25 covers more famous than the original songs

Not everybody knows the exact lyrics to “Blinded by the Light,” but almost all of them know the Manfred Mann’s Earth Band version, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977. Four years prior, the song was penned by Bruce Springsteen and appeared on his debut album, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.”

Willie Nelson wrote and performed “Crazy” in early 1961, just months before Patsy Cline covered it, nabbed the No. 9 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and charted for 21 weeks. It has been covered countless times since by the likes of Neil Young, Hayden Panettiere, Linda Ronstadt, Julio Iglesias, and LeAnn Rimes.

Easily the most famous song by the metal band Quiet Riot, “Cum on Feel the Noize” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983. The original version, by the British rock band Slade, actually came out nine years prior. Although it did not chart in the US, it was a No. 1 single in the UK (the band’s fourth time accomplishing this feat), and remained on the charts for 12 weeks.

“Dazed and Confused” might be the most controversial song in this list. Almost everyone knows it as one of Led Zeppelin’s most famous tunes, but the song was actually penned by Jake Holmes on his 1967 album, “'The Above Ground Sound' of Jake Holmes." Jim McCarty, the drummer for the Yardbirds, turned guitarist Jimmy Page on to the song after hearing Holmes play it as an opening act for the band at a New York City concert that same year. The Yardbirds rewrote and rearranged the track, but it didn’t appear on an album until Page formed Zeppelin in 1968 and released it on their debut record in 1969. Holmes eventually sued Zeppelin in 2010, as he was never properly credited, and the case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

CeeLo Green and Busta Rhymes actually wrote The Pussycat Dolls’ No. 2 song, “Don’t Cha” -  and the group wasn’t even the first to be given the song. CeeLo and Busta originally had Tori Alamaze record it in 2004, but after it only achieved a modest amount of success, they asked The Pussycat Dolls to give it a whirl a year later.

Not only was “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” not originally recorded by Cyndi Lauper, it wasn’t even originally recorded by a girl. Robert Hazard wrote and recorded it first in 1979, a full four years before Lauper released it as the lead single from her debut studio album, “She’s So Unusual.” Hazard was also known for the new wave hits “Escalator of Life” and “Chain Reaction,” which he performed with his band, Robert Hazard and the Heroes.

The author of “Hey Joe” is still disputed to this day, but it's likely attributable to Billy Roberts, who copyrighted it in 1962. Even more debatable is the question of who first recorded it. What everyone agrees on, however, is that The Jimi Hendrix Experience performed the most famous version, which was the band’s first single in 1966. Hendrix’s version is much slower than the original, and was likely inspired by folk rock singer Tim Rose’s cover - just one of countless renditions.

Elvis Presley rarely wrote any of his songs, and he wasn’t even the first to perform some of them. “Hound Dog” was originally a blues song by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, performed by Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton in 1952. After selling 500,000 copies, it became her biggest hit. Few folks remember that fact, because four years later, Elvis sold 10 million copies of his cover, making it one of the top-selling songs of all time. In fact, Rolling Stone ranked his version as No. 19 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” was the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks in 1982, it was certified platinum, and was recently inducted into the Grammys Hall of Fame — except it’s not actually Jett’s song. “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll was first recorded by the Arrows in 1975, and Jett decided to cover it after seeing them perform the song on TV.

Tommy James and the Shondells found a lot of success with “I Think We’re Alone Now” in 1967, as it reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, this was eclipsed by Tiffany’s 1987 version, which was the No. 1 song for two weeks. Tiffany was eventually replaced in the top spot by Billy Idol’s “Mony, Mony” — which, coincidentally, was also originally recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells.

Björk’s most popular song to date is “It’s Oh So Quiet,” which actually wasn’t written or first performed by the Icelandic musician when she released it in 1995. That distinction goes to American singer Betty Hutton, who dropped the song as the B-side to the single “Murder, He Says” more than four decades earlier, in 1951.

We’re not kidding you, “Killing Me Softly With His Song” wasn’t originally recorded by the Fugees in 1996, even though that’s probably the most famous version. The most successful version, and the one many consider as "the original," was recorded by Roberta Flack, as she hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973 - but Flack wasn’t the original artist either. That distinction goes to the songwriter herself, Lori Lieberman, who penned it in 1971.

