In the past I have combined several sets of Top 10 etc. cover metrics. Last year I posted Cover Songs Just the Numbers. This year I am splitting them up into three lists. On March 26, I published the 2024 Update of the most cover pop songs.

I have now updated this list on the total number of all cover versions of songs recorded that were written by individual Pop Recording Artist(s), including instrumental covers. Comparing totals from 2022 to 2024 the top 10 positions remain the same.

1. John Lennon: 20,163 to 22,146 (top solo song “Imagine” – over 500 versions)
2. Paul McCartney: 19,999 to 21,871 (top solo song “Wonderful Christmastime” – over 100 versions)
3. Bob Dylan: 6,679 to 7315 (“Blowin’ in the Wind” – close to 400 versions)
4. Stevie Wonder: 3,599 to 3863 (“You Are the Sunshine of My Life” over 310)
5. Keith Richards: 3,278 to 3508 ((I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction over 351)
6. Mick Jagger: 3,267 to 3497 ((I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction over 351)
7. Hank Williams: 3,164 to 3432 (“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” over 306)
8. Carole King: 3,188 to 3382 (“You’ve Got a Friend” over 388)
9. Paul Simon: 3,133 to 3352 (“Bridge over Troubled Water” over 584)
10. David Bowie: 2,807 to 2921 (“Space Oddity” over 263)

I checked to see who would be next in line and the numbers there have changed quite a bit since my research in 2020. The following artists are (again just for pop artists): 11. Elton John with 2685/2723, 12. Björn Ulvaeus (ABBA) with 2611/2643, 13. Barry Gibb with 2571/2620, 14. Joni Mitchell with 2394/2446, 15. George Harrison with 2388/2413, 16. Robin Gibb 2303/2342. Next in line for pop artists but just outside the top 100 overall are at 17. Sting with 2182/2206, 18. Willie Dixon with 2120/2138, 19. Chuck Berry with 2089/2120 and at #20 is Maurice Gibb with 1839/1874 total covers.

More mumbo jumbo below.

The songwriting pairs of Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, Goffin/King, John/Taupin have their co-written songs included on this list. For that matter anyone who co-writes a song is given equal credit when it comes to compiling cover song stats. Most of the covered Bee Gees songs for example are co-credited to the three brothers. There are many other examples of these artists teaming up with another song writer.

Again this list is for songwriters who are Pop recording artists. So Bernie Taupin would not qualify for the list, even though he has recorded some songs by himself (sounds a bit like Elton, big surprise) but he is primarily a lyricist. Same thing when I look at Gerry Goffin.

Covers are a tricky thing sometimes, take The Beatles song “All You Need is Love”, the names credited read like this; Joe Garland, Giovanni Battista Viotti, Jimmy Dale, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Lennon, Wingy Manone, Paul McCartney.

It can get very complicated believe it or not. I stick to the apples to apples comparison with the numbers from Secondhandsongs.com. However I do know there are some songs they have not yet documented and maybe never will. Joni Mitchell actually does have more song versions and she would be at #4, but I only know this from her website. I don’t know of any other source that tracks the covers like Joni’s, other than maybe The Beatles sites. Truly I spend hours and hours compiling these lists so I can’t be trying to track all the numbers for individual artists. So I feel the lists are a fair representation. I don’t make up any of these stats so I try and keep it like this, who knows, I may change my mind in the future.