30 hit songs you didn’t know were covers
Beyoncé, David Bowie, Jennifer Lopez, Metallica, and No Doubt are among the artists that have found huge success by reinventing someone else's tune
Music Features Lis
When it comes to music, we often assume that artists write all of their own lyrics and material. But sometimes that hit single you really love is actually a cover. It turns out that a lot of musicians—Beyoncé, David Bowie, and Metallica to name a few—have had massive success with their own renditions of someone else’s songs. No judgment—it’s just often surprising when we find that out.
The following list is mostly comprised of cover songs that became big hits—and, in some cases, became more popular than their original incarnation. This revelation can also lead to discovery of the original track and more joy for the listener. But you can really go down the rabbit hole with this stuff—not only will you learn that the following songs are covers, but you’ll sometimes discover that the “original” was a cover itself and possibly written by someone else entirely.
This list is in chronological order
163 Comments
“You didn’t know” is a preeeeeeeeeeeetty big stretch for a lot of these, but there were a handful I wasn’t aware of, so those were fun!
I think a lot of them depend 1. on your age and 2. how into genres other than rock and pop you are. I admittedly didn’t know for years that I Will Always Love You was a Dolly song, since I didn’t listen to much country and the original was before my time. Always on My Mind was a big enough song for Willie that I did know that origin. But songs like Blue Monday, Mad World and It’s My Life were plenty big the first time around. I’m also feel like Shrek used I’m a Believer exactly because it’s so widely known. Older recordings like Respect aren’t really surprising given how much songs were passed around and widely covered at the time. There’s a great cover of Hey Jude by Wilson Pickett that was released something like six months after the Beatles’ original.
Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” is a cover, with a convoluted history: written by two Americans and an Englishman, first recorded by a Dane, then by an American band, then by a Norwegian-American singer, and then finally by someone who escaped Neighbours:Bonus Aussie cover shenanigans – the Kings Of Sticky Carpet, the Screaming Jets, covering a deadset Aussie country legend:
If I remember correctly, there was a bit of a controversy over “Torn” because because the writer wasn’t credited and she was passing it off as her own.
If you’re from Denmark you know the Ednaswap version, rest of Europe you know the Trine Rein version, if you’re from anywhere else (particularly Australia) you don’t know that the Imbruglia version was a cover at all.
Natalie at least escaped Ramsay St entirely (though she came back a couple of times, most recently last year) whereas others who made forays into pop careers were…not so lucky.Still, at least we got Stefan Dennis’ glorious Don’t It Make You Feel Good.He made the ill-advised trip to the US to make it over there before a decade later biting the bullet and heading back to Ramsay St.
They all tried comin’ at the queen, the Singing Budgie herself, and missed…All right, that’s not my favourite song of hers, but it is gloriously late-90s – ah, my youth – and the clip for “Confide In Me” is crap.
That is exactly what I was thinking, especially with Blue Monday and Mad World. But then, as I’m reminded increasingly, I am old. Probably plenty of covers I heard first as a kid and would never have known (or cared) that they were.Dead Souls though, that one definitely surprised me. Because I had no idea it had ever been covered. Which is weird, because I have seen The Crow more than a few times.
I feel like some of them only got airplay because they were covers of well-known songs (It’s My Life, Land of Confusion, I’m a Believer)
Lovesong
AV CLUB “Weird but true: did you know that Miley Cyrus’s 2013 performance of “Jolene” is actually a cover of an obscure old Dolly Parton song?!!”
“Did you know Jimi Hendrix didn’t write the Star Spangled Banner?!”
That kind of annoying phrasing has been rampant at other sites (e.g. BuzzFeed, Cracked) for years. I hadn’t noticed it creep into AVC content until fairly recently. That and the whole, “Hey, let’s publish a listicle a day because that’s what gets engagement” approach to content. Just more evidence of how this site is a shell of its former self.
The one that gets me is when they start opinion pieces with the word “why,” as in, “Why X matters for Y.” It’s an overused style, and it’s also redundant: the statement “X matters for Y” is kind of trite, but it conveys the same thing. The word why just adds a strident, explanatory tone.
Yeah I always feel like there’s an unwritten “…you ignorant fuck” at the end of those phrases.
