Just who is Nick Lowe? Nick Lowe, born March 24, 1949, in Surrey, England, is a one-hit (“Cruel to Be Kind”) wonder. He is the pioneering producer of punk and new wave acts (the Damned, Graham Parker and the Rumour, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, the Pretenders). He has been a key member of a variety of groups (Brinsley Schwarz, Rockpile, Noise to Go, Little Village) over the years and currently can be found fronting a band of Luchador wrestling mask-wearing instrumentalists (Los Straitjackets). And he has written songs recorded by everyone from Dion to Diana Ross and Linda Ronstadt. Here are 15 of the best covers of Nick Lowe songs:

Johnny Cash—”The Beast in Me” (1994)—Recorded by his former stepfather-in-law and included on Cash’s Rick Rubin-produced album, American Recordings, Lowe’s subsequent rendition for The Impossible Bird (1994) was featured in The Sopranos television pilot and brought greater recognition to both versions of the song.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers— “Cracking Up” (1995)—This Labour of Lust (1979) album cut became the B-side of a single by Petty and the band, “Make It Better (Forget About Me),” drawn from their Southern Accents album, and can now be found on their boxed set, Playback.

Letters To Cleo—”Cruel To Be Kind” (1999)—A co-write with Brinsley Schwarz bandmate Ian Gomm, this aforementioned hit song, also from Labour of Lust, was covered faithfully by the Boston-based group featuring singer Kay Hanley for inclusion on the soundtrack of the film 10 Things I Hate About You.

Charlie Musselwhite—”Faithless Lover” (2001)—The Memphis-born blues harmonica master and vocalist contributed this track to the tribute album Labour of Love: The Music of Nick Lowe. The original version of the song can be found on Lowe’s Dig My Mood (1998).

Mavis Staples—”Far Celestial Shore” (2013)—One True Vine was the second Mavis Staples album produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. He had recently toured with Nick Lowe, which is no doubt how this unlikely connection of song to singer was made. With her roots in gospel music, this inspirational song proved a natural fit for the Staple singer.

Sleepy LaBeef & C.J. Chenier—”Half a Boy and Half a Man” (2001)—In which the rockabilly and zydeco stalwarts respectively team up on another track from the Labour of Love: The Music of Nick Lowe tribute album, this one originally included on Nick Lowe and His Cowboy Outfit (1984).

Dave Edmunds—”I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock and Roll)” (1977)—Edmunds had produced Brinsley Schwarz’s New Favourites album. Lowe wrote or co-wrote four songs for Edmunds’ Get It, including this one. The now much lamented Rockpile ensued. Lowe got around to recording it himself in 1985, for The Rose of England.

Related: Our Album Rewind of Nick Lowe’s Labour of Lust

Paul Carrack—”I Need You” (1982)—The voice of Ace’s “How Long,” Squeeze’s “Tempted” and Mike & the Mechanics’ “The Living Years” finally made the charts under his own name with this one from the Suburban Voodoo album, written and produced by his Noise to Go bandmate Nick Lowe.

Dr. Feelgood—”Milk and Alcohol” (1978)—A co-write with Gypie Mayo, who had replaced original member, guitarist Wilko Johnson, in these mainstays of the U.K. pub-rock scene, this song from the album Private Practice became the band’s first and only top 10 hit on the British singles charts.

Los Straitjackets—”Shake and Pop” (2017)—In recent times when Lowe hits the road with musical accompaniment, his band of choice is Los Straitjackets, which in return recorded an album’s worth of instrumental versions of his songs, this one from Jesus of Cool (1978), his debut solo album.

Rod Stewart—”Shelly My Love” (1998)—The original can be found on The Impossible Bird (1994); its beautiful cover is on Sir Rod’s When We Were the New Boys, an album composed largely of recent material written by British songwriters. Unsolicited editorial comment: still wish he’d cut Lowe’s “Let’s Stay in and Make Love” as well.

Rusty—”Surrender to the Rhythm” (2022)—In which D.P. MacManus and Allan Mayes reunite to commemorate, after 50 years, their teenage band Rusty on an EP, The Resurrection of Rust.  D.P. MacManus, who, of course, would later become Elvis Costello, was a big Brinsley Schwarz fan; this song is taken from the Brinsleys’ album Nervous on the Road (1972).

Marshall Crenshaw—“Television” (2001)—Another selection from Labour of Love: The Music of Nick Lowe. The song was introduced by the U.K. pub-rockers  Kursaal Flyers in 1975, which counted the future Nick Lowe biographer, drummer Will Birch, amongst its members. [More on the book here.] This lively update more closely resembles a subsequent cover version by Dave Edmunds.

Lene Lovich—“Tonight” (1979)—The new wave diva from Detroit included this dramatic ballad from Lowe’s Jesus of Cool and Pure Pop for Now People (1978) on Stateless, her debut album for Stiff Records.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions—”(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” (1979)—Introduced to little notice on the The New Favourites of Brinsley Schwarz (1974), recorded by Costello and released as the B-side of Lowe’s single “American Squirm” as by Nick Lowe and His Sound, and finally included to great acclaim on his album Armed Forces. Curtis Stigers’ version on the multi-platinum soundtrack of The Bodyguard expanded its exposure exponentially. This anthem is now Lowe’s most covered song.

Bonus Video Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets perform “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” live

Lowe’s recordings are available in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here. Labour of Love: The Music of Nick Lowe is available here.