Rivers Cuomo has leaked 15 cover songs from his archive. Listen below.
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The Weezer frontman uploaded a series of lo-fi, acoustic covers to YouTube under the playlist title “randum cuverz” yesterday (Monday May 25), though some fans are speculating it might have been an accident.
They include Michael Jackson‘s ‘Billie Jean’, Sam Hunt’s ‘Body Like A Back Road’, Post Malone and Quavo‘s ‘Congratulations’, Radiohead‘s ‘Creep’ and Nirvana‘s ‘Drain You’ and ‘Lithium’.
Elsewhere, he’s also shared his versions of Metallica‘s ‘Enter Sandman’, Outkast‘s ‘Hey Ya’, Eagles‘ ‘Hotel California’, Whitney Houston‘s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me’ Dolly Parton‘s ‘Jolene’, Guns N’ Roses‘ ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, Green Day‘s ‘When I Come Around’, and Harry Nilsson‘s ‘Without You’.
Many of the recordings are dated 2018 or 2019, while some go back more than 20 years. Meanwhile, some of the newly shared tracks are ones the band have covered live, while others are completely unheard.
Some fans have speculated that Cuomo may have accidentally made the videos public while privately archiving Dropbox demos, but he has not confirmed or denied this.
Listen below.
In other news, last month the band released an optimistic new single called ‘Shine Again’, produced by Kenny Beats. It marked their first new music since 2022.
The song is the lead single from Weezer’s upcoming 20th album, although the band have not yet officially revealed the title or release date.
Back in March, Weezer played a pop-up rooftop gig in Los Angeles as part of a series of “initiation” events in the run-up to their huge 2026 US tour.
Other events as part of the “initiation shows” also included an appearance at a pickleball tournament and an intimate gig at the chain restaurant Barney’s Beanery.
‘The Gathering’ tour kicks off September 8 in Sacramento and spans 32 shows, before concluding in Los Angeles on October 24. Visit here for tickets and more information.
As well as gearing up for a new album and North American tour, Weezer also released a newly-unearthed album consisting of early demos and rarities on Record Store Day 2026.
NME last spoke to Weezer in 2024, and Rivers Cuomo looked back at the process of making their 1994 debut album – three decades after it was released.
“The one thing that struck me was how physically close we all were, not just the four of us, but there was a whole crowd of young men, packed into very small apartments in a very small part of Los Angeles,” he shared. “[We] were just constantly hanging out and talking, debating and discussing music and style, and we didn’t even have television sets back then so there was very little to distract us… And obviously we had no wives, children or girlfriends.”
He continued: “When we released the ‘Blue’ album, I definitely felt like it was the greatest album of all time. I figured there was a chance I was wrong, but to me, it was my favourite album of all time and I assumed other people would feel the same way.”