Add “What you need to know….” Fuck you, you don’t know me or my needs.
Yeah, this is definitely the Donald Trump definition of “you didn’t know”, which is “I didn’t know”. I mean, for crying out loud, at least two of these originals were NUMBER ONE HITS! And I mean USA Billboard Hot 100. Others such as “Crusin’” the original was MUCH bigger than the remake.
So many songs would have been better choices, from “Somethin’ Stupid” through “Don’t Leave Me This Way”, “You Are So Beautiful” and “What’s Love Got To Do With It” to “Touch Me (All Night Long)” and “1985″.
i was expecting to see ‘this woman’s work’ on the list. surprising how many people still don’t know it’s a cover (and will argue the point, too).
There were a couple where I knew the original and not the cover!
This listicle’s title was literally the title of a series of Youtube videos like 3 years ago, and apparently something called Atomic Kitten was out there making covers upon covers I was supposed to know about.
I won’t lie and say that I knew all of these were covers, but the ones that I did know about (~11) are just making me feel old. Get off my lawn, people that didn’t know “I’m a Believer” was a cover.Another thing making me feel old: Growing up, I used to bitch about the moldy oldies playing on the local oldies station; Now, I think it is just 80s and 90s. (The 60s and 70s are pretty well-covered by Classic Rock and the occasional AOR station, but I do wonder whether the 50s exist anymore on the radio.)
When I was a kid classic rock was basically the Beatles through 70s guitar rock. The 80s were such a change in style that later adding bands like REM and U2 to the mix just felt off. At this point classic rock could be defined as anything before 2000.
Yeah , look maybe its a cultural thing but a few of these like Disturbed and Orgy (who?) are basically ..turns out there was a recent cover of a really well known song.Also surprised that the fact Quiet Riot were basically an American Slade cover band didn’t crop up . (slight exaggeration, but two of their big singles were Slade covers)
I was really annoyed by some of them.
I was so ready to be very annoyed and then surprise I wasn’t!
“Istanbul Not Constantinople” by They Might Be Giants is a cover. The original was written by The Four Lads on the 500th anniversary of the Ottomans taking the city. By the by, May 29th is the anniversary and this year will be the 570th anniversary of the fall of the city.“Cum On Feel The Noize” and “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” by Quiet Riot are both covers of Slade.And a lot of these are very age dependent on the “didn’t know” scale because as a 40-something I definitely know a lot of these were covers.
The original was written by The Four Lads on the 500th anniversary of the Ottomans taking the city.That’s a long time for The Four Lads to hold a grudge.
Found many, many people in my lifetime that never listened to the Elvis “You are always on my mind”, which was surprising.
I never knew about that “Lovesong” cover. I knew “Don’t turn around” because of the lovely Aswad version, which has one of the most beautiful women ever in its music video.I always considered “Nothing Compares 2U” part of the bunch of the songs Prince gave to different artists like “Manic Monday” or “Love thy will be done”.I can add to the list “Say a little prayer”, co composed and sang by Dionne Warwick first.
Nice to see a mention of Love, they will be done.”
I really have always liked 311, I just never really got in to their music too much. I have/had just the 1 cd with Amber, etc on it from the early 2000’s.I really like that cover of Lovesong though, it is well done!
ASWAD! i been sittin here trying to remember the name of that band.
(yes, i could have googled but the brain needed the exercise)
Here’s a series of “really?”s on another Burt Bacharach song. At least to me, since I hadn’t known any of the constituent facts:“I”ll Never Fall in Love Again”, associated with Dionne Warwick, is a cover. — OKIt’s actually from the musical, “Promises, Promises”— I’ve heard that name but don’t know what it isIt’s a musical adaptation of the film “The Apartment”— There’s a musical…of…The Apartment?The original cast included Jerry Orbach—- It..what?The version of the song in the musical is a duet between Orbach and Jill O’Hara, who played the Shirley Maclaine role.— [Throws up hands in despair]It’s not on streaming that I can see, although the 2010 revival with Sean Hayes and Kristen Chenowith is— [Storms out]
I knew Orbach did a fair amount of theatre, but it’s still pretty funny imagining Lennie Briscoe in a musical.
