Bridgerton Season 2's pop music covers feature some seriously unlikely choices...

Bridgerton season 2
(Image credit: LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX)

Ahead of the release of the second season of its hit regency drama, Bridgerton, Netflix has unveiled the list of tracks the show will be offering up as orchestral covers. 

One of the most remarked-upon features of Bridgerton's first season was the mixture of a more traditional score with orchestral covers of contemporary popular music. Among the tracks put on screen were Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next, Maroon 5's Girls Like You, Shawn Mendes's In My Blood, and Billie Eilish's Bad Guy, largely during the show's many ballroom scenes. The covers were performed by Italian/German pair Duomo and the Vitamin String Quartet. 

Now, with the show's second season arriving at the end of the month, showrunner Chris Van Dusen has revealed which tracks will feature in the new run. Now, while the first season largely used contemporary pop songs, things are a little different for the second run...

What songs will feature in Bridgerton season 2?

Well, there are some quite surprising choices and a larger mix of arrangers for this new run. 

Most surprising perhaps is Nirvana's jagged blast Stay Away, which the Vitamin String Quartet has reinterpreted. We're having a hard time picturing what scene that will soundtrack, maybe a feisty argument? 

The Vitamin String Quartet has also put an orchestral spin on Robyn's seminal heartbreaker Dancing On My Own, a track fitting for a show about the ups and downs of young romance. 

Duomo are also returning. He's re-worked Alanis Morissette's You Outta Know, a classic angry jam to slot in somewhere, as well as P!nk's swirling pop number What About Us. 

Elsewhere, Rihanna's sparkling hit Diamonds, Harry Styles' Sign Of The Times, Madonna's Material Girl, Calvin Harris' collaboration with Disciples How Deep Is Your Love and Miley Cyrus' giant smash Wrecking Ball have also been re-worked. 

Arranger Kris Bowers, who provides the show's score, has reworked Material Girl and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, a track from the film of the same name, one of Bollywood's highest-grossing movies of all time. 

Speaking about his choices, Van Dusen told the official Netflix blog, Tudum: "I chose all of these songs for very specific reasons. Each one is incredibly powerful and deeply emotional in its own special way. I always try many different songs for any one scene before landing on the perfect one to use. This season, I couldn’t be more thrilled about our musical playlist.”

Which songs are going to feature in Bridgerton season 2?

  • Nirvana - Stay Away (Vitamin String Quartet)
  • Madonna - Material Girl (Kris Bowers)
  • Rihanna - Diamonds (Hannah V & Joe Rodwell)
  • Robyn - Dancing On My Own (Vitamin String Quartet)
  • Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know (Duomo)
  • Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (Kris Bowers)
  • Harry Styles - Sign Of The Times (Steve Horner)
  • P!nk - What About Us (Duomo)
  • Calvin Harris & Disciples - How Deep Is Your Love (Kiris)
  • Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (Midnight String Quartet)

What can we expect from Bridgerton season 2?

Bridgerton is based on the bestselling series of novels by Julia Quinn, and follows the Bridgerton siblings – Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth – as they navigate the Regency era London in search of love and the approval of a viciously gossiping society. 

The lives and loves of the siblings, and of others, are chronicled by a scandalous newsletter columnist known as Lady Whistledown, who makes it her business to know everyone's secrets.

The show's first season largely followed Daphne Bridgerton, and the ups and downs of her courtship with Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings, but for the second season the focus will be on Anthony and his search for love. 

When is the Bridgerton season 2 release date?

It'll be here on March 25, so you've not got long to wait...

Tom Goodwyn
Freelance Entertainment Writer

Tom Goodwyn was formerly TechRadar's Senior Entertainment Editor. He's now a freelancer writing about TV shows, documentaries and movies across streaming services, theaters and beyond. Based in East London, he loves nothing more than spending all day in a movie theater, well, he did before he had two small children…