The musical dramedy Glee ran for six seasons from 2009 to 2015 and covered an extensive musical catalog over the years. From Britney Spears to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, seemingly nothing went untouched by the New Directions of McKinley High School’s Glee Club. The eclectic musical performances come as no surprise with the out-of-this-world creative Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Ratched, Hollywood) credited as one of the show’s creators.
While Glee has certainly aged over the years and some of its material may not seem fitting for 2022, it was a monumental success during its time. The show’s popularity even led to a traveling concert tour from 2010 to 2011, where the stars of the show toured and performed in-character. What's more, several Glee songs even made their way onto the Billboard charts.
With it being the season of the television reboot, a lot of previously popular shows are in talks of being reimagined, or already have been, like HBO’s new Gossip Girl reboot. Glee is no different, as rumors of a revival on the Fox Network have been circulating for a few years. If the rumored possibility of a Glee reboot becomes reality, now is as good a time as ever to recap some of the best performances on the show.
10 Time Warp — Season 2, Episode 5
In the fifth episode of season two, rightfully titled "The Rocky Horror Glee Show," the Glee Club performs songs from the iconic 1975 musical film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. When trying to decide what to perform for the annual school musical, Will (Matthew Morrison), the director of the Glee Club, chooses Rocky Horror when he learns that Emma (Jayma Mays), a guidance counselor at McKinley High School that he has feelings for, loves the musical. Despite Rocky Horror's controversial nature — especially for a high school production — the show goes on. The Glee Club performs countless hits from the show like "Science Fiction Double Feature" and also includes a special performance of "Hot Patootie," by John Stamos (Full House). Throughout the episode, the Glee Club performed each number in costumes just like in the original movie and also mastered some mannerisms the original characters had.
9 Don't Rain On My Parade — Season 1, Episode 13
During the New Directions' first time competing at Sectionals, they find out their competitors received an advance copy of their setlist and stole the songs they planned to perform. As everyone scrambles to build a new last minute setlist, Rachel (Lea Michele) says she's been working on a particular song since she was just 5 years old. Rachel, who is a massive Barbra Streisand fan, decides to sing the well-known "Don't Rain On My Parade" from Streisand's 1968 film, Funny Girl.
While it's not surprising that Rachel would choose a Streisand song to belt out — as that's typically her style in Glee Club — it certainly did help save the competition. In the show, it's referred to as Rachel's "go-to song" and it's performed three times throughout the series. The second time was when she sang it for her New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts (NYADA) audition. But the third time "Don't Rain On My Parade" was sang on the show was actually by Santana (Naya Rivera) when she was auditioning to be Rachel's understudy in — ironically enough — Funny Girl.
8 Rumour Has It/Someone Like You — Season 3, Episode 6
Glee was no stranger to the occasional mash-up or as they called it on the show, "mash offs." This is where they'd combine two songs that either seemed very different, like the Bon Jovi/Usher mash up in season one, or a mash-up with similar songs like this one made up of two hit Adele songs, "Rumour Has It" and "Someone Like You." This episode, which is appropriately titled "Mash Off," is full of mash-up performances exclusively, but the Adele mash-up is one of the strongest.
Santana and Mercedes (Amber Riley) take center stage during this performance, and they're two of the Glee Club's strongest singers. Santana's performance is especially poignant because at the time she was facing a rumor about her sexuality permeating the school that she wasn't ready to deal with. The performance showcased Santana as a stand-out performer, for both her vocal ability and emotional delivery.
7 Valerie — Season 2, Episode 9
This is the New Directions' second time competing at Sectionals, but this time the set list is switched up when Rachel doesn't have a feature. Instead, Santana takes the stage to perform Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson's version of "Valerie." Santana has the voice for Amy Winehouse songs and actually sings another, "Back to Black," later during this season.
This performance gives the audience another taste of Santana's power as a soloist and also features Brittany (Heather Morris) and Mike (Harry Shum Jr.) performing a solo dance routine, which is a unique addition to a New Directions sectionals performance. All in all, the "Valerie" performance is fresh, fun, and successful because it helps the New Directions tie for first place in sectionals, moving them on to the Regionals competition.
