Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason" has never lacked grit or soul so it seems only natural that Kelly Clarkson—with just the perfect amount of roughness in her voice—would transform the song into a blues number that would feel right at home at your local county fair.
Ellie Goulding is as malleable a vocalist as her voice itself is distinctive: her paper-moon iced-out soprano conforms to any style she wants it to while still rendering all her tracks unmistakably stamped. She has a history of going very slightly outré for her covers (previously, she's nailed the Weeknd, Alt-J, James…
Who knows if wood nymph Shailene Woodley has evolved from eating mud and sunning her vagina, but she's definitely still a nomad. Woodley is profiled in the April issue of Elle magazine, and her homeless status is right there on the cover: "Beauty! Brains! Talent! Shailene has it all. Except for a place to sleep…
During You Who, a live Portland variety show, indie rock legend and Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus performed a cover of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space." That blasting sound isn't the music you're hearing, folks—it's the exploding heads of enraged record store dorks and music elitists across the planet.
BBC Live Lounge covers—exposed, low-reverb, lining up artists of all genres to take a swing at straight-up pop—are a tune category all their own, as well as a significant test for a vocalist's charisma and flexibility. Favorites in recent memory include Kwabs on "Dark Horse" and Taylor Swift on "Riptide" (nice to see…
Sure, you could be cynical about Lennon and Maisy, the twee sibling stars of Nashville who got their start posting precocious Robyn/Erato covers on YouTube, but why put in all that negative effort when both girls are so damn talented and charming?
José González is about to release a new album (Vestiges & Claws, out February 17th), and in the lead-up promo he stopped by a Swedish talk show called På spåret to cover TLC's beloved classic in a sort of "Hey, the band at this weird bar where they give everyone maracas is actually pretty awesome" way. Check it out,…
This is Robynn Shayne, a flight attendant who is also a singer. But sometimes she does both, like on a recent flight when she put down the inflatable jacket, picked up the guitar and covered Lorde for all of the passengers. "I wish I could sing like that," a passenger said during. Us, too. Us, too.
It took us a second to realize that it was indeed Ms. Taylor Swift on the cover of the latest issue of Wonderland magazine. In a good way. In fact, we're inclined to say that this sun-kissed 80's teen mag look is an improvement over her already-on-point style. Let it serve as a stern warning against both concealing…
Christina Bianco is back, this time with a powerhouse cover of "Forget You," featuring more of her signature celebrity impressions.
Kelly Clarkson joined the ranks of mere mortals who can't seem to get Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" out of their damn heads. But Clarkson doesn't do covers like other people do covers. She Clarksonizes songs.
Scott Bradlee, bandleader of Postmodern Jukebox, is well known for his "vintage" covers of various pop songs, but this is some next level retro shit here. In another ode to Saturday morning cartoons, his newest addition to the Saturday Morning Slow Jams (which already features a hilarious Pokémon cover) is the theme…
What we did to deserve this, I don't know, but I will take my medicine: Iggy Azalea and Keyshia Cole have paired up to record a version of "I'm Coming Out" for movie of the year, The Other Woman.
Yes, she's wearing a shirt with her face on it (this is going to be a new fashion trend, I can feel it! I just ordered ten with my own face on them) and yes she's using her phone to read the lyrics to the song (because she hasn't done it in a while), but goddamn if this cover of landslide isn't utterly listenable.…
HOLY GOD MIGUEL IS PERFECT.
Two male members of famed a cappella group Pentatonix took the daunting task of covering Beyoncé's latest album upon themselves, and the results are better than any Upworthy headline-style opening sentence could possibly convey.
Justin Bieber has been featured on the cover of Rolling Stone three times in the past three years. And how far he has come in that short amount of time.
At her recent 67th birthday in New York, Patti Smith told an audience"I will now sing to you the 2013 song of the year." Then, she launched into this beautiful rendition of Rihanna's "Stay."
Anybody else here love Angry Asian Man as much as I do? Then behold Phil Yu, the man behind the bloggy magic, expertly rapping the Left Eye part of TLC's "Waterfalls" in this amazing 10-person cover.