You just blew my mind that there’s a musical version of the Apartment.
Say A Little Prayer is Bacharach/David
Something like Blue Monday was well known to be a cover.Two that I never knew: “Blinded by the Light” – Manfred Mann’s cover of Bruce Springsteen and “Suspicious Minds” – Fine Young Cannibals of Elvis
Check up – you didn’t know that Suspicious Minds was a cover?? How about Ever Fallen in Love by FYC?
Something like Blue Monday was well known to be a cover.Two that I never knew: “Blinded by the Light” – Manfred Mann’s cover of Bruce Springsteen and “Suspicious Minds” – Fine Young Cannibals of Elvis
(Confession time: Flood is still one of my favorite albums of all time, full stop.)
you’re not alone!
the 50s Sirius channel plays the The Four Lads version from time to time that’s how I learnt.
See, now this one blows my mind!
If I knew the song, I knew it was a cover – but professional leg up as broadcaster (for more than 4 decades – glad I’m out).
You mentioned it as an aside, but surely Johnny Cash’s cover of Hurt should be on this list.
While Cash’s “core” audience might not have known come on, Hurt was a single off the Downward Spiral. I was excited to see of he’d say “crown of shit” (he didn’t boo…)
I am endlessly shocked how few people know it. 1995 was apparently a very long time ago. I’ve had multiple girlfriends tell me they thought it was a cool cover of Johnny.
Similarly, people have gotten visibly angry when I’ve pointed out that no, this isn’t Leonard covering Jeff…
Technically, it’s not a cover, it’s just another NIN version: Nine Inch Nails with Johnny Cash on vocals.
That’s not even close to true.
I stand corrected. I really thought it was NIN with Cash doing alternate vocals.
“I Will Always Love You” is a cover of a Dolly Parton tune? Thank you, 1992 (yes, you got the year wrong) MTV veejay.Given just how “did know” most of these are, I’m surprised “All Along the Watchtower” wasn’t included.
There’s a scene in the movie “Bodyguard” where Kevin Costner takes Whitney Houston to a honky tonk and dances with her to John Doe’s version of “I Will Always Love You.” It runs neck and neck with Dolly’s original.
Shocked Clapton’s version of “I shot the sheriff” wasnt on here!
Yeah. But they probably just didn’t want to mention Clapton.
Which would be very understandable, but we both know they just didnt put that much effort into this Slideshow!
Half-assing is too hard!
These articles are written by and for people who have no idea who Bob Dylan or Jimi Hendrix are.
Ball of confusion. That’s what the world is today. We need to reach a higher ground. I got the Subterranean Homesick Blues.
They also missed the opportunity to bring up the fact that Dolly Parton wrote I Will Always Love You AND Jolene in just a couple of hours while cooped up in a motel on the road one night
“I Will Always Love You” is the only song successfully covered by the original artist. The ‘82 version by Dolly is significantly different from the ‘74 version.
If critically thinking people thought “Whiskey In The Jar” was a Metallica original then they deserve a punch in the temple. Next the AV Club will be telling me “Turn The Page” isn’t a Metallica original.
I can’t believe that those posers Blue Öyster Cult ripped Metallica off by covering Astronomy only 24 years before Metallica originally released it.
Astronomy is my favorite “Metallica” song.
I didn’t know Blue Öyster Cult had another song.
You mean aside from “Astronomy?” Or “Don’t Fear the Reaper?” Or “Godzilla?” Or “Burnin’ for You?” Or was it one of the other two dozen great 70’s rock songs they put out?
Who’s L?
But only one of those has sufficient cowbell.
Fun fact: The 1728 jukebox musical “The Beggar’s Opera” was allegedly inspired by Gay hearing “Whiskey in the Jar” and adapting the story to a London setting. The play in turn inspired Brecht/Weill’s Threepenny Opera, which produced “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer”, known in translation as all-time banger “Mack the Knife”. Thus the greatest rock song, which is actually a folk song, inspired the greatest song in jazz.
Its been a while, but didn’t this song come out on a cover album?
At a certain age, most of these are not surprises. Welcome to old age!One that surprised me long ago was REM’s cover of Superman, first recorded by The Clique in the 60s.
