50 Fun Facts About Cover Songs and Original Artists

Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You, from The Bodyguard, was written and first recorded by which country star?

Dolly Parton wrote it in 1973 as a farewell to Porter Wagoner, the mentor and business partner she was leaving for a solo career.

Johnny Cash's late-career cover of Hurt reworked the closing track of The Downward Spiral, an album by which band?

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor wrote it, and after hearing Cash's version he praised its sincerity and said the song was no longer his.

Sinéad O'Connor's worldwide hit Nothing Compares 2 U was written by which star for his side project the Family?

Prince gave it to his funk band the Family for their only album in 1985, and his own 1984 demo was not released until 2018.

Aretha Franklin's signature song Respect was written and first recorded two years earlier by which soul singer?

Otis Redding released it in 1965, and after Franklin's version took off he joked at the Monterey Pop Festival that a friend had taken his song away.

Jimi Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower covers a song first released less than a year earlier by which songwriter?

Bob Dylan recorded it for his album John Wesley Harding, and he has since performed it live more than any of his other songs.

Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, from the album Grace, was written by which Canadian who released it a decade earlier?

Leonard Cohen is reputed to have drafted at least 80 verses before releasing it in 1984, and the song drew little attention at first.

Gary Jules's stripped-down Mad World, a UK Christmas number one, covered a synth-pop hit by which British band?

Tears for Fears reached number three with it in 1982; the sparse piano version was made for the film Donnie Darko and topped the UK chart at Christmas 2003.

Nirvana's MTV Unplugged set and a 1974 Lulu single both covered The Man Who Sold the World by which singer?

David Bowie said he was simply blown away to learn that Kurt Cobain liked his work, and that he had always wanted to ask him why he chose the song.

Elvis Presley's Hound Dog had already topped the R&B chart three years earlier for which blues singer?

Big Mama Thornton's 1953 original spent seven weeks at number one on the R&B chart; Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote it in about a quarter of an hour.

Which rock band covered Toto's Africa in 2018 after a teenage fan's persistent social media campaign?

Weezer's cover became the band's first number one on Billboard's alternative chart in a decade, and Toto returned the favour by covering Weezer's Hash Pipe.

UB40's reggae hit Red Red Wine was written and first recorded as a sombre ballad by which American singer?

Neil Diamond released it in 1967, but UB40 knew only Tony Tribe's version and had no idea who wrote it; he has since performed it live in their reggae arrangement.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band topped the US chart with Blinded by the Light, a song from which singer's debut album?

Bruce Springsteen released it on Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. in 1973, and the cover gave him his first Hot 100 number one as a songwriter.

Santana's Black Magic Woman, from Abraxas, was written by Peter Green and first released by which British band?

Fleetwood Mac released it as a single in 1968, but Santana's version reached number four in the US and became the better-known recording.

Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want to Have Fun was written from a man's point of view by which Philadelphia rocker?

Robert Hazard wrote it in 1979 and got only local college radio play with his demo; Lauper changed some of the words for her 1983 hit.

Soft Cell's synth-pop hit Tainted Love was first recorded in 1964 by which American soul singer?

Gloria Jones cut it as a B-side that failed to chart, and it was rescued years later by DJs on Britain's Northern soul club scene.

Joan Jett first saw I Love Rock 'n' Roll performed on British television by which glam rock band?

The Arrows wrote and released it in 1975 and played it on their own UK television series; Jett's remake with the Blackhearts topped the Hot 100 for seven weeks.

Whose country cover of Fast Car made Tracy Chapman the first Black winner of the CMA Song of the Year award?

Luke Combs took it to number one on the country charts in 2023, and Chapman joined him at the 2024 Grammys for her first live televised performance in nearly nine years.

Which heavy metal band's cover of Simon & Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence drew an admiring email from Paul Simon?

Disturbed released the cover in 2015, and Simon wrote to singer David Draiman after watching the band perform it on the talk show Conan.

Which hip-hop group's cover of Walk This Way, made with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, revived Aerosmith's career?

Run-DMC's 1986 version was the first hip-hop single to reach the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, beating the number ten peak of the original.

The Fugees' Killing Me Softly reworked a 1973 number one, first recorded by Lori Lieberman, for which singer?

Roberta Flack first heard Lieberman's original on an in-flight audio programme, and her own version won the Grammy for Record of the Year.

Joe Cocker's Woodstock-era anthem With a Little Help from My Friends radically rearranged a song by which band?

The Beatles had drummer Ringo Starr sing the original on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; Cocker's soulful rearrangement topped the UK chart in 1968.

Ike and Tina Turner's high-energy Proud Mary reworked a hit written by John Fogerty for which band?

Creedence Clearwater Revival's 1969 original peaked at number two on the Hot 100, the first of five singles by the group to stall one place short of the top.

Counting Crows and Vanessa Carlton's Big Yellow Taxi covered a song which Canadian singer wrote on a trip to Hawaii?

Joni Mitchell wrote it after waking in a Hawaiian hotel to a view of green mountains, then looking down at a parking lot that stretched as far as she could see.

Red Hot Chili Peppers' single Higher Ground, from Mother's Milk, covered an Innervisions track by which Motown star?

Stevie Wonder wrote and recorded it in a three-hour burst of creativity in 1973, shortly before a near-fatal accident left him in a coma.

Eric Clapton topped the US chart with I Shot the Sheriff, written and first released by which reggae star?

Bob Marley released it with the Wailers in 1973, and Clapton's cover on 461 Ocean Boulevard a year later gave the guitarist a Hot 100 number one.

