In tribute to the late Leonard Cohen, we've rounded up covers of one of his most famous songs, 'Hallelujah'
Jeff Buckley
The lateBuckley included a moving cover of Hallelujah on his debut album Grace in 1994; a short three years later he drowned in a tragic accident.
By bringing it to the attention of a whole new audience, the late star is credited with having helped Cohen’s song achieve the iconic status it has today.
• READ: Music-lovers mourn songwriter & poet Leonard Cohen, dead at 82
Alexandra Burke
A year after winning The X Factor in 2008, Burke became the first British female solo artist to sell one million copies of a single in the United Kingdom. Yup, you guessed it, that single was her cover of Cohen’s Hallelujah.
K.D. Lang
Imagine performing Cohen’s song in front of the man himself. No pressure! KD Lang did just that when she performed it in 2006 when Cohen was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The ballard also features on her 2004 album, Hymns of the 49th Parallel, and she sang it at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada.
• READ: Tributes pour in for US music legend Leonard Cohen
Bono
The U2 frontman gets bonus points for putting his own completely original spin on the classic song, but his electronic version didn’t win many fans.
Bon Jovi
Since being uploaded to his official YouTube channel in 2009, over 34 million people have enjoyed Bon Jovi’s rendition of Hallelujah.
• READ: 5 iconic songs that Leonard Cohen fans should listen to today
Justin Timberlake
"It's always been one of my favourite songs," Timberlake told MTV, when asked about his decision to perform Hallelujah as duet with Matt Morris for the Hope for Haiti Now telethon in 2010.
Willie Nelson
Thanks to the parallel between Cohen's sandpaper voice and this country star’s gruff vocals, Nelson's version of Hallelujah just feels right.
And, so you can compare, here's Cohen's original version:
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