6 Seasons of Love — Season 5, Episode 3
When Cory Monteith, the actor who played Finn Hudson on the show, died from an accidental drug overdose in 2013, the Glee cast paid tribute to him and his character in the third episode of season five, "The Quarterback." Several cast members commemorate him in the show with emotional performances like Santana's "If I Die Young" and Rachel's "Make You Feel My Love," but something about the entire Glee Club singing "Seasons of Love" from the Broadway musical Rent, feels the most moving.
The episode opens with the number and Glee Club members old and new are on stage at McKinley High School dressed in black. It's a somber scene and at the end of the performance a picture of Finn is projected on the auditorium wall. It's a raw performance because the cast members were grieving in real life, not just on the show, and that's evident throughout not only "Seasons of Love," but the entire episode.
5 And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going — Season 1, Episode 13
Up until this point, if there was a solo to be had, odds are it would go to Rachel even though there were plenty of strong performers that could've done just as good of a job, if not better. While the New Directions are preparing for Sectionals, Mercedes has had enough of Rachel hogging all the spotlight and performs the powerful ballad "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going," sung by Jennifer Hudson in the movie Dreamgirls.
Mercedes brings the house down with her performance. It's just her singing in the choir room during a regular school day, but it's from the heart, and it's one of the best performances on the show. Mercedes always brought the heat when she took the stage, but the emotion behind this performance with her trying to prove her capability as a lead in the Glee Club, elevates it to a whole new level.
4 Poker Face — Season 1, Episode 20
During this episode, Rachel discovers that the coach of Vocal Adrenaline Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel) is her birth mother. An emotional reunion ensues, but the two eventually decide that maybe it's best if they don't try to build a mother-daughter relationship and instead just appreciate each other from a difference. But first, they have to sing a duet.
They perform an acoustic, deconstructed version of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." Gaga's discography gets ample time in the spotlight in later episodes, but this rendition of one of her biggest hits is so original, it's almost hard to realize what song it actually is at the start. Guest stars were very common on Glee and Idina Menzel (Frozen, Rent, Wicked) is a wildly talented vocalist who really got to showcase her starpower in this unique arrangement.
3 I'm a Slave 4 U — Season 2, Episode 2
This is one of two Britney Spears tribute episodes in the show and in each one, the Glee Club performs a variety of the pop star's biggest hits. While most of the Britney Spears numbers in this episode happen in dream sequences while the Glee club is under anesthesia at the dentist, one of the best is Brittany's performance of "I'm a Slave 4 U," which is actually her first solo on the show.
Not only does Brittany give a great vocal performance, but she's also a talented dancer, which is key when performing Britney Spears. The episode takes paying tribute to a whole new level as it also features some of Britney Spears' most iconic looks over the years, including the outfit she wore for her own "I'm a Slave 4 U" performance during the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, complete with a Burmese Python. To make the tribute even more special, Spears appears in some of the dream sequence performances alongside the Glee Club.
2 Teenage Dream — Season 2, Episode 2
In this episode Kurt (Chris Colfer) meets Blaine (Darren Criss) for the first time at Dalton Academy. Blaine is part of The Warblers, which is essentially Dalton Academy's version of the New Directions. Unlike Glee Club at McKinley High School, Dalton Academy loves The Warblers and Blaine describes them as "rockstars" at the school. Once they start performing, they stun Kurt with an acapella version of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream."
Acapella performances don't happen all the time on Glee, but it's The Warblers' forte. The group performs with incredible harmonies and this serves as a great introduction to The Warblers and makes it clear that they're going to be some pretty hardy competition for the New Directions.
1 Somebody to Love — Season 1, Episode 5
The Glee Club is no stranger to group ballads, like their performance of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" during the pilot episode. While "Don't Stop Believin'" may be one of the most popular songs the Glee cast ever sang together, their performance of Queen's "Somebody to Love" just feels more compelling and energetic.
While there are certainly leads taken in the performance by Finn, Rachel and Mercedes at the end, the performance wouldn't be as dynamic without the power of the entire Glee Club's voices. It's a true group effort to give a performance this good and, leads aside, there are no small parts. This is one of those very Glee performances that seem to encompass everything the show is about — music, love, teamwork and true friendship.