Can you sing other artists songs at gigs?

Question

I want to do gigs but, i'm not a good song writer. Can I sing songs by other artists?

Answer 1

Sure you can. I've been known to do it on many occasions. What you can't do is record it and sell it for money without the artist's consent, that's all

Answer 2

yeah, its called doing a cover of the song

Answer 3

Yes you can cover a song just like everyone else here said ^^^^ I write songs what kind of music do you do ?

Answer 4

To an extent yes but they can ask you to stop.  Technically, you cannot profit off of someone else's work.  But if it's just you singing in coffee shops, they are unlikely to find out.  

You can hook up with a songwriter who will write specifically for you.

Answer 5

yeah you call that "cover" a lot of musicians do that, they play their own stuff then play others.. or just others, but you gotta give the original artists credits :P