30 of the Best Rock ‘n’ Roll Covers by Women

For so many women in music, and in particular rock 'n' roll, it's not uncommon to look around and find yourself the only woman in the room. Even those who are now world famous — perhaps those people especially — faced this kind of predicament.

"I mean, when I first had the notion that actually at my core I was a singer-songwriter, there were so very few women that I could refer to," Annie Lennox said to Yahoo Entertainment in 2022, the year Eurythmics were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. "I recognize that I have been feminist in my thinking for decades, and at a point not that long ago, we couldn't even get the word 'feminist' comfortably used by many, many women. It was a big, big struggle even to own that."

Times have fortunately changed since Lennox's career began, though there is still work to be done. The good news is that as more and more women have risen in the ranks, there are more and more role models for younger generations of female singers and songwriters to look up to.

In honor of International Women's Day, we've gathered up a list of 30 rock songs covered by women, ranging in age, style of music and basically everything else.

1. "Whole Lotta Love," Tina Turner
Originally by: Led Zeppelin

Robert Plant's voice isn't exactly an easy one to emulate, but if Led Zeppelin ever needed a substitute, they definitely could have called Tina Turner to get the job done right.

2. "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Patti Smith
Originally by: Nirvana

Patti Smith is a longtime fan of Kurt Cobain's. "I was heartbroken when he committed suicide," she told the Seattle Weekly in 2010. "And I knew that Kurt Cobain was very fond of my husband [the late Fred "Sonic" Smith] and the MC5. We felt so badly. We just wished that we would have known him, and been able to talk to him, and had some positive effect on him." By the way, the album this cover appears on, Twelve, is a full-blown covers album that also contains songs by Bob Dylan, the Doors, Stevie Wonder and many more.

3. "Dear Prudence," Siouxsie and the Banshees
Originally by: The Beatles

In September of 1983, Siouxsie and the Banshees released their cover of the Beatles' "Dear Prudence," and it wound up becoming their biggest hit in their native U.K., reaching the No. 3 slot on the singles chart. "I remember growing up with the White Album," Siouxsie Sioux recalled to Louder Sound in 2022. "I loved it for their experimenting."

4. "Hazy Shade of Winter," The Bangles
Originally by: Simon & Garfunkel

Don't let the spooky intro fool you — the Bangles' version of "Hazy Shade of Winter" swiftly ramps up. It appeared in the 1987 film Less Than Zero, and in turn was nominated for MTV's Best Video From a Film award.

5. "Black Hole Sun," Norah Jones
Originally by: Soundgarden

Norah Jones has performed her cover of "Black Hole Sun" exactly twice — once in Detroit in 2017 and then again in New Hampshire in 2022. Fortunately, that first performance, which took place the week after Chris Cornell's death, was taped for us to continue to enjoy.

6. "Can't Buy Me Love," Ella Fitzgerald
Originally by: The Beatles

Not only did Ella Fitzgerald include a swinging cover of "Can't Buy Me Love" on her 1964 album Hello, Dolly!, she also performed it live on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1968.

7. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," PJ Harvey and Bjork
Originally by: The Rolling Stones

The only thing cooler than one woman covering a Rolling Stones song is obviously two of them, as evidenced by this version of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by PJ Harvey and Bjork that they performed at the 1994 BRIT Awards.

8. "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Originally by: The Ramones

In 2009, a charity album called War Child Presents Heroes was released, featuring Beck covering Dylan, the Kooks covering the Kinks and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs doing "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," among a number of others.

9. "Here Comes the Sun," Nina Simone
Originally by: The Beatles

"Here Comes the Sun" is actually the title of Nina Simone's entire 1971 covers album. When you're done listening to this, we highly recommend also checking out Simone's version of "Isn't It a Pity," which George Harrison himself was a huge fan of.

10. "Don't Let It Bring You Down," Annie Lennox
Originally by: Neil Young

Annie Lennox's rendition of "Don't Let It Bring You Down" first appeared on her 1995 album Medusa. Four years later it popped up in the movie American Beauty. (Medusa is another covers album, for the record.)

11. "Creep," The Pretenders
Originally by: Radiohead

Many, many artists have covered Radiohead's "Creep" over the years, but the Pretenders' version, with Chrissie Hynde's emotive vocals leading the way, is a standout. Conveniently, it was recorded live at Jakob Street Studios in London in 1995.

12. "Refugee," Melissa Etheridge
Originally by: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

"The only song I covered on record was by the great Tom Petty," Melissa Etheridge said on social media just after Petty's passing in October 2017. "His music will never die." That song was "Refugee," which appeared on her 2005 album Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled.

13. "Rocket Man," Kate Bush
Originally by: Elton John

Kate Bush and Elton John go way back as friends, and Bush has covered his music on a few occasions. Her version of "Rocket Man" came out in 1991. "I remember buying this when it came out as a single by Elton John," she told NME. “I couldn't stop playing it – I loved it so much. Most artists in the mid seventies played guitar but Elton played piano and I dreamed of being able to play like him. Years later, in 1989, Elton and Bernie Taupin were putting together an album called Two Rooms, which was a collection of cover versions of their songs, each featuring a different singer. To my delight they asked me to be involved and I chose 'Rocket Man.' They gave me complete creative control and although it was a bit daunting to be let loose on one of my favorite tracks ever, it was really exciting. I wanted to make it different from the original and thought it could be fun to turn it into a reggae version. It meant a great deal to me that they chose it to be the first single release from the album."

