He’s the star of the OG Star Trek, and his career as an actor has spanned the better part of a century. However, few might know that Shatner also is a bit of a music buff. In fact, he’s covered a number of famous songs through the years. He even started releasing his own records back in 1968 with The Transformed Man. Let’s take a look at just a few songs that William Shatner has covered! You might be surprised by how good some of them are.
1. “Mr. Spaceman” by The Byrds
You’ll notice a trend on this list: William Shatner doesn’t really sing, necessarily. He prefers to recite dramatic readings of lyrics, and it oddly seems to work a lot of the time without being too hamfisted.
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On his fourth album Seeking Major Tom, Shatner opted to cover The Byrds’ famous 1966 rock song “Mr. Spaceman”. It’s an apt choice, considering Shatner’s Star Trek background.
2. “Garbageman” by The Cramps
We have to admit, this is a surprising one. It’s surprising that William Shatner even knows who The Cramps are, actually. For the uninitiated, The Cramps were a psychobilly punk-rock outfit that got together in the 1970s and delivered some pretty crazy tunes until they disbanded in 2009.
Shatner decided to take on one of their more well-known songs “Garbageman” from 1980. The cover came from a 2018 compilation album that Dr. Demento put together, and Shatner really put a lot of energy into the cover for an 88-year-old man. We’d say it’s his best cover to date.
3. “Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring
Out of all the songs that William Shatner covered on this list, this one makes the most sense. This is another stellar cover from Shatner’s fourth album that references another sci-fi television show that he famously performed on, notably in the 1963 episode “Nightmare At 20,000 Feet”.
This song by Golden Earring was the perfect match for his voice; he almost sounds like Johnny Cash on this cover!
4. “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath
Yet again, we’ve got another cover from Seeking Major Tom. This one is particularly heavy and oddly perfect for Shatner. He’s actually kind of singing on this one, and it isn’t half bad!
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives
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