10 artists whose biggest hits were covers
Covers are often underappreciated because a lot of people think that it shows a lack of originality, but it’s quite the opposite; just because an artist is playing a song that was originally written by somebody else doesn’t mean that they don’t have an emotional connection to it.
The universal nature of music means that anyone can latch onto a track and make it their own, injecting raw passion and emotion into it, even if they weren’t the ones who originally came up with it, and you have plenty of artists who have taken a track and put their own spin on it, which can mean either delivering a faithful version or something completely different to the recording that others might be familiar with.
Regardless, both of these formulas have previously proven popular with the public, to the extent that there are a lot of legendary musicians who, despite having hits of their own, owe their biggest to a cover.
So, who are these artists who are household names but whose biggest song they’ve ever released was written by somebody else? You might be surprised at some of the names that pop up.
10 of the biggest artists whose top hits were covers:
The Byrds – ‘Mr Tambourine Man’
The Byrds cover of ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ is an interesting one, as it was released before Bob Dylan’s original was. They’d gotten hold of a copy of the recording and decided to add their own swing, taking what was purely a folk song and turning it into something that people could dance to. It became the band’s biggest hit, with some believing that its success is what ultimately led to Bob Dylan pursuing the folk-rock sound himself.
“Bob Dylan had written it in a very countrified groove, a straight 2/4 time signature, and Roger takes the song home and works with it, puts it in 4/4 time, so you could dance to it,” recalled the band’s bassist Chris Hillman, “Bob heard us do it and said, ‘Man, you could dance to this!’ It really knocked him over, and he loved it.”
Whitney Houston – ‘I Will Always Love You’
While the track was originally written and performed by Dolly Parton, the better-known version is Whitney Houston’s, who performs the song with a passion that only broken hearts can truly resonate with. The track skyrocketed to fame thanks to its inclusion in The Bodyguard, as it was used perfectly in the picture and really highlighted just how much power Houston packed into it.
It was producer Kevin Costner’s idea to include the song in the film, something which he originally received pushback on, but his and Houston’s excitement for the track superseded such speculation. “I said, ‘This is a very important song in this movie’,” recalled Costner, “I didn’t care if it was ever on the radio. I didn’t care. I said, ‘We’re also going to do this a cappella at the beginning. I need it to be a cappella because it shows a measure of how much she digs this guy, that she sings without music’.”
Joan Jett – ‘I Love Rock and Roll’
You really don’t need to look too far into Joan Jett’s discography to find songs where she sings with an unrelenting passion and nails every single syllable, but it’s interesting that perhaps the track where she is best-known for doing this also happens to be a cover. Yes, Joan Jett’s classic ‘I Love Rock And Roll’ was originally a song recorded by a band called The Arrows some six years prior, who originally wrote the song in response to a Rolling Stones hit.
“That was a knee-jerk response to the Rolling Stones’ ‘It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll.’ […] I’d met Mick Jagger socially a few times, and I knew he was hanging around with Prince Rupert Lowenstein and people like that: jet setters,” explained lead singer Alan Merrill, “I almost felt like ‘It’s Only Rock and Roll’ was an apology to those jet-set princes and princesses that he was hanging around with, the aristocracy, you know.”
Jimi Hendrix – ‘All Along the Watchtower’
It’s the second time that an artist’s biggest song is a Bob Dylan cover, which is a testament to Dylan himself. His songs were easy to play, but so beautifully layered that they became the perfect track for musicians to cover. No doubt he is flattered by the number of people who have covered his songs, but it’s rare for him to hear an interpretation of one and deem it better than the original; that is, of course, apart from Jimi Hendrix’s version of ‘All Along the Watchtower’.
What became one of Hendrix’s most popular songs was also adored by Dylan, who loved this cover so much that he even started playing his own rendition in the same way the famous guitarist did. “I liked Jimi Hendrix’s record of this, and ever since he died I’ve been doing it that way,” said Dylan, “Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it’s a tribute to him in some kind of way.”
