The 10 most-covered artists in the Live Lounge
It's ! Thirty days of live performances from the great and good of rock and pop, including , , , and . And that got us thinking: who in the history of the Live Lounge has been covered the most? So we went through the archives and crunched some numbers. We reckon this list's pretty accurate (and it's in order). Ready?
Drake
By our count, has been covered nine times, including by (above) and , who will be in the Live Lounge again on 28 September. But he's not the only artist with that number of covers - and are tied on nine each too.
Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa in the Live Lounge interviewed by Jo Whiley
Lady GaGa talked to Jo about her musical background, how she got in trouble for what she wore in her schooldays, and the true meaning of Poker Face.
Here's the wonderfully eccentric in Jo's Live Lounge back in 2009, talking tea cups and pop music, before playing Poker Face and a cover of 's Viva la Vida. Many artists have covered Gaga herself - 10, including , and .
Arctic Monkeys
Irish singer-songwriter began Live Lounge Month with a version of 's Lay Me Down that blew everyone away, . Last year, though, Hozier covered , who, like Gaga, have also clocked up 10 covers. Two of those were on the same day - by in September 2013.
Bruno Mars
is the third of four artists with 10 covers to their names - doubly impressive in his case because we're not including features in our list, which means Uptown Funk, the much-covered hit he sang on, doesn't count. Here are doing their wonderfully rocked-out take on Locked Out of Heaven last September.
µþ±ð²â´Ç²Ô³¦Ã©
Last of the sixth-place-equals is , who seems to inspire seriously good versions of her songs. Here's Los Angeles sister act doing XO last year, and just as brilliant was covering Naughty Girl in 2012 and Florence's take on Halo back in 2009.
Taylor Swift
This was so good! doing all of 's Bad Blood, including 's rap. Taylor has been covered 11 times by our count - by the likes of , and , who are adding their contribution to Live Lounge Month on 6 September.
Justin Timberlake
Also on 11 covers is and who could forget this superb version (2.5m views on YouTube and counting) of Cry Me a River by , Live Lounge Month band on 23 September. Other artists who have tackled JT? , , and .
Katy Perry
Out on her own in third place with 12 covers is , here having her song Dark Horse being reinterpreted by . Over the years Katy's been covered in the Live Lounge by the likes of and . 's even taken her on twice - once in 2010 and again 2014. Katy has visited the Live Lounge herself on two occasions, covering Electric Feel by , and and 's N****s In Paris.
Coldplay
So, Katy's had 12 covers; , in silver medal position, have had 18. Massive jump. Here's doing Magic, which was also covered by soul singer . Pick of the rest? Gaga's Viva la Vida, doing In My Place and also covering Every Teardrop is a Waterfall back in 2011.
Rihanna
If Coldplay hadn't covered 's We Found Love in 2011, they would have tied first. But they did, so Rihanna wins - with 19 covers (plus a half, if you count dropping a bit of Umbrella into ). There have been loads of really good ones: doing Stay in 2013 was a winner, as was Only Girl by , Live Lounge Month artist on 27 September.
Related Links
-
30 days. 30 incredible artists. September 2015 is Radio 1's Month of Live Lounge performances.
-
Absolutely unique performances from a range of established and breakthrough artists.
-
Dev goes behind the scenes of the Live Lounge, tracing its history from a basement corridor to becoming Radio 1’s home of live music.