When artists reimagine classic songs, magic happens on stage! Join us as we count down our picks for the greatest live cover performances ever. Our list includes Tori Amos tackling Nirvana, Heart nailing "Stairway to Heaven" in front of Led Zeppelin, and T-Pain's surprising take on Black Sabbath! What's your favorite live cover performance?
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the most memorable or unique
00:11renditions of cover songs that were either recorded live or captured in concert.
00:21Number 10. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Tori Amos. Original Nirvana.
00:28Tori Amos' history with rock music didn't begin or end with her cover of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.
00:39This talented pianist and songwriter's early career was notable for a failed experiment with synth pop titled,
00:46Why Can't Tori Read? Amos' debut solo album was a different animal altogether, however,
00:52and it was then, during that first tour, when she began performing said Nirvana cover live.
00:58This starkly arranged and almost erotic take on Smells Like Teen Spirit went on to become
01:11something of a staple within Tori Amos' live set, earning the performer praise from her fanbase
01:17and damnation from grunge purists. For our money, however, we think it's awesome.
01:22The bones of any truly good song should be able to be mirrored against any other sort of musical
01:43application.
01:44This includes Nora Jones' melancholic and beautifully rendered take on Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden.
01:56Jones first debuted her take on the song back in 2017, in tribute to the late Chris Cornell,
02:02who had passed away only a week prior. A live recording of this performance from Detroit's Fox
02:16Theatre on May 23rd of that year was included on Jones' 2021 live album, Till We Meet Again,
02:23live. And it's wonderful stuff. A fitting send-off to one of rock's finest singers by another one of pop
02:30music's great vocalists.
02:408. Stairway to Heaven
02:42Heart
02:43Original
02:44Led Zeppelin
02:45It's one thing to perform a cover song of a favorite band in a basement or a dive bar.
02:51It's another thing entirely to sing and play one of classic rock's most iconic tunes
02:56in front of the band that made it famous.
02:58There's a lady who's sure
03:01All that glitters is gone
03:05Heart laid it all out on the line back in 2012, when they were invited to that year's Kennedy Center
03:12Honors. Nancy and Ann Wilson were joined by Jason Bonham, son of departed Led Zeppelin drummer John
03:18Bonham, as they tackled Stairway to Heaven to a packed house that included Jimmy Page,
03:22John Paul Jones, and Robert Plant.
03:26Dear lady, can you hear the
03:28Let go
03:29And hear the
03:30Page, who's been notoriously reluctant to praise many of the Myriad Stairway imitators,
03:36was even said to have told Heart they nailed their performance.
03:40And she's buying
03:43Stairway
03:47We can totally understand why many viewers out there don't remember the Blinkin' You Missed It series that was MTV Icon.
04:05This musical tribute show only lasted three years back in the day, but this celebration of Metallica that aired in 2003 contained some surprisingly strong cover performances.
04:20Korn delivered an epic rendition of One on this night, while Limp Bizkit frankly surprised a lot of people with their decision to tackle Welcome Home, Sanitarium, in a relatively straightforward fashion.
04:32This decision proved to be the right one, since it didn't only showcase Limp Bizkit's respect for their elders, but it also proved that they could tackle some challenging material, and convincingly pull it off.
04:516.
04:59Communication
05:01Miley Cyrus
05:02The Cardigans
05:04The COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020 necessitated a lot of entertainers to pivot to come up with unique ways of bringing their music to the masses.
05:13Miley Cyrus
05:22Miley Cyrus had been thrilling her fans with cover tunes via her backyard sessions that began in 2012.
05:28This 2020 iteration was, of course, notable for the masks present upon Miley's band, but it also brought with it some stellar choices in material.
05:38Miley Cyrus' take on communication by the Cardigans highlighted the Swedish group's inherently melancholic nature, a sad and bittersweet tune that received a new coat of paint via Cyrus' bang-up performance.
05:57The singer puts in work placing her own stamp on this amazing Cardigans tune with a powerhouse exclamation of emotive brilliance.
06:045.
06:14Rockin' in the Free World Pearl Jam
06:17Original
06:18Neil Young
06:19Some songs just lend themselves particularly well to that cover treatment.
06:23You know, tunes such as Rockin' in the Free World by Neil Young.
06:27Artists as diverse as Suzy Quattro, The Alarm, and even Swiss metal band Crocus have tried their hands on the tune.
06:40But it's Pearl Jam that have probably released the music world's most definitive cover.
06:45The group even performed it live at the 1993 Video Music Awards for MTV, playing alongside Young himself and exposing Rockin' in the Free World to a new and younger audience.
07:03Pearl Jam still make it a habit to play Rockin' in the Free World live today as well, a nice creative nod to one of classic rock's most unique voices.
07:124.
07:19The Man Who Sold the World
07:22Nirvana
07:23Original
07:24David Bowie
07:25We've highlighted a lot of musical performances that took place on MTV and with good reason.
07:30It's important to remember just how much impact this cable time has made.
07:41This cable channel used to have upon the pulse of youth culture, defining tastes and trends with a bevy of music-focused contents.
07:48It's the Unplugged series that just might be MTV's most important musical legacy, however.
07:53A startlingly important program that showcased major musical moments such as Nirvana covering David Bowie.
07:59The former's take on The Man Who Sold the World ended up being a single smash of its own, bringing not only Nirvana further into the spotlight, but also MTV and Unplugged as a brand.
08:183.
08:25The Star Spangled Banner
08:29Jimi Hendrix
08:30Original
08:31Francis Scott Key
08:32And John Stafford Smith
08:34Only guitar god Jimi Hendrix could take this traditional slice of Americana and give it such a psychedelic overload of power.
08:41This performance from 1969's iconic Woodstock Festival took place on Monday morning, which is one heck of a wake-up call if you ask us.
09:00The sight of Hendrix loudly blasting the Star Spangled Banner with tons of feedback and distortion is one that almost immediately captured something in the cultural waters.
09:19It was a touchstone moment for youth of that generation, as they gravitated more towards modern rock, pop, and blues than the music that defined their parents.
09:292.
09:34With a little help from my friends, Joe Cocker
09:42Original
09:43The Beatles
09:44England's Joe Cocker was another singer that blew away the Woodstock crowd back in 1969 with a heavy and electrified cover tune.
09:51What would you do if I had a tune?
09:57This time, it was Cocker's cover of With a Little Help From My Friends by The Beatles that helped catapult the singer into the annals of rock and roll history.
10:06This version was amplified, soulful, and bluesy, anchoring itself upon Cocker's vocal histronix in the best possible way.
10:15Well, I made it above my mind.
10:22Joe Cocker and his band would arguably better themselves only a couple of weeks later at the Isle of Wright Festival, confirming that this cover tune was no fluke, but instead something of an instant classic.
10:331.
10:56Warpigs
10:58T-Pain
10:59Original
11:00Black Sabbath
11:01We don't know about you, but we're so glad that T-Pain largely abandoned the auto-tuned sound that defined his early hits and let us all hear his wonderful singing voice.
11:11How else would we have discovered this frankly amazing rendition of Warpigs by Black Sabbath that was included on T-Pain's 2023 LP titled, perhaps, predictably, on top of the covers?
11:31It isn't only about how T-Pain rages here on Warpigs with a performance that's passionately heartfelt, it's also about how his band sounds like they're going to practically set the stage on friggin' fire with their musical acumen.
11:53This take on Warpigs is beyond tight and beyond awesome, it's basically perfect.
12:06Have you ever caught your favorite band doing an impromptu cover song? Let us know your memories in the comments.
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