Van Halen's debut single covered You Really Got Me, a 1964 hit written by Ray Davies for which English band?

The Kinks got the single's distorted guitar sound after Dave Davies sliced the speaker cone of his amplifier with a razor blade.

Elvis Presley opened his debut album with Blue Suede Shoes, written and first recorded by which rockabilly singer?

Carl Perkins wrote it in 1955, and his own recording spent two weeks at number two on the Cashbox best-selling singles list.

Which pop rock band covered the Monkees' I'm a Believer for the soundtrack of the animated film Shrek?

Smash Mouth also had All Star on the soundtrack, and their cover reached number 25 on the Hot 100, 35 years after the Monkees took the song to number one.

Marilyn Manson's Smells Like Children EP included a cover of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by which British act?

Eurythmics made their worldwide breakthrough with the original, a synth-pop single that turned Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart into MTV stars.

Which nu metal band scored an international hit in 2001 with a cover of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal?

Alien Ant Farm had already recorded an early version, under the title Slick Thief, for a 1999 album two years before the single took off.

Natalie Imbruglia's debut single Torn was first released in English by which Los Angeles rock band?

Ednaswap released it in 1995, two years after a Danish-language version by Lis Sørensen, and Imbruglia's cover went on to sell over four million copies.

Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse's hit Valerie was released a year earlier by which English indie rock band?

The Zutons put it on their second album, Tired of Hanging Around, in 2006, and the Ronson version reached number two in the UK the following year.

Without You, a number one for Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey, was written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of which band?

Badfinger released it on their 1970 album No Dice, and the power ballad has since been recorded by more than 180 artists.

No Doubt's 2003 hit It's My Life covered a 1984 synth-pop single by which English band led by Mark Hollis?

Talk Talk released it as the title track of their second album; No Doubt covered it to promote a greatest hits collection and earned a Grammy nomination.

The Moulin Rouge! soundtrack's all-star Lady Marmalade remade a 1970s number one by which American group?

Labelle topped the Hot 100 with it, although a studio group called the Eleventh Hour had recorded the song first as a demo.

Bananarama's dance-pop hit Venus was a cover of a 1969 single by which Dutch rock band?

Shocking Blue's original topped the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970, and Bananarama's cover reached number one in six countries.

Blondie's number one The Tide Is High was a cover of a 1967 rocksteady song by which Jamaican group?

The Paragons recorded it for their album On the Beach, and singer John Holt wrote it 13 years before Blondie's version topped the US and UK charts.

Quiet Riot's heavy metal hit Cum On Feel the Noize was a cover of a 1973 single by which English band?

Slade's original gave the band their fourth UK number one, and Quiet Riot's version sold a million copies and reached number five on the Hot 100.

The Clash and the Bobby Fuller Four both recorded I Fought the Law, written by Sonny Curtis of which band?

The Crickets recorded it in 1959, after Curtis joined on guitar in place of Buddy Holly, and it later surfaced as the B-side of a single.

Kim Carnes's chart-topper Bette Davis Eyes was co-written and first recorded in 1974 by which singer?

Jackie DeShannon recorded it in a light R&B style with an uptempo piano part, and Carnes's 1981 remake won Grammys for both Record and Song of the Year.

Which duo's cover of Always on My Mind, first performed on an ITV special, became the 1987 UK Christmas number one?

Pet Shop Boys got such a warm response on the special Love Me Tender that they released it as a single, which kept Fairytale of New York off the top spot.

Whose recording of Hallelujah plays in the film Shrek, although Rufus Wainwright sings it on the soundtrack album?

John Cale, the Welsh musician, recorded it for a 1991 tribute album, and his arrangement inspired the version Jeff Buckley recorded three years later.

Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow both had hits with The First Cut Is the Deepest, written by which British singer?

Cat Stevens sold the song for £30 to P. P. Arnold, who had the first hit with it in 1967, a decade before Rod Stewart's version.

Janis Joplin's posthumous number one Me and Bobby McGee was first recorded in 1969 by which country singer?

Roger Miller took it to number 12 on the country chart; its writer, Kris Kristofferson, saw Joplin's version top the Hot 100 two years later.

Wet Wet Wet's Love Is All Around, from Four Weddings and a Funeral, was first recorded by which English band?

The Troggs' singer Reg Presley wrote it in about ten minutes, and the 1994 cover spent 15 consecutive weeks at number one in the UK.

Frank Sinatra's My Way set new English words to the French song Comme d'habitude; which singer wrote them?

Paul Anka heard the French original on holiday in the south of France, flew to Paris and acquired the rights for a nominal one dollar.

Twist and Shout, a 1962 hit for the Isley Brothers, was first recorded a year earlier by which R&B group?

The Top Notes cut it at Atlantic Studios in a session produced by Phil Spector, but it was not a hit until the Isley Brothers reworked it.

Blue Swede's 1974 US number one Hooked on a Feeling was written by Mark James and first recorded by which singer?

B. J. Thomas featured an electric sitar on his original, which reached number five on the Hot 100 years before the Swedish cover went to the top.

Talking Heads' hit single Take Me to the River was co-written and first recorded by which soul singer?

Al Green wrote it with guitarist Teenie Hodges for a 1974 album, and in 1999 it became the tune sung by the animatronic toy fish Billy Bass.

Little Eva, the first singer of The Loco-Motion, was the babysitter of which songwriter who co-wrote it?

Carole King and her husband Gerry Goffin wrote it hoping Dee Dee Sharp would record it; when Sharp passed, their babysitter, who had sung the demo, got the hit.