow, St Vincent, Brittany Howard and Brad Paisley.

A few of the lyrics were changed, removing Newman’s trademark snark, and replacing it with a tribute to the firefighters and first responders as well as celebrating the resilience of the city. (I’m usually not okay with changing lyrics, especially when they completely de-fang a song, but they get pass on this one.) Enjoy the performance and if you can, make a donation to help the people most affected by the fires.

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