15 Great Song Covers Found on YouTube

Song: "Ignition (Remix)"
Original Artist: R. Kelly

Nothing will ever come close to R. Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)" but this was an enjoyable attempt. Upbeat and with a jangling acustic guitar, James Dalby gave the R. Kelly classic some British flavor. The cover made him an Internet star. Even though Joseph Gordon-Levitt might've covered "Ignition (Remix)" before James, the latter's version is a little more enjoyable in our opinion.

Song: "Gangnam Style"
Original Artist: PSY

Albert makes playing and looping instruments look extremely easy. First the mini guitar, then bass, then beat-boxing and finally violin. Along with the music being enjoyable, Albert also includes a little bit of choreography (and sunglasses) to add some humor into the mix. As of right now, there are 56 thumbs down for Albert's cover. Fortunately for him his shades block out the haters. Plus, he has 256,981 views and over 5,000 thumbs up's.

Song: "We Are Young"
Original Artist: fun.

There are a ton of screens, and each one features Tompkins doing each part of the song. It's a well-produced and directed video, and the fact that Tompkins can sing helps, too. Ceativity and talent go hand in hand with one another in this cover. Being able to sing is one thing, but how you package it is another. Tompkins seems to have both parts down considering that his video has over nine million views. Good job, man.

Song: "Pop Danthology 2012"
Original Artist: Various Artists

Every song you've heard on the radio last year? This guy probably went through all of them in this video. Cooper goes through eight and a half minutes worth of music and never misses a beat, putting an extra dash of acoustic drums on the electronic-heavy songs he's covering. Not bad, Mr. Cooper—and kudos to Daniel Kim for making a cohesive mix.

Song: "Tyler, the Creator Medley"
Original Artist: Tyler, the Creator

This video propelled BadBadNotGood into Internet stardom, and it features the jazz trio playing songs from Tyler, the Creator. At the time of its debut, it was fresh, and highlighted the jazz-influenced backbone of just about every song Tyler has made. Two years later, and the video is still just as good, and drummer Alexander Sowinski's pig mask still as creepy.

Song: "This Woman's Work"
Original Artist: Maxwell

Wow, does this guy have pipes; and it's just a rehearsal! Very impressive, Mr. Johnson. The video's black and white appearance surely adds to Johnson's performance, and seeing him hit some ridiculously high notes is an enjoyable watch. If this guy's performance didn't give you goosebumps at least once, you might not be human.

Song: "32 Songs In 8 Minutes"
Original Artist: Various Artists

That is correct: Gredde goes through 32 songs in eight minutes with absolute fluidity. There's a little bit of everything in here: "I Jizz In My Pants," "Over the Rainbow," "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"—you get the idea. There's nothing really flashy about this video but the fact that the guy goes through 32 songs without any breaks and without messing up is impressive. He also has a pretty cool looking acoustic guitar so, yeah.

Song: "Super Mario Medley"
Original Artist: Koji Kondo

What's not to love about this cover? Not only is this drummer talented, but he's playing to the soundtrack of the video game that defined your childhood. Hey, Mario, when you're not out there rescuing Princess Peach maybe you could take a few lessons with this guy.

Song: "Thrift Shop"
Original Artist: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

This cover might actually be better than the original. For one, those vocal harmonies are fire and it's kind of cool that they pass around different parts to one another. This group has done a handful of other covers but this one definitely takes the cake (and they're all pretty stylish, too.)

Song: "Billie Jean"
Original Artist: Michael Jackson

This cover just makes "Billie Jean" so epic feeling. It's shot in almost complete darkness, includes some great vocal harmonies and has the two dudes playing drums and piano at the same time! The revolving camera work shows us every standout part of the video, and it's really cool that these guys managed to lay down some great vocals while handling different things. Michael Jackson would be very proud, guys.

Song: "Paradise"
Original Artist: Coldplay

This cover is on an entirely different level of epic. These guys actually have a helicopter deliver a piano to a mountaintop somewhere; they basically make this cover performance into a music video that's arguably better than Coldplay's version. Alex Boye is also a nice touch, changing the language of the lyrics and wearing a very intimidating suit. But overall, this is an incredible cover. Step your game up, Coldplay.

Song: "Shaft Theme Song"
Original Artist: Isaac Hayes

The ukulele sometimes gets a bad rep because it's often associated with pretty bad pop songs. But this cover is definitely an exception, considering the song being played is the theme song from Shaft. That's right, Shaft. All the main melodies are handled by ukuleles, but the best part might be the emotionless faces of the performers. It's as if all of their energy is solely devoted toward making Isaac Hayes proud. If only these guys had been around when Shaft was first made. They probably would've been on the soundtrack. Oh well, at least they're a group of bad motha-shut-yo-mouths.

Song: "Somebody That I Used To Know"
Original Artist: Gotye

It's six dudes and they're all playing on a different part of an ukulele. You'd think one guy's hand would crash into another hand, or something, but no—the guys groove on until the very end. Our only complaint is that these guys look so miserable. Sure, it fits with the vibe of the song but come on: you're all playing on an ukulele and doing a good job with it, too. You can crack a smile at least once.

Song: "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Original Artist: Queen

Granted, Castellano has been a professional musician for years, so he has a bit of an advantage (he's the bassist for Blue Oyster Cult so, yeah). But this cover is just incredible. He plays every part of the Queen classic while doing justice to their awesome vocal harmonies. It's just six very intense minutes that only gets better and better from beginning to end. We can only imagine how many takes he had to do until he got it all right—maybe he didn't have to do any, but we seriously doubt that. It paid off: now he's at the top of our Best YouTube Song Covers list. You deserve it, Mr. Castellano.