Best Glee Performances Of ALL TIME, According To Me

Yes, Will Schuester is a menace

Mar 19, 2025

We are back with another fun post for the silly, goofy ~~girls~~ gleeks <3

Today, we will be discussing the best Glee performances of all time. (This is actually not a discussion because everything on here is 100% correct!)

All jokes aside, Glee is one of those tv shows that I will always love and reminisce over. While a lot of people treat it as a joke, especially towards the end of the show, it was actually really funny. And, just to get this out of the way, Chris Colfer deserved his awards for his performance of Kurt.

Anyways, I have seen Glee twice. Once during the original run in high school and again in 2024, when I rewatched the entire series from beginning to end. Now, I have some favorites from the first time I watched and new favorites from my rewatch.

These are my top 10 performances, in no particular order.

4 Minutes

Originally by Madonna. Performed by Kurt Hummel and Mercedes Jones

This is not just a cover, this is a performance. One of the best vocal and dance sequences in the show. It was so fun and showcases the two best performers (also underrated) on the show.

Not to mention, they had Naya Rivera and Heather Morris dancing in the back as if their paychecks depended on it, and Naya is not a trained dancer like Heather.

In this episode, Kurt and Mercedes join the Cheerios, their high school’s cheer team. They perform this song under the guidance of Sue Sylvester at a prep rally.

One of the best performances that never gets any recognition. I think I always liked it, but during my rewatch I had this song in my top 10 Glee cover playlist.

Bills, Bills, Bills

Originally by Destiney’s Child. Performed by Blaine Anderson and his backup singers The Warblers.

I am adding this now so we can get it out of the way. One of the The Warblers first and most-loved performances in the series. I have loved this performance since I saw it in high school.

I feel like Blaine is so good that everyone just gets used to how good he is and stops giving him his flowers. The cast is like, “yeah he is great, what’s new?”

Anyways, I don’t remember anything that happened around the time of this performance, other than regionals coming up.

Whoever was like we gotta cover this song, deserves an emmy.

It’s All Over

Originally from Dreamgirls, led by Jennifer Hudson. Performed by Mercedes Jones and the New Directions.

I think Glee has some good musical performances but this one always sticks out in my mind as one of my favorites.

It is very simple, and I am obsessed with how some of the cast have solos in this song, especially Mike Song. Mercedes did great and I love she had a song where she is the lead with the New Directions as her backup.

The episode centers around a dancing bootcamp where Mercedes is having trouble keeping up with choreography. The New Directions start giving her a hard time about it, and she walks out, which ends up her getting kicked out.

Also, this episode made me mad because Rachel would throw tantrums over not getting solos, while Mercedes walks out once and she gets treated so bad.

I Feel Pretty & Unpretty Mashup

Mashup of "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story and "Unpretty" by TLC. Performed by Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray.

This performance may fly under the radar for a lot of Glee fans but this performance is one of my favorites from back when I watched the show the first time.

The entire point of this episode is that Rachel accidentally breaks her nose and she has the option to get a nose job. Rachel, who hates her “Jewish” nose, is considering it. In strange-glee fashion, she wants to get a nose like fellow glee club member Quinn. Hilarious because Quinn has also gotten a nose job too lol.

The message is very sweet, especially for when I was in high school, and I love how you get to hear Quinn’s soft vocals.

Blame It On The Alcohol

Originally by Jamie Foxx. Performed by New Directions.

I have always thought I was only one who thought this was the cover of covers. So good I only know this version. It wasn’t until I saw this video by Aishah Jenmi and she said the same thing. That is when I started seeing the signs that I was not alone.

Anyways, in this episode, the gang is asked to perform at alcohol awareness assembly. The majority of the gang never having been drunk, get drunk for research purposes. They show up to school next day with hangovers, wearing sunglasses, and drinking bloody mary’s in the hallway (?) Which leads to this drunken mess of a performance of TikTok (song, not app).

I am also a huge fan of Artie’s voice in this. His vocals are always consistent throughout their songs. I think he is underrated too.

