Awesome Covers

Arsen Sayadyan performs a spot-on cover version of Darude’s 2001 dance hit on the tiny keyboard of his old Samsung phone. As further proof that everything exists somewhere on the internet, he’s got an entire YouTube channel dedicated to Samsung cover songs.

A wonderful unplugged cover version of The Cranberries’ 1994 classic Zombie, as performed by musician Vedran Djurasovic, who brings a warmer approach to the track than the grunge sounds of the original.

The consistently captivating Tina S shreds an insane rock rendition of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (3rd Moverment) on her Vigier electric, her fingers flying across the strings and frets at supersonic speeds. Arrangement by Dr. Viossy.

Like a Version presents an unexpected, but phenomenal cover version of Kanye West’s opus about faith, performed by Australian indie pop group Cub Sport, fronted by the smooth and dreamy vocals of Tim Nelson.

We’ve heard Steve ‘N’ Seagulls amazing bluegrass cover version of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, but during an episode of A.V. Undercover they proved they were no one-hit wonder, with this equally unexpected and entertaining cover of Sabotage.

Ten Second Songs catches the Pokémon hypetrain by covering the cartoon version’s theme song in the style of 20 different artists, from Chumbawamba to Björk. The transitions between artists were too fast for us, but he did have to work with a short song.

A grand, orchestral cover of Eurtyhmics’ 1983 classic, performed by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. The icing on the cake are Hilde Marie Kjersem’s (aka Marie Munroe) flawless vocals, which are just as spectacular as Annie Lennox’s originals. Seriously, this woman can sing.

Danish blues rock band Brothers Moving perform an acoustic cover of Cab Calloway’s classic scat hit Minnie the Moocher in their stomping grounds, New York City’s Union Square. Aske’s raspy rumble is the perfect voice to tell poor Min’s tale.

Brothers Aryeh and Gil Gat turn in an excellent cover version of Pink Floyd’s 1975 classic on the streets of Jerusalem. If this isn’t hard proof that you can’t judge a book by its cover, we don’t know what is. More here.

Willian Lee turns in a spot-on cover version of Dire Straits’ Sultans of Swing during a street performance in São Paulo. Not only is his guitar playing excellent, he gives Mark Knopfler’s vocals a run for their money. Check out his Clapton, Orbison, Isaak, and Bee Gees too.

Musician Brian King Joseph (aka “Brian’s Violin“) delivers a wonderfully different sort of tribute to the King of Pop on his electric violin, with this fantastic and passionate performance of the 1982 classic Human Nature.

Musician Jason Deeh Pitre shares this once in a lifetime moment when Seal jammed with him on Le Place d’Armes in Montreal while he was busking. We’re pretty sure Seal could make millions just singing nutritional facts off of cereal boxes.

One trick pony Insane Cherry’s latest tune is a redo of Joan Osborne’s 1995 hit, featuring his (un)usual menagerie of dogs, cats, goats, and other animals lending both vocals and instrumentation to the track.

The always spectacular Haley Reinhart turns in another fantastic cover along with Postmodern Jukebox, with this orchestral arrangement of Soundgarden’s 1994 grunge hit that starts out as a sultry jazz ballad, and ends with as much fire and energy as the original.

Anthony Vincent of Ten Second Songs presents another meta cover – this time performing Gorillaz’ 2005 hit in the style of artists ranging from The Prodigy to Sir-Mix-a-Lot to Queen and even Darude. Keep an eye out for guitar cameos from some of our favorite YouTube rockers.

20-year-old alternative artist Julien Baker (Sprained Ankle) performed a cover of one of Death Cab for Cutie’s early hits for The Onion’s AV Club, turning the brooding Photobooth into a sincere ballad.

Costumed as Catwoman, composer Sonya Belousova plays her own wonderful arrangement of Danny Elfman’s classic theme song from Tim Burton’s Batman. As much as we liked the music from The Dark Knight, we always preferred Elfman’s take.

YouTuber syou2at made a cover of Glorious Crown from the rhythm arcade game Maimai Pink using nothing but notification sounds and other audio samples from Windows XP and Windows 10. Download links are on the video’s description.

Guitarist ERock presents his head-banging edition of the earworm that is the opening title music from the 1990’s X-Men animated series. Seriously, we have no idea why they don’t start using this as the theme for the new movies.

A fantastically rich and layered cover version of Radiohead’s recent track Burn The Witch, played on cello and cajón by Break of Reality. Seriously, we’d love to hear Thom Yorke’s vocals combined with these guys performance.

Guitarist Luca Stricagnoli turns in an impeccable fingerstyle acoustic performance of AC/DC’s 1990 hit Thunderstruck. Be sure to check out his rendition of Dick Dale’s surf rock tune Misirlou, and his Guns N’ Roses ain’t too shabby either.

Musician FreddeGredde continues to do what he does best, turning in a collection of classic theme songs on his acoustic guitar – complete with lyrics. The Jaws and Jurassic Park themes are awesome, though we’re pretty sure Rocky’s Gonna Fly Now already has lyrics.

Musician Rob Scallon and his pals turn in a fun performance of Metallica’s Master of Puppets with the lead guitar replaced with banjo. His outfit reminds us of an overall joke we’re pretty sure we heard on Dr. Katz… “Q: What goes with these? A: A banjo and no women.”