9 iconic versions of Wicked’s ‘Defying Gravity’ ranked, from Cynthia Erivo to Glee

As Wicked breaks box office records, dominates popular culture, and looks set to envelope the 2025 award season, it’s time to try ranking versions of “Defying Gravity”. Yep, I think we’ll try ranking versions of “Defying Gravity”.

“Popular” is great, “What Is This Feeling” is a lot of fun, “Dancing Through Life” now makes me think of Jonathan Bailey (always a positive), but there’s no denying, “Defying Gravity” is the defining song of Wicked.

It’s arguably the moment in the musical that cemented it as such a hit with critics and audiences alike. In the incredible film adaptation, it draws a line between Part One and Part Two, leaving cinemagoers screaming for more. With its message of disobeying societal expectations, it’s also a little bit gay.

While the OG version is almost unbeatable, several other music makers have had a go at making it their own. That includes Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh, the cast of Glee, and um, a punk rock band. So here we go, here are 9 versions of Wicked‘s “Defying Gravity”, ranked from not-so-great to positively show-stopping.

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9. Kimberley Walsh (2013)

Look, I’m willing to forgive almost all slip-ups made by Girls Aloud and its members. Releasing “Beautiful Because You Love Me” instead of “On The Metro”; going on a reunion tour without a crumb of new music; Nicola Robert dropping a pop bible in Cinderella’s Eyes and then just disappearing; Nadine Coyle making Insatiable available ONLY at Tesco – consider it all water under the bridge.

Kimberley Walsh’s limp “Defying Gravity” cover, though? Inexcusable. This soulless version would work well for Superdrug’s cover radio, or as an accompaniment to a Hallmark Christmas movie, but it shouldn’t sit in the discography of the same woman who had a hand in “Call The Shots”.

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8. Collabro (2018)

Listening to Britain’s Got Talent winners Collabro’s version of Defying Gravity is like transporting yourself back in time to an era of television when talent competition shows were still relevant, Richard and Judy still plagued our television sets, and those Meerkat adverts were at the height of their popularity.

While definitely a serviceable version of the song, something is missing in Collabro’s “Defying Gravity”, as though it has been scrubbed clean of any green face paint or magic wishes and replaced with the smell of men’s hair gel and shoe polish. It could be worse, at least we don’t have to sit and listen to Simon Cowell after it’s over.

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7. Punk Rock Factory (2023)

Ever thought that “Defying Gravity” needed to appeal more to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater fans? Well, you’re in luck! The Punk Rock Factory rendition of the Wicked song plays like it came as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of a Blink-182 CD.

The song, released in 2023 as part of the album It’s Just a Stage We’re Going Through, sees the band take the musical number and run it through a pseudo-punk filter to create a unique take that, love it or hate it, is still a popular version of the track. Whether it passes the punk rock filter or lands in the nu-metal pit is another question. Punk fans can never agree on what punk actually is, anyway.

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6. Idina Menzel (2008)

For someone that absolutely bodied the original cast recording of “Defying Gravity”, alongside her G(a)linda, Kristin Chenoweth, it makes no sense that Idina Menzel’s solo pop version of the banger just doesn’t have… it.

Released as part of Menzel’s third studio album, I Stand, the rendition has a pop twang, and obviously no ensemble or Glinda backing her up, which is where a lot of “Defying Gravity’s” impact and emotional gravitas comes from. The vocals are there, obviously. The belting is beltier than any belt to have ever belted before. It’s just missing that little bit of Oz Dust. Not bad – obviously. But we wouldn’t say it’s all that good, either.

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5. Kerry Ellis (G-A-Y Remix and assorted, 2008-2011)

Theatre star Kerry Ellis has played Elphaba in both the West End and Broadway, and while her on-stage version was similar to the OG version, in 2008 she dropped a rock version with Queen’s Brian May on guitar.

While the heavy electric guitar thrum and bashing drums add a bit of oomph, this version sounds like Avril Lavigne if Avril Lavigne began her career at Julliard. The G-A-Y version though? Absolutely naff, but in a four-nights-in-Gran-Canaria way. It sounds like it cost 50p to make, but will absolutely get us on the dance floor at the Two Brewers.

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4. Glee Cast (2009)

Arguably one of the more well-known covers of “Defying Gravity”, the Glee take on the song is the closest we’ll ever get to a Weird Al Jankovic parody, with arguably less cringeworthy lyrics, too.

Passionate, well-recorded, and undeniably queer, the cover lovably maintains the energy and charisma of the original track with the added benefit of annoying your friends about Glee trivia throughout. Don’t fret, non-Glee fans, at least it’s not “Don’t Stop Believin’” on repeat again.

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3. Megan McKenna (2022)

Megan McKenna of “I’ve eaten gruel for that c**t/In the arms of the angel” Celebrity Big Brother meme fame offers by far the biggest shock of this list, as it turns out that her country-tinged version is actually really lovely.

Her voice has a velvety yet brittle quality to it that draws out the song’s sentimentality, and while it’s suited more to a cozy little bar in McKenna’s hometown of Barking rather than under the lights of Broadway, it’s a genuinely enjoyable listen. She’s got the riffs down, and the energy picks up towards the end, too. B+, Megs.

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2. Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth (2003)

The OG version from Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth is of course the song that helped to secure Wicked as one of Broadway’s biggest successes of the century, and it’s not difficult to see why. It has all the magic of a classic Disney showtune, vocal acrobatics from its genre-defining leads, and an instrumental that swells, shrinks and swells again towards a truly euphoric crescendo.

Stephen Schwartz’s lyrics serve as simple yet universally understood message of empowerment, meaning it’s rivalled only by Judy Garland’s “Over The Rainbow” in terms of Wizard of Oz-related cultural impact. RuPaul once said it best: “You ain’t got to reinvent the wheel, the wheel is fine, gurl!”

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1. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande (2024)

And here we are: the latest version, by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, from the official soundtrack of Wicked: The Movie. And by Jonathan Bailey’s tight, tight Fiyreo trousers, it’s good.

It might be recency bias, but it shouldn’t be any surprise that this version is where it is in our ranking. Cynthia’s vocals are unmatched, and the heartbreak between the two friends being so painfully ‘happy for each other’ is enough to make any listener burst into tears upon re-listens. There’s also just something about Ariana’s final “I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY” as the guards burst in to try and halt Elphaba’s escape that really tickles our pickle.

And, of course, we’ve got to give Cynthia’s new and improved “AHH-AHHHAHHEHAHEEAAAA” (NB: we weren’t sure how to write this) its flowers. Just really good. Our only hot take is that the soundtrack version is better than the film, as splitting it up into seventeen different segments in the movie damages the film’s momentum we fear.

What’s four plus four? Whats the past tense of eating? What’s skate with its first two letters? ATE.

Wicked is out in cinemas now.