I remember REM getting shit for the use of that song in a tech commercial since they famously don’t license their music for anything, and basically responding “fuck you, it’s not our song!”
They play this version on Sirius/XM channel 21, Little Steven’s Underground Garage a lot. In fact, they play a lot of original versions from this list.
No one thinks Smash Mouth wrote I’m a Believer
Seriously, it was picked for the movie because it’s a well-known singalong song that was perfect for the credits dance party.
pppht, next you’re going to tell me Limp Bizkit didn’t write Faith
I’m pretty sure that at the time it came out, there was even a general sense of “wait, they haven’t already covered this song?”.
Considering songs like Walking on the Sun already sounded like 60s-era covers, I think you’re right.
Yeah exactly, and inbetween that and All Star, they had “Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby” which I think a lot of people genuinely *didn’t* know was a cover (of a cover, if you want to get pedantic), but rather some kind of overall pastiche of 60s pop in general, entirely BECAUSE Walking On The Sun signalled them as a band who did that sort of thing.By the time they got around to actually covering the Monkees, I think people viewed it as a really obvious culmination of where they were alreadyheaded. Out of all the relatively few points in history where people gave any thought at all to Smash Mouth’s output, I would flag “I’m A Believer” as the one least likely to have been considered a cover. I think people were generally more likely to be surprised that their other tunes weren’t covers, if anything.
Greg Camp composed it in utero
Did any other GenXer ever hear the urban legend that there was a nudity version of the Bowie China Girl video or was that just a local thing for me?
I remember hearing the same thing. It’s not an urban legend. Uncensored version is on YouTube.
Who the hell didn’t know Orgy’s “Blue Monday” was a cover? The better bet is how many people know their cover version even exists in the first place.
A few of these don’t belong here because the originals were huge hits that were still getting a lot of radio play when the covers came out, i.e. everyone knew they were remakes. “Blue Monday” and “Mad World” definitely fall into that category. I’ve actually never heard of the Orgy cover of Blue Monday, but the original was still very much in rotation at that time so I doubt too many people thought Orgy’s was the first.
“Gloria” is ruined for me forever. I had the live feed of a certain rally playing on 1/6/21, and the preshow music included it. For the rest of my life, I’ll always see that horde of redhats shaking their booties to it.They also played “Fortunate Son”, but it didn’t spoil that one. I love that they’re that oblivious.
“Self Control” is another cover from another Italian composers (RAF), though I love the Faltermeyer arrangements on the Laura Brannigan cover.
Wow, I never put together that that was her also. And didn’t know Faltermeyer did the music. Love that tune.
Come on, those assholes have already done enough harm. Don’t let them take Gloria away from you as well.
Taco’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz” would be another good one to include.And if you’re going to include a cartoon movie cover for the younguns like “I’m a Believer”, you should probably throw in “Life is a Highway” too.
“Puttin’ On The Ritz” originally performed, of course, by Frederick Frankenstein and the Monster (17xx).
Of course! The absolute best version too.
I still have this in my vinyl collection!
Several of these are pretty famously covers. Like, I don’t know anyone who would not know that 311 and Orgy were covering The Cure and New Order, respectively.
It’s kind of weird how all of New Order’s most famous songs are versions by other artists.
Blue Monday is the biggest selling 12” single of all time FFS!
Not sure if this is completely accurate, but according to 24 Hour Party People/Tony Wilson, all those singles sold at a loss due to the cost of the distinct computer disk gatefold cover.Undoubtedly the song made money in the long-run, though.
Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie”? Yeah that’s actually from The Zutons, and you know what: It ain’t a half-bad summery pop jam.
Anyone who didn’t know Feeling Good was a cover wasn’t raised right.
Interesting about Laura Brannigan. Her other hit, Self Control was also a cover of an Italian song. Also I feel like it was well known Always On My Mind was a cover. In fact, the Pet Shop Boys first performed it at a TV special tribute to Elvis. It was then recommended that they should release it as a single.
