This playlist is the second of three covering the best music released in 2025. It features new versions of songs originally sung by someone else. You can find the first playlist at https://lwinkelman.com/lees-favorite-songs-of-2025-a-playlist/.
All through the year, I put cover songs I like into a folder. At the end of the year, I had more than 6 hours of music that I had to narrow down to a manageable amount of music. It was heartbreaking having to eliminate so many great songs.
I had three absolute, unbreakable rules in making this playlist:
- All songs must have been released in 2025
- Only one song per artist is allowed on this list
- I can fudge any of the absolute, unbreakable rules I want, because this is my damn playlist.
The list is not in order of my favorites. I do not have particular favorites among the songs on the list. I love all the songs. I hope you enjoy my playlist of favorite cover songs of 2025.
- Josh Rouse – Somebody’s Baby. Nebraska-born but Spain-based singer-songwriter Josh Rouse released Streets of Your Town a great album of covers songs in 2025. This song is a cover of Jackson Browne’s 1982 hit from the Fast Times At Ridgemont High soundtrack.
- Chrissy Hynde & k.d. lang – Me and Mrs. Jones. Chrissy Hynde, from The Pretenders, also released a great album of cover songs in 2025:” Duets Special.” She is joined by country/torch song singer k.d. lang on this version of the 1972 Philly Soul classic song, written by Gamble & Huff and Cathy Gilbert and originally sung by Billy Paul.
- Muireann Bradley – Candyman. Nineteen-year-old Irish guitarist Bradley sings this song that Mississippi John Hurt first recorded in 1928 for OK Records. She omits the most salacious verses, which is probably for the best, but she nails the intricate guitar part that music writer Elijah Wald says took him “a decade or two” to figure out.
- Charlie Hunter, Bobby Previte, Skerik, Steven Bernstein – Single Ladies. This Beyoncé megahit from 2008 is done in a mutant jazz-funk style by guitarist Hunter, drummer Previte, sax player Skerik, and trumpeter Bernstein from Sex Mob. The four musicians come together on occasion as Omaha Diner, playing only #1 billboard hits. Their eponymous album, which contains their version of Single Ladies, had a limited release in 2013 but its first digital release in 2025.
- The Feelies – Dancing Together. In 2025, the New Jersey indie rock heroes The Feelies put together an album of rare cover songs that mostly have never before been released digitally. This song is a cover of Patti Smith’s 1979 single.
- The Shootouts – Only You. The Akron, Ohio “rust belt Americana” band is joined by guests Sam Bush (newgrass mandolinist), Michigan native Lindsay Lou Lindsay Lou (guitarist and singer), and ace harmonica player Mikey Raphael (best known for his work with Willie Nelson). They sing and play a version of Only You, the gorgeous 1982 synthpop hit from Wazoo.
- AKIA, Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad — Daydream. Younge is an LA-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer. He started by creating soundtracks for nonexistent movies, but has graduated to working on real movies and TV shows. He releases music under his own name and in partnership with Muhammad, a member of A Tribe Called Quest. The two partnered on a great series of jazz releases under the name “Jazz Is Dead.” They are joined here by 23-year-old Atlanta R&B singer AKIA on the 1969 hit by the Belgian band The Wallace Collection. This song is from the third season of the television show Reasonable Doubt.
- Ledisi – This Bitter Earth. R&B singer Ledisi can sing anything, and she proves it here, by singing the song made famous by Dinah Washington in 1960. Ledisi’s whole 2025 Washington tribute album “For Dinah” is excellent.
- Doane Music School, Ron Sexsmith — Sunny – Ron Sexsmith sings this version of the 1963 Bobby Hebb hit, backed up by the students of the Doane Music School in Toronto. I didn’t think the world needed another cover of Sunny, one of the world’s most covered and annoyingly cheerful songs. But I was won over by this charming version, which bears repeated listens without getting on one’s nerves. And the video for the song is even more charming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPz0Z7M7BU.
- Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia – Vaca Profana. The brother-and-sister Brazilian popular music (MPB) stars sing this song, written by Caetano but made famous by their friend and fellow MPB star Gal Costa. A fitting tribute to Costa, who passed away in 2022.
- Kenny Eastwood, Joni Mitchell – Trouble Man. Kenny Eastwood is a jazz bassist and film composer and the son of director Clint. In 1998, he recorded this cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1972 song with Joni Mitchell’s vocals. I became aware of the song when it was released on the collection Joni Jazz in 2025. Should this song be in the reissue playlist instead of here? No, because I make (and break) the rules for my playlists.
- Jayce, Chris Benstead – Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down). This song was written by Sonny Bono and sung by Cher in 1966. Nancy Sinatra also sang the song in 1966, and her version was used over the credits in Kill Bill, Vol. 1. This Thai version was recorded for the soundtrack of Fountain of Youth, an entirely forgettable 2025 movie, directed by Guy Ritchie.
- Rumer – The Windmills of My Mind. Pakistani-British singer-songwriter has a beautiful voice, born to sing 1960s sophisticated pop, like the Carpenters or Burt Bacharach. Here she sings “Windmills of My Mind,” the Michel Legrand earworm originally sung by Noel Harrison, son of actor Rex Harrison, in the 1968 film “The Thomas Crown Affair.” Rumer’s version appears in the 2025 TV series “Harlen Coben’s Lazarus” on Amazon Prime.
- Rachel Burke – Weary Blues from Waiting. Burke is a country singer from “up north” in Michigan’s lower peninsula. On her great 2025 album “Sings Sad Songs,” she abandons any attempt at commercial success to sing heartfelt, tearjerkers. This song is a cover of Hank Willams’ posthumously released 1953 single. The whole album is worth a listen.
- I’m With Her – Espresso. The folk/American trio – Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins – sing Sabrina Carpenter’s smash-hit, Grammy-winning song.
- Prine Royce – How Deep Is Your Love. In 2025, Bachata star Royce released an album of pop- and soft-rock, English-language classic songs, sung in a mix of English and Spanish. This song is his version of the Bee Gees hit ballad, originally released as a single and as part of the soundtrack to the movie Saturday Night Fever in 1977.
- Phosphorescent – O Canada – Alabama singer-songwriter Matthew Houck, known as Phosphorescent, sings the Canadian national anthem – my favorite national anthem! – from the soundtrack of Paul Schrader’s great film Oh, Canada.