In honor of John Lennon’s 71st birthday, we put together a playlist of Beatles and Lennon covers, as performed by some of 2011’s most popular musicians! Watch as Lady Gaga, U2, Katy Perry, Glee’s Chris Colfer and more perform their favorite hits by the most iconic band in history.
The covers are both live and recorded, some of them are video and a few are just audio, but each shows the artist putting his or her own spin on a classic Beatles (or solo Lennon) song! Listen to them now to celebrate the influential musician born Oct. 9, 1940.
Katy Perry, ‘Please Mr. Postman’
While not exactly a Beatles song, it was sung by John Lennon on With the Beatles and the band is pretty well-known for their own cover of ‘Please, Mr. Postman.’ Of course, Katy Perry makes it cute and flirty, bringing an actual mailman onstage to sing it with her!
Florence + the Machine, ‘Oh! Darling’ (audio only)
‘Oh! Darling’ comes from the Beatles’ 1969 Abbey Road album. The writing credit goes to Paul McCartney, but Lennon sang the song on the album and in concert. Florence + the Machine’s version is for the special edition cut of her Lungs album.
Glee’s Chris Colfer, ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’
Glee has covered quite a few Beatles songs over the years, and this is one of our favorites! Kurt (Chris Colfer) really gets into the song, bringing out a lot of emotion as he sings about his dad, who is in the hospital with heart problems. This is one of the Beatles’ most famous songs and it has been covered hundreds of times, but Glee did a great job with it!
The Black Keys, ‘She Said, She Said’ (audio only)
Written by John Lennon for the Beatles’ Revolver, ‘She Said, She Said’ is a lesser-known but still great track. The Black Keys really put their own unique style on the song, making it different but still good.
Green Day, ‘Hey Jude’
During their 2009 international tour, Green Day performed ‘Hey Jude’ at just about every show. The guys would collapse on the ground and sing bits and pieces of the song, while the audience belted out the majority of the iconic track. The above video isn’t the best quality, but it’s the only one where you could actually hear Billie Joe singing over the roar of the crowd!
Continue to Part II: Regina Spektor, U2, the Jonas Brothers, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga!
Which cover is your favorite so far?