It has been almost six years since Glee aired, and it has remained a mainstay in pop-culture ever since. 

With the recent passing of show favorite, Naya Rivera, and the seven-year anniversary of the passing of protagonist Cory Monteith, it is only right for us to revisit some of the best performances and covers on Glee.

10. Poker Face (Season 1, Episode 20)

A cover which often goes overlooked on this series; to see Lea Michele and real life Broadway icon and princess Idina Menzel (Elsa in ‘Frozen’) do a stripped back version of Lady Gaga’s "Poker Face" was simply refreshing. The choice of song for the context and storyline was rather questionable for a mother-daughter reunion but nevertheless was a powerful performance.

9. Teenage Dream (Season 2, Episode 6)

Despite not being a New Direction’s performance, the Katy Perry classic was what made the audience (and Kurt Hummel) fall in love with the character of Blaine (Darren Criss), his slicked hair, charisma and amazing voice. With this being a complete a-cappella performance full of synchronized choreography and versatile use of all ‘the Warblers’ (the rival state choir), it is easy to see where Pitch Perfect got their inspiration from.

8. Some Nights (Season 4, Episode 7)

Despite not featuring any of the core cast members, it was refreshing to see a whole new take on covers at McKinley. For side characters like Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz), Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) and Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) , this was a much-needed opportunity to showcase their vocal talents. Justice was done to a song that will be an all-time karaoke favorite.

7. Somebody to Love (Season 1, Episode 5)

To see New Directions' take on Queen was surprising but amazing. When their set list is stolen by a rival group for regionals, the New Directions perform the legendary Queen track to amazing effect and is received by a standing ovation from the crowd. The riff run and the high note hit by Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) towards the latter part of the song was simply legendary.

6. Defying Gravity (Season 1, Episode 9)

Kurt Hummel and Rachel Berry were destined to be BFFs despite starting off as frenemies. The song which is taken from one of the most iconic broadway titles of all time, Wicked, is done justice by Kurt and Rachel’s Feminine but powerful vocals. There was a reprise version of this song done in episode 100 but it did not have the same powerful effect as the original version. A fun fact is that this song was originally sung by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel who portray April and Shelby on the show respectively.

5. Rumour Has It/ Someone Like You (Season 3, Episode 6)

To see two of Adele’s most iconic songs mashed up together was peak 2012 when she dominated the Billboard charts. With powerful vocals from Santana, Mercedes and Brittney; the Troubletones put up a performance that took this cover to number 1 and even gained recognition and appreciation from Adele herself. What made this scene even more iconic was the ‘slap’ by Santana on Finn after he outed her ‘from the closet.’

4. Thriller/Heads will roll (Season 2, Episode 11)

Singing a Michael Jackson-Yeah Yeah Yeahs mashup at halftime of a state final football game?

Yes Please!

The Artie Abrams-Rachel Berry-Santana Lopez trio of vocals were the backbone of this cover and integrated these two powerful songs in a synonymous fashion. From The zombie makeup, full-on marching band to high school jockeys dancing to a pop classic; it was easy to see why Lea Michele called this ‘her favourite cover from the whole series.’

3. If I Die Young (Season 5, Episode 3)

To revisit this particular cover in 2020 after the death of Naya Rivera is simply a painful ordeal. Her emotional performance of the Band Perry Classic as a tribute to Cory Monteith went onto highlight how strong their friendship was on and off-screen. To see such a stone-faced and strong character like Santana Lopez break down during ‘The Quarterback’ episode went only to signify the emotional fragility in the air. Furthermore, the painful scream and overwhelmed sobbing was said to not have been scripted which goes to show how raw the acting on the show was.

2. Make You Feel My Love (Season 5, Episode 3)

This was nothing short of breath-taking and can once again be attributed to Rachel Berry’s (Lea Michele) vocals. With this being her tribute performance to her then on and off-screen boyfriend Cory Monteith, it was a display of grace and vulnerability. To take on such a difficult Bob Dylan classic was a challenging task but the fact that it was performed in such a raw manner made it one of the best performances on the show throughout the six years. Major respect goes to anyone who made it through this episode with a dry eye.

1. Don’t Stop Believin’ (Season 1, Episode 1/ Season 5, Episode 13)

What would Glee be without Journey?

If there is one song that reminds us and helps us recall this whole series, it's 'Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey. The song has sold over 1,422,000 digital downloads (largest selling Glee song of all time) in the US and even breathed some fresh life into the original song and brought it back into popularity, which goest to show how popular this song was in society. Despite not having the amazing harmonies or the energetic choreography as some of the other songs on this list, this became one of the show’s most prominent songs in season one and was reprised multiple times. From the initial audition to the final farewell of Mr. Schuster; this song came full circle.