Who is this “you” you’re speaking of?
while seeing Pet Shop Boys on this list, I just remember another big 80’s hit , Naked Eye’s “Always Something There to Remind Me” which all my life thought was an original 80s song and after watching Last Night in Soho, learning there that it was cover from a 60’s singer Sandie Shaw…and while on the topic of this movie, also another 80s song I thought was a George Harrison original, “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You” was actually a cover of a 1960 song from James Ray ! ( I’m someone in their mid-40s)
Last Night in Soho had heaps of songs that had been more famously covered – as weep as the two you’ve mentioned there’s also:Eloise – Barry Adam (more famously covered by The Damned)There’s a ghost in my house – R Dean Taylor (covered by The Fall)Happy House – Siouxie and the Banshees (more recently sampled by the Weeknd) Not in the movie but a massive hit that was a little known cover version is Tiffany’s ‘I think we’re alone now’ which was originally released by Tommy James and the Shondells in 1967
I’ve found, to my surprise, that a lot of people didn’t know Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” is a Tommy James cover (written by Ritchie Cordell). I definitely heard Tiffany’s version first when I was a kid in the 80s, and because of that, Tommy James’ 60s original sounds like he time traveled and brought it back from the future.
Tommy James wrote Crimson & Clover too.I actually had to settle that argument about “I Think We’re Alone Now” for my mom and brother. My brother said it was from the 80’s mom thought it was older. I said you’re both right.
I didn’t realize that the Tiffany version was a cover until now, but it makes sense – the song definitely has a 60s bubblegum pop vibe to it.
There’s one I’m particularly fond of: Power of Love. Originally written and performed by Jennifer Rush, covered by Laura Brannigan, then made famous by Celine Dion. Brannigan’s is my favorite.
I’ll give you some of these, but if you think people didn’t know about “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “I Will Always Love You” you’re crazy.
When I think of “Whiskey in the Jar,” I don’t think of the Metallica version.
DUBLINERS, BABY.
How about “Turn The Page”?
DEFINITELY don’t think of the Metallica version.
Did you know that “Smooth Criminal” by alt-rock giants Alien Ant Farm was originally performed by a little-known artist named Michael Jackson?
The guy who parodied Weird Al’s song Eat It?
AND Fat. What a hack, come up with your own material.
Yeah, most of these I knew. But I will admit this is the first I heard of “Kitty” vs “Mickey”. I was never a fan of Hey Mickey, but the original just sounds better to me.
It would have been nice if links to the originals (where available) had been included. After reading the descriptions of the originals, I really wanted to hear them.
Superfan here: Neil Diamond did have a song about weed. “The Pot Smoker’s Song” is a deep cut off one of his lesser known albums, Velvet Gloves And Spit. It’s not very good; it’s a goofy chorus amid “verses” that are recordings of people testifying how weed led them to the heavier stuff and messed up their lives. Now you know.
Is that the one he wrote after killing a drifter to get an erection?
“I will punch you in the mouth! I’M NEIL DIAMOND!”
“Leave me out of this one, man.”“I WILL LEAVE YOU IN!”
“Velvet Gloves And Spit” sounds like a Pornhub category.
This list kind of sucks. You didn’t even include Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower”. Nobody in the comments even mentioned it, meaning that it should either take the #1 spot or I’m the only one who didn’t know it was a cover of Bob Dylan for most of my life.Also, I doubt anybody else here knows that Bowling For Soup’s “1985” is a cover from an obscure band called SR-71. Those were the first two that came to mind for me.
You just might be the only one not knowing about ‘Watchtower.’ I feel strongly that most know it’s a cover and the consensus is that it’s the best rock cover ever and probably ever will be.I would have included ‘Hey Joe’ for Hendrix. It’s contested who actually wrote it and the band, The Leaves, recorded their version a year before The Jimi Hendrix Experience did.
Love and The Byrds also did it.
I’m sure every group in L.A. in the 60’s did that one though.
There are 3 types of song on this list:1. Songs I have never heard of, in either the orignal or the cover
2. Songs where I know they original, but have never heard of the cover
3. Songs where I know both versions, and knew which one was the cover
One type of song that is not on the list, at all:
1. Songs that I knew, but didn’t realize were covers
And I am not by any stretch of the imagination an expert in music.
