The Best Cover Song by 25 of Country Music’s Best Artists

The best country music cover songs convince fans that they’re originals. Darius Rucker did it in 2013 with “Wagon Wheel,” and Chris Stapleton did too, in 2015.

Miranda Lambert did it a few years before that, but in that case, her version was original. You’ll see.

The 25 songs found on this list of the best covers in country are all recorded covers. So, if your favorite artist chose to cover a song in concert but never put it to tape, that doesn’t count.

Related: The Best Cover Song by 50 of Rock’s Best Bands

Alan Jackson made hits of at least three different cover songs. Reba McEntire has covered several female legends, including a hip-hop star who later went country herself. Zac Brown Band are so prolific they’ve released live albums filled with cover songs.

That counts, as does every song on Josh Turner’s cover album. There are other gems on that under-appreciated album, but we chose a Keith Whitley song as his best.

Decades ago, covering songs and re-releasing them to radio was in fashion. It didn’t matter if the original was released 10, five or even two years ago. This lasted through the 1990s, but in the 21st century it’s exceedingly rare to find a good cover song on the radio.

Interpolations of songs — Chris Young mixing the guitar riff of David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” into “Young Love & Saturday Nights,” for example — are far more common. That’s a shame, because George Strait has some hits that deserve to find a new audience via a contemporary cover.