Best Rock Cover Songs By Women?

It’s Women’s History Month, and Ultimate Classic Rock put together a list of 30 awesome rock covers by women, showing just how powerful a great song can become when a different voice takes it somewhere new.

Rock history is full of artists putting their own stamp on classic songs. Sometimes they stay close to the original. Other times, they flip the mood, the tempo, or the attitude and turn it into something completely different.

Here are 15 standout covers from the list:

1. Tina Turner – “Whole Lotta Love” (Originally by Led Zeppelin)
2. Patti Smith – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Originally by Nirvana)
3. The Bangles – “Hazy Shade of Winter” (Originally by Simon & Garfunkel)
4. Ella Fitzgerald – “Can’t Buy Me Love” (Originally by The Beatles)
5. PJ Harvey & Bjork – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (Originally by The Rolling Stones)
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” (Originally by The Ramones)
7. Nina Simone – “Here Comes the Sun” (Originally by The Beatles)
8. Melissa Etheridge – “Refugee” (Originally by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
9. Kate Bush – “Rocket Man” (Originally by Elton John)
10. Garbage – “Starman” (Originally by David Bowie)
11. Heart – “Stairway to Heaven” (Originally by Led Zeppelin)
12. Phoebe Bridgers – “Friday I’m in Love” (Originally by The Cure)
13. Indigo Girls – “Romeo and Juliet” (Originally by Dire Straits)
14. Pat Benatar – “Helter Skelter” (Originally by The Beatles)
15. Regina Spektor – “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (Originally by The Beatles)

It’s a great reminder that a truly great song doesn’t belong to just one artist. Sometimes all it takes is a different voice, a different perspective, and suddenly a familiar classic feels brand new again.

Doug O’Brien