The Best BBC Live Lounge Covers - Top 10.

Although BBC Live Lounge is normally mainstream chart music which isn't normally my cup of tea, you do occasionally get some unbelievable covers where the artist takes the song and completely makes it their own.

What makes a good Live Lounge is when you listen to the song and you don't get the slightest reminder that it's a cover, also when the artist is comfortable to take someones song who's music isn't particularly their style but they completely make it their own and most of all when you can tell that the artist is enjoying themselves while making it.

So in no particular order, here is a list of my top ten BBC radio one live lounge covers: 

Arctic Monkeys - Hold On We're Going Home / Drake -
Obviously by the two artists, I hope you know that Arctic Monkey's and Drake are worlds apart in their music styles, however, you can't really tell with this cover. Alex Turner takes full control of this song and does such a good job it would fit right in on AM.

He takes the corny, boy-band style that Drake has in this song and creates an awesome rock/disco song that is reminiscent of his latest style with AM.  




Catfish & The Bottlemen - I Will Never Let You Down / Rita Ora -
In my mind, the best BBC Live Lounge cover out there. Catfish & The Bottlemen completely own this cover. From a heavily produced song that sounds like something 13 year old girls would enjoy to an awesome, rocky song that would fit right in to Catfish's set.

They are the best live band out there at the minute and Van's vocals suit this song so well that I wouldn't be surprised if it draws in some other audiences from Live Lounge that Catfish wouldn't normally attract. 



Ed Sheeran - Stay With Me/ Sam Smith - 
Probably not one you expected to be in the list but Ed Sheeran, as much as Noel Gallagher doesn't like it, is an amazing musician. 

Sam Smith himself is a singer that puts in a lot of emotion into his songs anyhow but Ed Sheeran blows me away with this song. The amount of feeling that Sheeran puts into this song is quite astounding and again, another artist that has definitely made this cover his own.  


Paolo Nutini - Ever Fallen In Love With Someone / The Buzzcocks - 
Replacing the echoing guitar that The Buzzcocks and adding synth, some might say that that would ruin the song and create some awful creation, but they would be wrong. In this cover, Nutini slows the song down and in his own unique way adds his own bridges that actually work very well and by about half way, it seems like a completely different song.

Paolo Nutini's vocals are that unique and diverse that it wouldn't be a problem whatever song he does, but it's the changes in the song he makes that really makes this cover stand out.   



Hozier - Do I wanna Know / Arctic Monkeys-
Hozier fills this song with his distinctive vocals, he slows the song down to create a calm, relaxing melody and has such meaning in his vocals that it's hard to believe that he didn't write it. 

Hozier takes out the powerful guitar and the heavy drum beat that Arctic Monkeys have in this song and instead replaces it with slow finger plucking guitar...and a cello. It may have been deemed impossible to make such a recently iconic song into something completely different but Hozier has stamped his own style on the song and it actually works very well.  




Jake Bugg - Radioactive / Imagine Dragons - 
Jake Bugg completely strips this song down to the core. Although he keeps it in the same vocal style and tempo, there is no effect to his voice, no effect to his guitar and it is just him, some drums and a couple of backing singers and I think he's proven that it doesn't need much to create a masterpiece of a song. 




James Bay - Forever / Haim - 
James Bay slows this song right down and creates a new song in complete James Bay style. Bay is such a talented artist and has burst onto the music scene in the last year and recently won himself a Brit award.

He takes this indie-pop song that was originally sung by the energetic Haim and turns it into this slow, calming ballad. It definitely earns a place in my top five favourite covers. 



Jamie T - If I Were A Boy / Beyonce - 
As much as you may hate chart music (or love it) it's undeniable that Beyonce's voice is unbelievably powerful and to take on a Beyonce song to cover is pretty much destined to be disastrous. However, if you know Jamie T, you'll know he doesn't give a sh*t and has proven how good a musician he actually is after covering If I Were A Boy.

Completely stripped down to only his vocals and his guitar, he has made a song that I can't listen to without wanting to kill myself to a song that has placed itself in my top favourite songs of all time...well done Jamie T. 



Arctic Monkeys - Love Machine / Girls Aloud - 
Yes, I know I have already featured Arctic Monkeys in this list, but if you listen to this cover, you'll know why. In this cover the Arctic Monkeys put in all their infamous energy and you can tell they enjoyed themselves while doing this cover by the sheer quality of it and like Jamie T, they've created a brand new song from something intolerable to something that I could listen to numerous times throughout the day and because of their energy this song never fails to put me in a good mood. 


Paramore Use Somebody / Kings Of Leon - 
As much as you may hate me for it, I'm not a fan of Paramore at all, that is apart from this song. In this cover Hayley William's shows what an amazing voice she has and is a complete contrast to the style that Paramore have apart from possibly 'The Only Exception' but even then, it's not as much of a vocally challenging song than 'Use Somebody'. 

Again, this is a completely stripped down to just her vocals and an acoustic guitar and to be honest it can go both ways, but in this cover in particular, Hayley's vocals makes this cover great and they have created a song which is well deserved to be on this list.











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