“Mad World” is most famous for the haunting version Michael Andrews and Gary Jules recorded in 2001 for the “Donnie Darko” soundtrack. It has seen use recently in the TV show “The Walking Dead” in addition to multiple commercials in the past few years. But the British pop rock duo Tears for Fears wrote and performed it first, and it actually found quite a bit of success as their first charting hit, reaching No. 3 in the UK. Andrews & Jules’ version, however, reached No. 1.

The first hit by The Bangles, “Manic Monday” wasn’t actually the first recording of the song. Prince originally recorded it for Apollonia 6’s self-titled 1984 album, but nixed it before the record was released. Under a pseudonym, he gave the song to The Bangles, who released it in 1986 to much acclaim. It remains one of the band’s biggest hits to this day.

“Me and Bobby McGee” has been covered by the likes of the Grateful Dead, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, Gordon Lightfoot, Miranda Lambert, and - most famously - Janis Joplin. The Joplin cover was released posthumously a year after Joplin’s 1970 death, and it subsequently topped the Billboard Hot 100. It was first recorded by Roger Miller in 1969, and was written by Fred Foster and music legend Kris Kristofferson.

For a while in 1990, it was hard to turn on MTV and not see the video for Sinéad O'Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” But that wasn’t originally her song. Believe it or not, Prince (again!) wrote and recorded the tune in 1985 as part of his side project, The Family. The funk group only released one album, and the song received little attention. Five years later, O’Connor had it atop almost every major chart in the world.

The journey of “Red Red Wine” is a complicated one. It was first recorded by Neil Diamond in 1967 and included on his second studio album, “Just for You.” After Diamond left Bang Records the following year, the label continued to release his songs as slightly altered singles, and later covers by various artists. Tony Tribe did the first reggae-influenced version in 1969, but the most popular was UB40's cover, which reached the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1983.

Two years separated Otis Redding’s original recording of “Respect” in 1965 and Aretha Franklin’s smash hit. Redding penned the song as a ballad for Speedo Sims’ band, the Singing Demons, before speeding it up and changing the lyrics for his own release. Franklin added the R-E-S-P-E-C-T spelling and the “sock it to me” chants...and also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Once just a B-side to Gloria Jones’ 1965 single “My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home,” “Tainted Love” didn’t become a hit until the English synthpop duo Soft Cell covered in in 1981. That version hit No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was the pair’s most famous single. Marilyn Manson also charted when he covered it in 2001.

Although Cat Stevens wrote “The First Cut is the Deepest” in 1967, soul singer P. P. Arnold released her version seven months before Stevens did. Keith Hampshire found even more success with his version, after it hit No. 1 in Canada in 1973. Three years later, Rod Stewart’s cover reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it was Sheryl Crow who topped everyone three decades later, when she took the No. 14 spot.

Jennifer Rush’s original song “The Power of Love” managed to top the UK charts and hit No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984, but this achievement was bested by Laura Branigan in 1987 (No. 26) and Celine Dion in 1994, when her version reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and held the spot for four weeks. Air Supply also released a charting version in 1985, but it fared the worst out of the bunch.

“Time is on My Side” was penned by Jerry Ragovoy (under the pseudonym Norman Meade) and first recorded by jazz musician Kai Winding and his orchestra in 1963. The next year, The Rolling Stones made it famous with two renditions: one with an organ-only intro and another with an added guitar, which has since become the most well-known cover. However, it’s worth noting that the original had some star power of its own, as the background vocals were handled by Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney), Dionne Warwick, and Dee Dee Warwick.

Earlier this year, the Twitterverse had a meltdown when users collectively realized that Natalie Imbruglia’s 1997 hit song “Torn” was actually a cover. Not that this was much of a secret. “Torn” was written by Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, and Phil Thornalley in 1993, and it was first performed by Lis Sørensen, and later Ednaswap and Trine Rein. However, when Imbruglia covered it four years later, it reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Airplay, Adult Top 40, and Mainstream Top 40 charts.

Many folks are familiar with the Isley Brothers’ 1962 rendition of “Twist and Shout,” but few remember the original, recorded by the Top Notes one year earlier. However, neither of these versions are the most famous. That distinction goes to one of the most popular bands in music history, The Beatles, who included the cover on their debut album “Please Please Me” in 1963. Thanks to the comedy classic “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the Fab Four’s rendition received a resurgence of popularity in 1986.

The classic lyrics "Whatta man, whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty good man" were made famous by Salt-n-Pepa with En Vogue when the song peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1993. However, it was actually written by Dave Crawford and performed by Linda Lyndell all the way back in 1968. It wasn’t some B-side either; Lyndell’s version reached No. 3 on the R&B charts.