The 15 most covered rock songs of all time

- Originally recorded by: The Beatles, Bud Shank with The Bob Alcivar Singers
- Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Covers: 352
- Adaptations: 6

There may not be a song in the Beatles' catalog that sums up their final bittersweet days better than "The Long and Winding Road." Primarily written in Scotland in 1968 by Paul McCartney, the mournful song ultimately provided a soundtrack to the cracks beginning to show within the band.

The song became the band's final #1 hit, but its beautiful melancholy lived on through renditions performed by Cher, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles.

- Originally recorded by: The Beatles
- Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Covers: 354
- Adaptations: 19

"A Hard Day's Night" was inspired by a phrase uttered by Ringo Starr on one grueling, work-intensive night while the band was forced into a filming session in 1964. At that point, the Beatles hardly knew a life outside of touring and recording.

It's a lifestyle Otis Redding was all too familiar with. His cover of the song was just as rousing as the original, its sense of fun masking the exhaustion that inspired it.

- Originally recorded by: The Rolling Stones
- Written by: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
- Covers: 357
- Adaptations: 14

With its spiky guitar riff and themes of disillusionment and rebellion, the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is what many would consider the prototypical rock song. Keith Richards, the band's guitarist, has long claimed that the now instantly recognizable riff came to him while he was sleeping.

It may be one of the most fortuitous dreams in rock history; "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" soon became the band's first #1 single in the U.S. Björk and PJ Harvey covered it together a few decades later, with a stripped-back yet venomous reinterpretation.

- Originally recorded by: Elton John, Three Dog Night
- Written by: Elton John, Bernie Taupin
- Covers: 363
- Adaptations: 14

"Your Song" was not only one of Elton John's first major hits but also the song responsible for launching him from a great songwriter into a worldwide phenomenon. Written alongside Bernie Taupin, the song was penned while Taupin was only 17. At that point, Taupin had yet to experience true love—the song's subject matter—for himself. You'd never be able to tell.

Rod Stewart covered it later, backed by fiddle and guitar, and Ellie Goulding turned it into an ethereal and lovelorn ballad many years later.

- Originally recorded by: Bill Withers
- Written by: Bill Withers
- Covers: 376
- Adaptations: 11

Not long before he wrote one of the best songs of all time, Bill Withers was still a factory worker, making aircraft toilet seats at a manufacturing plant in Los Angeles. It wasn't until he turned 32 that he made his breakthrough as a musician, a move he can credit to one perfect song: "Ain't No Sunshine."

The song moved a young Michael Jackson to cover it as a young teen. It's since gone through several different arrangements, with the likes of Tom Jones and Paul McCartney adding their twists on the classic.

- Originally recorded by: The Beatles
- Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Covers: 397
- Adaptations: 15

One of the most famous call-and-response songs of all time, "With a Little Help from My Friends" was written collaboratively between John Lennon and Paul McCartney during the final stages of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." That opening lyric ("What would you think if I sang out of tune?") was a joke the songwriters played on the comparatively pitchy Ringo Starr, who performed the song.

"With a Little Help from My Friends" was most famously covered by Joe Cocker, whose version almost threatened to overshadow the original in the U.K., though it only reached #68 in the U.S.

- Originally recorded by: The Beatles
- Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Covers: 419
- Adaptations: 6

A fan favorite from "Rubber Soul," "In My Life" is a quintessential John Lennon track. The song was originally inspired by Lennon's memories of living in Liverpool, but its lyrics are deliberately vague enough for anyone to apply their own nostalgia to it.

The song has since found its way to some unlikely places; Sean Connery sang the song as part of an albumlong Beatles tribute, as assembled by George Martin in 1998.

- Originally recorded by: The Beatles
- Written by: George Harrison
- Covers: 430
- Adaptations: 9

The sunshine of the band's "Abbey Road" sessions, George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun" proved that the third Beatle could stand toe to toe with Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Harrison penned the song while staying with his friend Eric Clapton at his home in Ewhurst, Surrey.

While sunning himself in Clapton's garden, the seeds of the song began to germinate, and the rest was history. A simple ditty, it'd be challenging to do a disservice to this lovely song. It's since been covered by Coldplay, Bon Jovi, and Travis, but Charles Wright of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band infused it with a particularly lovely warmth and glow.

