This Is the Most Covered Song in Music History

The original recording of “In a Sentimental Mood” was made by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra in 1935. The Italian pop and jazz singer Elly and jazz vocalist Hilary Kole recorded the most recent covers of the song in 2021. Tony Bennett, Billy Joel, Phyllis Hyman, and Roberta Flack, among others, made memorable recordings of it in between.

Actress and big band singer Carol Bruce first recorded “You Don’t Know What Love Is” in 1941. The song was written for the Abbott and Costello comedy “Keep ‘Em Flying.” Billie Holiday, Buddy Greco, and Marvin Gaye are among the artists who have performed the song subsequently.

The song was written by George and Ira Gerswhin and performed in 1926 in the theater musical “Oh, Kay” by Gertrude Lawrence, who was also the first to record it. It’s been covered by such as Ella Fitzgerald, Amy Winehouse, and Willie Nelson.

There have been 695 covers of this song, written by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele, but no one is more associated with it than Louis Armstrong, who was the first to record it, in 1967. Armstrong’s version was named to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

The first recording of this song was made in 1945 by Victor Young, who wrote the music as the theme song for a 1944 film, “The Uninvited.” Ned Washington added lyrics two years later. Frank Sinatra recorded a well-known version of it, and it became a favorite of jazz improvisers, including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, and Art Blakey.

Probably the most famous version of “Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)” was Frank Sinatra’s 1964 recording — which Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin actually had on board when they made their historic moon landing in 1969. However, the original version was introduced live by Felicia Sanders at Manhattan’s Blue Angel club in 1954, and initially recorded the same year by Kaye Ballard.

Eartha Kitt, Mel Tormé, Billie Holiday, and the duo of Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga are among the many who have recorded interpretations of “Love for Sale,” but not before Kathryn Crawford, June Shafer, Ida Pearson, and Stella Friend performed it live in a Broadway play called “The New Yorkers” in 1930. It was considered somewhat shocking at the time of its debut, since it was sung from the point of view of a prostitute.

The worldwide Brazilian bossa nova hit “The Girl from Ipanema” (“Garota de Ipanema” in the original Portuguese) was introduced in concert by its composers, Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, along with João Gilberto, in 1962 — and first recorded the following year by the group Os Cariocas. An English-language version by jazz saxophonist Stan Getz and vocalist Astrud Gilberto, then João Gilberto’s wife, won Record of the Year and three other Grammys in 1964. Frank Sinatra later covered it with Jobim, and Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and The Supremes are among those who recorded it as “The Boy from Ipanema.”

“Night and Day,” the second Cole Porter on this list, was introduced onstage by Fred Astaire in 1932 in the musical “Gay Divorce” (later made into the movie “The Gay Divorcee”). Lena Horne, Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, Sammy Davis Jr., and Ringo Starr have all done versions of the song, and Frank Sinatra recorded it at least five times.

This song, played when basketball entertainers the Harlem Globetrotters warm up before their games, was first recorded by Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra in 1925. Subsequent interpreters have included Bing Crosby, Jerry Lee Lewis, and such jazz figures as Django Reinhardt, Art Tatum, and Bud Powell.

“Georgia on my Mind,” written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, and first performed by Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra in 1930, was adopted as the official song of the State of Georgia in 1979. Ray Charles had a hit with the song in 1960.

“Moon River,” one of Andy Williams’ biggest hits, was written by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer for Audrey Hepburn to sing in the 1961 movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Mancini and his orchestra first recorded it the same year. It has since been covered by artists as diverse as Pat Boone, Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, Morrissey, and (instrumentally) Duke Ellington.

Another Hoagy Carmichael song covered by many artists — among them Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson with Wynton Marsalis, and Marvin Gaye — is “Stardust.” Carmichael recorded it first as an instrumental in 1928, with lyrics added the following year.

Duke Ellington co-wrote “Caravan” with trombonist Juan Tizol, but it was first recorded by clarinetist Barney Bigard and His Jazzopaters in 1936 and released in 1937. It became a widely recorded jazz standard, but there are also versions by such non-jazz artists as Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy, and Dionne Warwick.

SecondHandSongs lists 925 cover versions of this song, but that’s a little misleading. The tally includes versions of “St. Mary’s” and another similar traditional song, “Gallaher,” both first appearing in an 1829 songbook and probably based on Scottish folk tunes. It also includes recordings of “New Britain,” a mashup of the two melodies, and — most importantly — the song that grew out of “New Britain” when composer William Walker set a John Newton verse to it, to create “Amazing Grace.” That’s the song that has in fact been covered so many times, by performers ranging from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans to Elvis Presley to Carrie Underwood.

Secondhandsongs.com cites ASCAP as saying that this early blues song was the most recorded song of the first half of the 20th century. Prince’s Band, led by conductor and pianist Charles Adams Prince, first recorded the song in 1915, releasing it the following year. A multitude of jazz, blues, swing, and pop recordings have followed.

Trumpeter Cootie Williams and His Orchestra first released “‘Round Midnight” in 1944. He shares writing credit with the legendary pianist Thelonious Monk — who first recorded it himself in 1948. Among the many artists who have since covered the ballad are Miles Davis, Michel Legrand, and Dizzy Gillespie. At least three lyricists have added words to what was originally an instrumental, and there are vocal versions by the likes of Carmen McRae, Mel Torme, and even Linda Ronstadt.

The songwriting team of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II collaborated on “All Things You Are,” written for the 1939 musical “Very Warm for May” and first performed live in the play by Hiram Sherman, Frances Mercer, Hollace Shaw, and Ralph Stuart. Clarinetist-bandleader Artie Shaw made the first recording about three weeks after its stage debut. It has become a standard of the jazz and pop repertoire, and has even been recorded by classical musicians.

The melancholy song “Yesterday” altered the perception of the Beatles as just another rock band from England. Since the Fab Four first recorded it in 1965, there have been more than 1,000 covers of it. Among the artists who have covered it are Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Marty Robbins, Elvis Presley, and Dionne Warwick. There are also versions in countless foreign languages.

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart penned “My Funny Valentine” for the 1937 Broadway musical “Babes in Arms,” in which former child star Mitzi Green, then a teenager, first performed it. The earliest recording, released the same year, was by an orchestra conducted by pianists and bandleaders Edgar Fairchild and Adam Carroll. It soon became a favorite of both jazz and pop performers, from Miles Davis and Chet Baker (for whom it became a signature song) to Rickie Lee Jones and Barbra Streisand.

The jazz standard “Body and Soul,” covered more than 1,200 times, was first recorded by English bandleader Ambrose and His Orchestra in 1930. Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra had a hit with the song later that year. A 1939 recording by tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins is considered to have presaged the birth of bebop, and Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse covered it as a duet in 2011.

Movie and music history was made when a teenage Judy Garland sung this plaintive song, penned by Harold Arlen and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg for the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.” Patti LBelle, Jewel, Faith Hill, Harry Connick Jr., and Jeff Beck are among the diverse interpreters who have covered the song since then.

With almost 2,200 recorded versions, “Summertime” is the most covered song ever. Written by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, and DuBose Heyward, it was first performed by Abbie Mitchell in the opera “Porgy and Bess” in 1935, and first recorded by her the same year — with George Gershwin himself as pianist and bandleader. Pete Seeger, Lou Rawls, the Righteous Brothers, Al Green, and Lawrence Welk are among the many who have tried to put their stamp on it, and the version by Janis Joplin remains one of that ill-fated singer’s most famous songs.