15 July 2025, 17:09 | Updated: 15 July 2025, 17:16
Picture:
Associated Press/The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo
To mark what would have been the birthday of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, here are a handful of the finest covers of his band’s work.
-
The Killers – Shadowplay
Brandon Flowers was always an Anglophile when it came to music and the Las Vegas band recorded this classic Unknown Pleasures track for the soundtrack of the Joy Division biopic Control in 2007.
-
José González – Love Will Tear Us Apart
Everyone from Fall Out Boy to The Cure have covered the classic 1980 single, but our favourite is this gentle acoustic version from the man who brought you that impeccable version of Heartbeats by The Knife.
José González – Love Will Tear Us Apart (Lyric Video)
-
Moby – New Dawn Fades
The New York musician and DJ had a secret hankering for Joy Division and included his take on the the stunning Unknown Pleasures track on the soundtrack to the Michael Mann thriller Heat in 1995. Moby also covered New Order’s Temptation on his 2005 album Hotel.
-
Galaxie 500 – Ceremony
Ceremony was the final new song performed live by Joy Division, when it opened their last gig in Birmingham on 2nd May 1980. The highly-regarded Massachusetts lo-fi trio recorded this incredible version as part of their Blue Thunder EP in 1990.
-
Nine Inch Nails – Dead Souls
Alongside The Cure’s epic track Burn, Trent Reznor’s tribute to Joy Division was a highlight from the soundtrack to the Brandon Lee comic book adaptation The Crow in 1994.
-
Grace Jones – She’s Lost Control
Incredibly, Ms Jones was one of the very first people to ever cover Joy Division, issuing this quirky take on She’s Lost Control in June 1980 – a mere month after Ian Curtis died.
-
Grant-Lee Phillips – The Eternal
An astonishing country rock version of the glacial epic from Joy Division’s final album Closer.
-
LCD Soundsystem – No Love Lost
James Murphy recorded this pulsing version of an early JD track as part of a special “tour single” back in 2007. Originally recorded when Joy Division were known as Warsaw, this punky tune was included on the band’s debut EP An Ideal For Living and has also been covered by The Distillers and The Horrors.
-
Smashing Pumpkins – Isolation
Therapy? recorded this Closer album track on their 1994 album Troublegum, but we think Billy Corgan’s slick version, recorded under the moniker Starchildren for a 1995 tribute album, just has the edge on it.
-
Powderfinger – Transmission
A previously-unreleased cover of the superb 1979 single, which was included on a 20th anniversary reissue of the Aussie band’s fourth album.
Powderfinger – Transmission (Joy Division Cover)
Special mention goes to…
New Order – Decades (May 1984)
After the death of Ian Curtis in May 1980, the surviving members of Joy Division – Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris – decided to clear the decks and start all over again as New Order. Their early sets purposely avoided relying on their reputation and they declined to play any Joy Division material.
One of the first times New Order dipped into the JD catalogue was in May 1984, when the band played the final track on the final Joy Division album Closer – much to the audible delight of the audience at the Royal Festival Hall.
New Order – Decades Live (Royal Festival Hall. 1984)
New Order – Decades (July 2017)
In July 2017, New Order – now minus bassist Peter Hook – played a special gig at the old Granada TV studios in Manchester accompanied by a twelve-piece “synth orchestra”. The ensemble’s version of Decades sent shivers down the spine.