14. "D'yer Mak'er," Sheryl Crow
Originally by: Led Zeppelin

Imagine Led Zeppelin but if they were a country-ish bar band from Los Angeles. That's kind of the vibe of Sheryl Crow's cover of D'yer Mak'er, from her 1993 album Tuesday Night Music Club. If you're looking for more, here's Crow doing "Rock and Roll" live in 2002.

15. "Enjoy the Silence," Tori Amos
Originally by: Depeche Mode

You'll often hear songwriters say that the mark of a really well-written song is one that can be stripped of all the fancy production, instrumentation and all the other polish without losing it's essential feeling. Tori Amos' arrangement of "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode is an excellent example of this.

16. "Sweet Jane," Cowboy Junkies
Originally by: The Velvet Underground

Cowboy Junkies is one of those Canadian bands that managed to also find success in America, which is not always the case with bands from the Great White North. One of their very first singles was a 1989 cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane," which may have only gone to No. 75 in Canada, but it went to No. 5 on the U.S. Modern Rock chart.

17. "Starman," Garbage
Originally by: David Bowie

Here's a more recent one. In 2019, Garbage, helmed by Shirley Manson, released a limited edition single for that year's Record Store Day. The A-side was a song called "Destroying Angels" and the B-side was a cover of David Bowie's "Starman," originally recorded for Howard Stern's all-star Bowie tribute.

18. "Highway '61 Revisited," PJ Harvey
Originally by: Bob Dylan

We could probably write an entirely separate list of women covering songs by Bob Dylan, but for now, we leave you with PJ Harvey's "Highway '61 Revisited" from her 1993 album Rid of Me. "He has been a big influence on my work," she told The Guardian in 2001. "I grew up on a diet of Dylan — my mum was a big fan — and now when I'm feeling lost or lacking in inspiration I listen to him."

19. "Crimson and Clover," Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Originally by: Tommy James & the Shondells

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' version of "Crimson and Clover" went to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their second-highest hit on that chart. You'll notice that Jett kept the pronouns the exact same as the original, sung by Tommy James. "If I had to change the words, I wouldn't have wanted to do the song," she explained to Rolling Stone in 2018. "I didn't know how people would react, but I said, 'Let's do it and see what happens.' I don't even remember people bringing it up at the time. Maybe they were uncomfortable talking about it and didn't want to broach the subject."

20. "I Am the Highway," Ann Wilson
Originally by: Audioslave

As a fellow member of the Seattle music scene, Ann Wilson was a friend of Chris Cornell's. So it makes sense that the Heart singer would keep Cornell's memory alive via song, like when she covered Audioslave's "I Am the Highway in 2018." This writer actually saw Wilson perform this song live and it may have been even better than the studio version.

21. "Stairway to Heaven," Heart
Originally by: Led Zeppelin

Speaking of Heart, we simply had to include their live cover of "Stairway to Heaven," which they performed in front of the three remaining members of Led Zeppelin back in 2012. Jason Bonham, son of John Bonham, played drums, and it's clear from the video that this was a moving moment for Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones.

22. "New Speedway Boogie," Courtney Barnett
Originally by: The Grateful Dead

In 2016, an absolutely enormous compilation album called Day of the Dead was released, raising money for HIV and AIDS awareness. It consisted of a whopping 59 Grateful Dead covers, including Courtney Barnett's chill take on "New Speedway Boogie."

23. "Friday I'm in Love," Phoebe Bridgers
Originally by: The Cure

These next few entries focus on more contemporary female singers, starting with Phoebe Bridgers' cover of "Friday I'm in Love" by the Cure. "There are only couple songs that you can just hear and it'll put you in a great mood," she said to Rolling Stone in 2019, explaining that she first fell in love with the track as a kid, writing the lyrics down in her school notebook. "And that's definitely always been the case for this song for me."

24. "Life on Mars?" Lorde
Originally by: David Bowie

The coolest part about Lorde's 2016 live cover of "Life on Mars?" is that she performed it with Bowie's own band. Lorde fortunately had the opportunity to meet Bowie. "I realized everything I'd ever done, or would do from then on, would be done like maybe he was watching," she said on social media after Bowie's death. "I realized I was proud of my spiky strangeness because he had been proud of his. And I know I'm never going to stop learning dances, brand new dances."

25. "Black Dog," Miley Cyrus
Originally by: Led Zeppelin

Clearly, there's a pattern here, and it's that women rock at covering Led Zeppelin songs. Miley Cyrus has done a few of them, but our favorite is this version of "Black Dog" from 2019's Glastonbury.

26. "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," The Slits
Originally by: Gladys Knight & the Pips

You'll never have to imagine what "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" would sound like as a dub-punk song, because the Slits made that a reality back in 1979. If this doesn't make you want to get up and dance, we can't help you.

27. "Romeo and Juliet," Indigo Girls
Originally by: Dire Straits

We love Dire Straits' original recording of "Romeo and Juliet," but there's something more vulnerable and passionate to Indigo Girls' version, with just an acoustic guitar and vocal.

28. "Helter Skelter," Pat Benatar
Originally by: The Beatles

It seems as though Pat Benatar's voice was built for a song like "Helter Skelter" — just listen to that grit. This cover appeared on Benatar's 1981 album Precious Time.

29. "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore," Rosanne Cash and Emmylou Harris
Originally by: Elton John

A completely opposite vibe from the song above, Rosanne Cash and Emmylou Harris' cover of "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" by Elton John is a smooth ride.

30. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Regina Spektor
Originally by: The Beatles

Regina Spektor recorded this cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" for the animated movie Kubo and the Two Strings, featuring Japanese instrumentation aligning with the film's story. Totally different, totally cool.