- Originally recorded by: Bobby Helms
- Written by: Jim Boothe, Joe Beal
- Covers: 447
- Adaptations: 10

"Jingle Bell Rock" was originally written by two unlikely sources, an advertising executive named James Ross Boothe and a public relations professional named Joseph Carleton Beal.

The popularity of "Jingle Bell Rock" has been forever enshrined, partly due to its many appearances in popular films like "Mean Girls" and "Lethal Weapon" but also due to its many covers throughout the years. Kylie Minogue, the Beach Boys, and Hall & Oates have all brought the holiday spirit of "Jingle Bell Rock" into their own repertoires.

- Originally recorded by: The Beatles
- Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Covers: 461
- Adaptations: 8

When the Beatles' discography was finally added to streaming services in 2015, "Come Together" was one of the songs that racked up the most streams, behind "Here Comes the Sun." It's not hard to see why.

There's an indelible oddness to the track that gives it a hypnotic quality while still making it sound fresh all these years later. In 1969, Tina Turner was among the first to cover it, infusing the song with a feminine yearning. A decade later, Aerosmith reached the charts with their extra groovy version.

- Originally recorded by: The Beatles
- Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Covers: 562
- Adaptations: 15

Paul McCartney has often referred to "Here, There and Everywhere" as one of John Lennon's favorites among McCartney's compositions on a tape. The song was allegedly written while he lounged by Lennon's swimming pool in Weybridge and waited for his collaborator to wake up.

David Gilmour of Pink Floyd gave us one of the best cover versions of the song, adding psychedelic flourishes to an interpretation that was otherwise faithful to McCartney's original composition.

- Originally recorded by: John Lennon
- Written by: John Lennon
- Covers: 565
- Adaptations: 14

John Lennon wrote "Imagine," his magnum opus, hardly even a year after the Beatles split. It was 1971, and Paul McCartney had just filed a lawsuit to dissolve the pair's contractual partnership. Lennon ultimately ensured his freedom and independence with "Imagine," a song bound to survive as long as cockroaches and Twinkies.

There have been many excellent covers throughout the years, among the best include Joan Baez's 1972 version, which pared the song down to its most skeletal, and Neil Young's 2001 rendition for a 9/11 tribute, which featured a moving string section.

- Originally recorded by: The Beatles
- Written by: George Harrison
- Covers: 567
- Adaptations: 9

Once the band's underdog, George Harrison had established himself as a force to be reckoned with by the time "Something" was released in 1969.

One of the most memorable tracks from "Abbey Road," "Something" has inspired countless versions, some of which earned Harrison's approval—others… not so much. "At the time, I wasn't particularly thrilled that Frank Sinatra did 'Something'," Harrison admitted in his biography "Anthology," per Far Out Magazine.

However, he was much more pleased "when Smokey Robinson did it and when James Brown did it," he wrote, adding: "I'm very pleased now, whoever's done it. I realise that the sign of a good song is when it has lots of cover versions."

- Originally recorded by: The Beatles
- Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Covers: 568
- Adaptations: 23

The Beatles released "Hey Jude" on the same day in 1968 as the Democratic National Convention opened. At seven minutes and 11 seconds long, the song challenged the constraints of radio broadcasting, though it became a megahit nonetheless.

Throughout the decades, "Hey Jude" has brought joy and unity to the world with its sweet message of camaraderie. Essentially a perfect song, covering it was no easy feat, but Wilson Pickett knocked it out of the park with his 1969 offering. "To this day, I've never heard better rock guitar playing on an R&B record," Eric Clapton said of Pickett's version.

- Originally recorded by: The Beatles, Aretha Franklin
- Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Covers: 577
- Adaptations: 16

The most covered rock song of all time, "Let It Be," was recorded in 1969 (and courted to Aretha Franklin by Paul McCartney). While it's undoubtedly one of the Beatles' most beloved songs, John Lennon allegedly wasn't so hot on it.

At the time, the band was treading rocky ground, constantly arguing and trying to resolve seemingly irreconcilable creative differences. But despite the bad blood that underscored the making of this classic, "Let It Be" ultimately resounds as a song of love and unity, a timeless expression of brotherhood and beauty.

No cover quite lives up to the original, but the "Glee" cast certainly made a good attempt, as did the spookmaster Nick Cave.

Data reporting by Luke Hicks. Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Clarese Moller.