If you didn’t know that Whiskey in the Jar by Metallica was a cover (of a song that was just a modern take on a folk classic, so basically a cover itself), released ON AN ALBUM COMPRISED ENTIRELY OF COVERS, then I don’t know what to tell you, man.
This, x100!
you’d have to have owned the album (which I did) to know that, but the song got radio play so toooooonnnnns of people have heard that song a million times and not owned the album to know that detail
Came to say the same thing.
No one gave a shit about Metallica by the time that came out.
Also, to the grey insisting that “No one gave a shit about Metallica by the time that came out,” yes, of course, no one was paying attention to Metallica in ::checks notes:: 1998.
There’s a lot of fodder here for a list entitled “30 famous songs you didn’t know were covered by less famous bands.”
I guess I’m old enough now this could have alternately been titled ‘several songs you didn’t know HAD famous covers done of them’…Also, gonna say that Willie Nelson has the definitive version of Always On My Mind
Killing me softly. No, not the Fugees version, the Roberta Flack version.
Bananarama, who reportedly performed it live for years before recording it.Bananarama was around for years before Venus?I thought it was three models who got together on kind of a whim.
Cruel Summer was 1983 & Venus was 1986.
Darn it, I heard a cover of Tears For Fears’ “Head over Heels” on the radio during my lunchbreak just today, and was hoping it was the inspiration for this clickbait.
Another Buzzefeed listicle. In the last 6 months, I’m getting more insightful music commentary checking out random reddit threads than from the AVClub.
That whole “…you didn’t know” clickbait angle sure needs to be retired.
I had never heard Orgy’s cover of New Order’s Blue Monday until now. Interesting. Also, Frente also covered New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle, stripping off all the melody.
Interesting that you know one but not the other. Those covers I feel like were played nonstop back to back on the radio somewhere around 1993-1994.
“Little Suzi” by Tesla is a cover of “Little Suzi’s On the Up” by a British band called PhD.
I would have put “Our Lips Are Sealed” on this list just to fuck with people.
I just assume every UB40 single was a cover…
The one that stayed off my radar as a cover the longest. To be fair, I was a tyke when the cover came out and I never listened to Dionne Warwick . . . MoF, for the longest I had irrational grudge against her for ‘turning Stevie Wonder soft’ because I loved his shit from the 70s and HATED his ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ era. [had a similar grudge against Kenny Rogers for ruining Dolly Parton with ‘Islands in the Stream,’ . . . I may have been prone to musical grudges as a kid ;)].
That’s What Friends Are For raised money for AIDS research, and Stevie Wonder had already put out the rather cheesy I Just Called to Say I Love You by that point, so I would hope you could forgive.
And, despite being objectively corny, both of those songs are pretty good for what they are.
One that does properly qualify for this list (versus, oh, Blue Monday): I Go Blind by Hootie and the Blowfish.That’s by 54-40 off their magnificent 1986 untitled Green album, and nowhere near the best track on it; I was genuinely bummed I couldn’t make their 25th anniversary full album playthrough show. Most Gen X Canadians know the band, but they sadly never even really made it on the college circuit outside the Great White North.The good news is that while I couldn’t stand the Hootie version, the royalties paid for 54-40’s recording studio and kept them going.
One song people always think was done originally by Harry Nilsson is “Without You.” The original was written and recorded by Badfinger (as The Ivey’s).
List fails without REM – Superman & They Might Be Giants – Istanbul (not Constantanople)… had space for demos, lol.
Didn’t Metallica do a whole album of covers???
I remember being at the campus gym when I was in grad school circa 2007 and overhearing a tiny baby undergrad say “hey listen, an acoustic version of Heaven!” when Brian Adams came up in the radio mix because of course they only knew the DJ Sammy version (I like both, FWIW)
As a massive fan of The Crow, Joy Division, and Nine Inch Nails, I feel the need to interject that this song was not during the end credits but rather during an early action sequence in the film. And that the cover was sick, and finding out a couple years later that it was a JD cover only enhanced it.
Jesus, this list is weak.
This list is terrible.
A few covers I’m surprised not featured:Tiffany – I think we’re alone nowElvis – Hound DogFrank Sinatra – It was a very good year