Cover Versions
The song has been covered many times, notably by The Fray whose version, released online in December 2006 reached #50 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first time the song appeared on the US charts. Melissa Etheridge, Celine Dion and Neil Diamond also recorded it. Street Drum Corps, along with Bert McCracken, recorded a cover available on the Christmas album Taste of Christmas that was also released as a single. In 1996 Jimmy Buffett covered the song on his holiday album Christmas Island. An instrumental cover version by Tomoyasu Hotei appears on Steve Vai's 1997 compilation Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas. New Year's Eve 2006 TV pop star Drake Bell covered the song which was broadcasted live. Sarah McLachlan covered it on her "Wintersong" album in 2006. In 2003, the finalists of the second series of the TV show Pop Idol covered the song for the album Pop Idol: The Idols - Xmas Factor. In 2008, the song was covered by hard rock artists Tommy Shaw, Steve Lukather, Marco Mendoza, & Kenny Aaronoff for the album We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year. The Alarm released a version of this song with a male Welsh Choir on their Standards compilation in 1991. The song was also covered by The Moody Blues on their 2003 album December. Maroon 5 released a cover version in 2007. Sent By Ravens released a cover of it on the Tooth and Nail album Happy Christmas Vol. 5. Beatallica, a band whose songs consist of mash-ups with The Beatles and Metallica, have a version on their 2009 Christmas album Winter Plunderland. Pop singer Jessica Simpson covered the song for her 2010 Christmas album and sang the song with younger sister Ashlee Simpson on a PBS television special. Vanessa Carlton covered the song for her 2011 holiday ep Hear The Bells. The Japanese band Flumpool also covered the song in the release of their 8th single, "Present". The indie-rock band Life in 24 Frames has the song available as a free download on their Facebook page. J-Min covered the song for 2011 Winter SMTown – The Warmest Gift. Christina Perri covered the song on her EP, A Very Merry Perri Christmas.
Read more about this topic: Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Famous quotes containing the words cover and/or versions:
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“The assumption must be that those who can see value only in tradition, or versions of it, deny man’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”
—Stephen Bayley (b. 1951)