16 Great Ryan Adams Covers

The recent news that Ryan Adams is covering the entirety of Taylor Swift’s 1989 inspired me to make a giant list of other albums he should probably cover. But he’s already way ahead of me. His version of Oasis’s “Wonderwall” is legendary; recently, he finally came full circle and did Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69,” which he once kicked a heckler out of a show for requesting.

The magic of a Ryan Adams cover is that he takes a song that once belonged to someone else and makes it fully his; if I were a fellow songwriter, I’d be both scared and honored if he ever hijacked something of mine. The covers collected below also prove that he’s got a huge range: For example, here’s a short snippet of him playing the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way.” If that’s not your thing, though, here are 16 of his finest reclamations.

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[Madonna bonus: Here’s Ryan trying his hand at “Lucky Star.”]

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[Vampire Weekend bonus: Here’s Ryan doing “Mansard Roof” and “A-Punk” to complete the triumvirate.]

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The Ryan Adams cover (with Natalie Prass):

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[Smiths bonus: He’s also tried his hand at “Asleep,” which you can listen to here.]

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[Adams has actually covered this one live a few times; here are two other versions. It’s also rumored that he’s covered all of the Strokes’ Is This It, but only pressed something like, I dunno, five copies.]

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[Ryan’s love for the Dead is well-documented. His 2005 album Cold Roses is heavily influenced by the group; he’s also covered everything from “Wharf Rat” to “Rosebud.” There are easily two dozen more Ryan Adams/Grateful Dead covers on YouTube.]

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[Ever the rock fan, Adams has also given this one a shot more than once.]

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The Ryan Adams cover (as Whiskeytown):

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The Ryan Adams cover (as Whiskeytown):

[Adams has also allegedly performed this one solo in his post-Whiskeytown years.]

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Top image via Getty.