Awesome Covers

We already know that musician Davie504 is quite the capable bass player. But for his latest clip he shows us just how quickly his fingers can fly across the frets, with an electric bass cover of Rimsky-Korsakov’s high speed classical piece Flight of the Bumblebee.

Musician Jamie Dupuis turns in a great cover version of the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black, performing the 1966 rock classic on his carbon fiber Emerald harp guitar, which produces a wonderfully layered sound that combines both lead guitar and bass sustain sounds in one.

Musician Leo Moracchioli screams like a banshee and makes a scene, celebrating Halloween with a demonic, headbanging cover version of Danny Elfman’s holiday classic This is Halloween from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Electronic musician Scandroid presents his take on Michael Jackson’s Halloween classic Thriller, applying his synthwave style to the track, along with a great ’80s-look music video, complete with a trio of awesome dancing robots.

Cellist Vesislava Todorova turns in a heart-wrenching cover version of Coldplay’s 2000 hit Yellow that perfectly suits the mood of the track. Be sure to check out her YouTube channel for more fantastic performances, including Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game.

If there’s one thing we learned from watching every episode of Hell on Wheels, it’s that the wild west really did have a crazy train that went off the rails. All Aboaaaard! for Samurai Guitarist’s cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s classic, with a spaghetti western twist.

The Los Angeles’ Angel City Chorale starts out with an impressively real sounding rainstorm, created entirely by its musicians, then segues into an larger-than-life version of the ubiquitous Toto hit Africa. Lest you think they’re just seizing on a trend, they did this back in 2013.

The jury is still out on the latest season of Doctor Who, but one thing that’s for sure is that Nathan Mills‘ acoustic guitar cover version of the iconic theme from the BBC sci-fi series is amazingly good.

While it’s not as awe-inspiring as 28 people playing Bohemian Rhapsody, musicians Christopher Bill and Seb Skelly’s all-brass cover version of ELO’s 1977 classic Mr. Blue Sky is sonically spot-on, and the perfect pick-me-up for a grey and dreary day.

Prior to watching this clip from percussion ensemble HarvardTHUD, we weren’t aware of an instrument called a “boomwhacker.” Get a listen to its unique sound with this whimsical cover version of Journey’s 1981 hit Don’t Stop Believin‘.

The Floppotron regales us with yet another tune that suits its sounds perfectly. Crank up the volume, bang your head, and bite off a bat’s noggin while you enjoy this electromechanical cover version of Ozzy Osbourne’s 1980 hit single, Crazy Train.

Band, who needs a band? The multitalented PAB_Music manages to turn in a perfect cover version of System of a Down’s 2001 hit Chop Suey!, performing each of its instrumental and vocal parts, then editing them together into a seamless multitrack recording.

An amazingly good cover version of Earth, Wind & Fire’s 1978 classic September from an unlikely source. Hailing from Russia, Leonid and Friends completely nailed the instrumentation of the original, powered along by rock solid vocals. Check out Leonid’s YouTube channel for more.

We can pretty much guarantee that you’ve never heard Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean quite like this. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a beautiful cover version played on the sitar by musician Ronobir Lahiri, who gives the King of Pop’s megahit a whole new vibe.

We’ve already heard Weezer cover Toto’s 1982 hit Africa, and now we have an official music video. But Weezer is nowhere to be seen. Instead, “Weird Al” Yankovic stands in for Rivers Cuomo, lip syncing lead vocals, while poking fun at Undone – The Sweater Song.

Pianist Jonny May asked his subscribers what 1980s songs should never be played in the ragtime style, then went ahead and did it anyhow. Listen and enjoy his unique and shockingly good covers of Don’t Stop Believin‘, Livin’ on a Prayer, and Africa.

Banjo Guy Ollie goes back to the ’80s once again, with another great cover version of a classic TV theme song. This time out, he performs the synthtastic opening title track from Airwolf on banjo, mandolin, accordion, and various other instruments.

In the latest installments of The Tonight Show’s Classroom Instruments segment, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots teamed up with Aerosmith for a thoroughly entertaining remake of their classic track Walk This Way, performed entirely on low-fidelity toys.

After wowing us with acoustic versions of songs by U2, RHCP, and AC/DC, the incredibly talented Luca Stricagnoli is back with a captivating three song medley of Iron Maiden’s tracks Fear of the Dark, The Trooper, and Phantom of the Opera.

Trombone player Christopher Bill and 27 of his closest friends joined together at the 2018 International Trombone Fest perform the richest and most layered cover of Queen’s classic rock opera that we’ve ever heard. Galileo, Figaro! Magnifico!

The talented musicians of Scary Pockets teamed up with singer-songwriter Reeve Carney for a phenomenal cover of Never Gonna Give You Up, boiling down Rick Astley’s hit into a soul-stirring new version, thanks in large part to Carney’s smooth and powerful vocals.

A charming and thoroughly entertaining cover version of Florence + The Machine’s 2010 hit track Dog Days Are Over, arranged by Michael Charles Smith and performed by the students of his Marimba Lab. Their cover of Portugal. The Man’s Feel It Still is wonderful too.

We like to imagine David Hasselhoff pulling up in a rusted out old jalopy (with an LED light bar on front) as the visual accompaniment to Banjo Guy Ollie’s awesomely bluegrassified cover of the familiar theme from Knight Rider.