Current Famous Musicians Who Play the Ukulele

A lot of popular current musicians play the ukulele these days. If you go to a lot of live shows, or watch a lot of videos of your favorite musicians live, you’ll notice more and more that musicians are playing their songs live on the ukulele for more raw versions of their songs. The musicians below are in no way a complete list, but a great place to start if you’re looking to hear some songs utilizing this great instrument.

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam isn’t well known for it, but he is a great player! A lot of his solo work uses this instrument and the song “Can’t Keep” is a great example of what he can do. It still has his distinctive voice and sound that you hear in Pearl Jam, but definitely different than what you’re used to hearing from him if you haven’t heard this before.

Amanda Palmer doesn’t always play the ukulele, but she has certainly done a lot with it! She has done a number of songs with it on her normal albums, she does last minute free shows when she’s touring (which she calls ninja gigs) where she plays her songs on the uke in parks and coffee shops, and she did a full album called “Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele”. Check out her cover of “Creep” in this video.

It seems like every song that Jack Johnson does on guitar gets covered on the uke, but a great song that really does use this instrument is “Breakdown”. Don’t believe me? I found a video of him playing it live so you can see. Not to say that all his songs don’t sound great covered on this instrument, because they do!

Sara Bareilles recently became famous for the song “Love Song”. She usually plays the piano. At her live shows, however, she is well known for pulling out her uke and playing lots of great music, including things she hasn’t yet released. This song “Free Ride” sounds great!

Ingrid Michaelson is another great musician who is well known for her songs that usually star the piano. She does however have a number of ukulele songs, and her album “Be Ok” is mostly full of songs featuring this great instrument! The song “Be Ok” has it, but to give another example, check out “You and I”, a great song done only with the uke.

Other popular musicians who play the ukulele include The Beatles, Jimmy Buffett, Kate Bush, Elvis Costello, Zooey Deschanel, Noah and the Whale, and Elvis Presley.

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