The Weight - Other Cover Versions

Other Cover Versions

"The Weight" has become a modern standard, and hence has been covered in concert by many other acts, most prominently Little Feat, Stoney LaRue, Aaron Pritchett, The Staple Singers, Waylon Jennings, Joe Cocker, Travis, Grateful Dead, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, O.A.R., Edwin McCain, The Black Crowes, Spooky Tooth, Hanson, Old Crow Medicine Show, Shannon Curfman, Panic! at the Disco, Aretha Franklin, Joan Osborne, John Denver, Trampled by Turtles, Cassandra Wilson, Miranda Lambert, Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield, Deana Carter, New Madrid, and Dionne Warwick. Ratdog and Bob Weir are also known to cover this song from time to time. Additional notable versions are by Hoyt Axton, Lee Ann Womack, the band Smith, Weezer, The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, Jimmy Barnes with The Badloves, Free Wild, and Aaron Pritchett. On record, folk singer Michelle Shocked covers the song as part of her 2007 gospel album ToHeavenURide. Charly Garcia covered the song in Spanish under the title "El Peso," and Czech singer Marie Rottrová covered the song with the band Flamingo in 1970. Jeff Healey covered it on his album Mess of Blues in 2008. Jensen Ackles also covered a portion of the song along with Jason Manns in 2010.

Aaron Weiss is known to perform the song during acoustic sets following performances of his band mewithoutYou.

The Weight was performed at Coachella 2012 by The Black Keys with John Fogerty as a special guest in honor of Levon Helm who died the day before.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, who were honoring a fan's sign request, performed "The Weight" at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on May 2, 2012, as a tribute to Levon Helm, who had died two weeks before. It was the first time the band had ever performed the song. Springsteen called Helm "one of the greatest, greatest voices in country, rockabilly and rock 'n' roll ... staggering ... while playing the drums. Both his voice and his drumming were so incredibly versatile. He had a feel on the drums that comes out of certain place in the past and you can't replicate it." Springsteen also joked that when he was auditioning drummer Max Weinberg he made him sing. Better than Ezra performed the song on May 5, 2012 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, shortly after Mavis Staples and her band played the song in the gospel tent across the fairgrounds, drawing an over-capacity crowd to the tent.