Take Me To Church

Originally by Hozier. Performed by Roderick and the New Directions.

This is such a great performance that flew under the radar too. It was actually in the last season of Glee (when all the fans stopped watching the show after the horrendous fourth and fifth seasons).

I actually liked the characters in the last seasons over the new ones in the fourth and fifth seasons. Like, I am sorry, I DID NOT CARE about Marley Rose or Ryder or Puck’s little brother. The sixth season high school characters were wayyyy more interesting.

But anyways, this song is performed by Roderick and he has a really nice voice. I also think it is partially because this song is legendary.

In this episode, the gang 3.0 was preparing and performing at regionals. They did win but they had my girl Josie Totah doing too much in this episode.

Singing In The Rain & Umbrella Mashup

Mashup of “Singing In The Rain” from the musical Singin' in the Rain and “Umbrella” by Rihanna. Performed by New Directions and Holly Holiday.

Now this is one of the first performances I ever saw from Glee, and I think it is very fitting that it is when GOOP overlord Gwyneth Paltrow was guest starring.

This mashup is crazy good. Not to mention the rain and footwork splashing in the water is so much fun.

In this episode, in Will Schuester fashion, he keeps recommending old songs but the glee kids want to sing more modern songs. It is not until Holly Holiday comes in and lets the kids sing what they want. She ends up convincing Will there can be a balance. This episode also has the iconic cover Forget You as well.

Stop! In The Name Of Love & Free Your Mind Mashup

Mashup of “Stop! In The Name Of Love” by The Supremes and “Free Your Mind” by En Vogue. Performed by New Directions guys.

I have a soft spot for this performance. I think it is because I love The Supremes and “Stop! In The Name Of Love.” But anyways, this was a great mashup and I love how most of the guys have solos.

This episode was weird lol. It was the guys v. girls competition, and long-story short, the guys ended up doing something that hurt Coach Beast and in an effort to apologize, they performed this specifically for her. It was actually kind of cute.

Hung Up

Originally by Madonna. Performed by Tina Cohen-Chang.

Ok, I did not want to do this post without giving Tina her flowers.

It is absolutely DISGUSTING how in the six seasons of the show, I can COUNT ON MY HAND how many Tina-centered performances there are. This is one of them.

Tina’s voice is more suited for ballads and musicals, but this song was such a fun change for her.

This was during the show’s second (?) diva off which was ok. But this song is definitely the best performance from that episode, I think (?). She is in love with Blaine and tries to do nice things to get him to like her, but he is gay (?) and she has known that for years (?)

Anyways, we as a society need to give actress Jenna Ushkowitz her flowers.

Dancing Queen

Originally by ABBA. Performed by Mercedes Jones and Santana Lopez.

To end this post, I will give you a performance that will stay in my heart forever. Dancing Queen performed by Mercedes and Santana at junior prom.

I love this song a lot, and it always puts me in a happy nostalgic mood. Not to mention it includes two singers who are always overshadowed by Rachel’s greed.

Going back to Kurt deserving his golden globe, in this episode, Kurt randomly wins prom queen as a cruel joke, and everyone is in shock and also feels bad. Prom king Karofsky runs off saying he can’t dance with Kurt, but Blaine (Kurt’s date) comes back and ask him for a dance.

You can see when they all start dancing and singing together — how all that fear, shock melts away and everyone continues to have fun. The scene was cute and I loved seeing how much fun the cast was having.

Sung by two beautiful vocalists. RIP Naya Rivera (Also, Cory Monteith) ❤️

UPDATE ON MAY 8, 2025

And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going

Originally from Dreamgirls, led by Jennifer Hudson. Performed by Mercedes Jones.

This cover is absolutely insane. I just needed to include this and I am begging you to listen to the full version.

Finishing Thoughts

Oh Glee, no one will ever compare to you. I am pretty sure this is a show that will never be replicated again, which I am not mad about.

Like I said earlier, there are waaaay more great performances other than the 10+1 I posted today. I mean the show has 121 episodes.

I genuinely would love to her your favorite performance, and what you thought of the show in the comment section