Your Guide to the 885 Greatest Cover Songs Countdown

Ahhhhhhh! The 885 Greatest Cover Songs Countdown will be officially underway TOMORROW at 8am! All week long, WXPN is playing your favorite reimagined songs, as voted on by thousands of listeners, revealing the full list of 885 covers between now and December 11. From iconic reinventions to deep-cut surprises, it’s a crash course in how a familiar song can sound completely new in someone else’s hands.

This year’s countdown was built from more than 10,000 distinct cover versions that listeners submitted, then whittled down to the final 885. The result stretches from Whitney Houston to Metallica, Nina Simone to The Clash, with multiple versions of songs like “Creep” and “Hallelujah” turning up across the ballot.

LISTEN: You can listen to the countdown on your radio or streaming right here on weekdays starting at 8 a.m., with blocks of music running through late afternoon, plus weekend “bonus hours” that zoom in on songs with the most versions and artists who inspired an especially high number of covers.

Here’s the daily schedule:

12/4: 8a – 6p
12/5: 8a – 4p
12/6: 10a – 5p 
12/7: 10a – 5p 
12/8: 8a – 6p
12/9: 8a – 6p
12/10: 8a – 6p
12/11: 8a – 6p 

TRACK THE COUNTDOWN: Everything you need is at xpn.org/885-countdown. 

But also! Tune in Monday through Thursday evenings from 8 to 10 p.m. for Amber Miller’s “Post-Game Recap” shows, which replay standouts from that day’s stretch of the countdown, add some context, and give a sneak preview of what’s coming next.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE: Think you know your covers? Try the 885 Greatest Cover Songs Quiz and see how you score. If you want to test how well you really know your covers, you can also take the 885 Greatest Cover Songs Quiz and compare results with hosts like Kristen Kurtis, Mike Vasilikos, and Robert Drake, who’ve already put their own cover song knowledge on the line. And if you miss anything, you’ll find daily archives, staff and host picks, and everything else you need to follow along on that page as well.

ENGAGE WITH THE XPN COMMUNITY ON BLUESKY: Go to BlueSky for real time digital conversation around the 885, and use the hashtag #XPNcountdown.  

DIVE EVEN DEEPER: Here on the website and on social, we’ll be bringing you new articles and features on all things cover songs daily. Bookmark us and follow us on @wxpn on the platform of your choosing!

DID YOU MISS SOMETHING? We got you! We are archiving each day’s audio within a few hours! If you miss a portion of the countdown, you can stream it later at XPN.ORG. We’ll be splitting days up into two pieces, and will upload Part One in the afternoon, and Part Two in the evening.