Elvis Presley – ‘Hound Dog’
The majority of Elvis Presley’s songs were covers, and so it really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that he’s on this list, but what separated him from his contemporaries wasn’t his songwriting ability, but the means by which he could perform. He had a special voice, and the way he dominated a stage was unlike anyone who had come before him, which led to him having a hit with the track ‘Hound Dog’, despite it not being an original number.
The track was initially recorded in a much more blues-inspired fashion by Big Mama Thornton. The two original songwriters, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, were hired to work with Elvis in the future because of the song’s success, and while this was a great move for the duo, they weren’t fans of the ‘Hound Dog’ cover, which linked them with ‘The King’. “It was nervous-sounding,” said Leiber, “It didn’t have that insinuation that Big Mama’s record had”.
Alien Ant Farm – ‘Smooth Criminal’
There are two ways you can approach a cover: the first is to do something which is a complete ode to the original, which means maybe you change a couple of things here and there, but for the most part, the song should be instantly recognisable as a cover. Alternatively, you can go in another direction, which means twisting the song so that it resembles something completely different.
In 2001, Alien Ant Farm went for the latter option, as while there are some rock elements in Michael Jackson’s original song ‘Smooth Criminal’, the band opted to take these to another level. The punk rockers delivered a style of ‘Smooth Criminal’ that really caught the world off guard, as they gave listeners more electric guitars and a nasally vocal melody. It shouldn’t work, but somehow, it does, and it gave Alien Ant Farm one of their most popular tracks.
The Fugees – ‘Killing Me Softly’
It doesn’t matter how good a singer you are, there are some songs that are simply too big for even the most accomplished singers to perform, and one of these songs is Robert Flack’s ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’, as very few singers are able to capture her talent and raw emotion in a way that does the song justice. Enter: Lauryn Hill and The Fugees.
Originally, The Fugees wanted to change the lyrics to the song slightly, calling it ‘Killing Him Softly’, subsequently switching the narrative so that it was a reflection of poverty. Despite being a solid idea, the original songwriters refused, and it seems that this was for the best, as not only was The Fugees hip-hop version of the track excellent, it also became one of the band’s most popular numbers, which might not have happened had they changed it too much.
Soft Cell – ‘Tainted Love’
It’s not as common knowledge that this Soft Cell classic is a cover, but it was originally recorded in 1964 by Gloria Jones, and the former had no idea the track would become such a hit, as when they originally recorded their version, they meant for it to become a throwaway cover song. Quite the opposite happened, as it’s now the duo’s most popular hit.
When they started playing it together, it became clear just how good their version sounded, and so Marc Almond was excited by this new number to add to their repertoire. “A mixture of cold electronics with an over-passionate, over-exuberant, slightly out of key vocal.” he said, “Dave [Ball] introduced me to the record and I loved it so much and we wanted an interesting song for a encore number in our show.”
Cyndi Lauper – ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’
Once again, this is one of those classics that a lot of people might not realise is a cover, but Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ was originally recorded by Robert Hazard. Yes, a man wrote one of the biggest female power songs of all time, and he recorded an original demo for his band, Robert Hazard and the Heroes.
After playing around with the track, it became clear Lauper was the right person to truly take it on, but the lyrics had to be changed slightly as Hazard’s original version was very much written from a male perspective. “It was originally about how fortunate he was ’cause he was a guy around these girls that wanted to have ‘fun’, with him, down there,” explained Lauper, “Which we do not speak lest we go blind.”
Sinéad O’Connor – ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’
Maybe one of the saddest songs of all time, but it was Sinéad O’Connor who made it so, as when the track was originally released, it very much flew under the radar. Prince wrote and recorded the song initially, but opted not to release it, and instead, it was given to a band called The Family, who were signed to his record label.
Not many people heard The Family’s version, and it wasn’t until O’Connor covered the track some five years later that listeners realised how heartbreaking and meaningful the track truly was. She was clearly swept up in the emotion of the song, as when she recorded the video for it, she wound up crying real tears.
“I didn’t intend for that moment to happen,” she said, “But when it did, I thought, ‘I should let this happen’”.
