Top Ten Cover Songs that are More Popular Than the Original

The Top Ten
1 I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston

Originally it was by Dolly Parton, but Whitney Houston covered it & it spent 14 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, 1 of the longest times up there by any song, & it became 1 of the best selling singles of all time as well as the best selling single by a female artist. R.I.P. Whitney Houston (1963-2012).

It's crazy that Elvis nearly made a cover of this song.

2 This Is What You Came For - Calvin Harris
3 Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

Originally by Robert Hazard, Cyndi Lauper's dance pop cover hit the top of the charts since release & it bends e her top hit.

4 Torn - Natalie Imbruglia

His original track didn't even compare to Natalie's cover of Trine Rein's cover. A cover chain found. Nonetheless even Trine's cover didn't compare to Natalie's cover peaked at #1 on the singles charts of Belgium, Canada, Iceland, Psain & Sweden. It was #3 on the U.S. Billboard charts & sold over 4M copies worldwide, making it her best selling single of all time. Yet it's her debut single as well as her only global hit, which's why she never made another global hit, so she remains a global 1 hit wonder by all means.

5 Respect - Aretha Franklin
6 Hound Dog - Elvis Presley

Elvis broke the barriers with his cover which was #19 on Rolling Stones' magazine of 500 greatest songs of all time & sold 10M copies, becoming his best selling song & declared an emblem of rock & roll evolution. It was #2 on the U.S. pop, country & R&B charts in 1956, yet it was #1 on the pop charts for 11 weeks straight, which was a record that stood for 36 years. His RCA recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1988 & was listed as 1 of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 500 songs that shaped rock & roll. All this showed us such a song proved him the king of rock & roll. R.I.P. Elvis.

7 Tainted Love - Soft Cell

Originally by Gloria Jones. Her track wasn't as popular as this synth pop cover, which topped the charts in many countries & was certified. It became their only hit worldwide. They're 1 hit wonders for all reasons.

8 Gloria - Laura Branigan

The original song was obscure compared to Laura Branigan's cover, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 & was certified platinum gold by the RIAA. It became her biggest hit. R.I.P. too soon.

9 Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinéad O'Connor

Originally written by Prince & released by his band the Family, however his version wasn't nearly as popular as Sinead O'Connor's cover, which was was #1 in 18 countries. It was #5 in France, #4 in Spain, #3 in Belgium & Canada, #2 in Austria & Germany, #11 in New Zealand, #6 in Switzerland, as well as #2 in the U.K. Singles chart, #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 & #26 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary Billboard chart, all since its release. It hit #82 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at the end of the decade & #97 on the all-time U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It was on top of the Ireland charts for 6 weeks until Love Shack by the B-52's ended her 12 week stay there. It became her biggest & only hit, so as you know, she became a global 1 hit wonder by all means. R.I.P. Prince.

10 If I Were a Boy - Beyonce
The Contenders
11 Axel F - Crazy Frog

The cover of his international #1 hit got 2.5B views in its music video on YouTube, making it his most viewed video of all time, 1 of the most viewed from anybody on YouTube. It topped the charts in the U.K. even beating Coldplay by 4 copies to 1 & remained on top of the U.K. singles chart, becoming Britain's 3rd best selling single of 2005, far surpassing the original track. Though it failed to reach the top 20 in Switzerland at 1st until gradually climbing up to #1 there but #18 in Russia. It was #1 in Europe overall though after being #2, behind Lonely by Akon (which directly sampled Mr. Lonely by Bobby Vinton) for several weeks & stayed there until September. It was #1 in Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Ukraine, Spain & Sweden. Overall, it was his only global hit for all such reasons, making him a 1 hit wonder by all means, despite the high number of tracks made.

12 I'm a Believer - Smash Mouth
13 Who Let the Dogs Out - Baha Men

Originally by Anslem Douglas as Doggie, it was nothing compared to the cover, which broke out at #2 on the U.K. Singles chart, #1 in Australia & New Zealand & the top 10 in the U.S. It was championed by John Peele & it became the 4th best selling single of 2000 & 1 of its highlights that didn't reach #1. It won a Grammy for Best Dance Song in 2001 & became a staple for Bahamian culture. Yet it was a subject for copyright lawsuits that were settled & a documentary about it became a hit at the SXSW music festival in Austin Texas. All in all, it's their only global hit, so they're credited as 1 hit wonders for it.

14 I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany

It was a #1 hit by them in the U.S. in 1967, spending 5 weeks on the WLS Silver Dollar Survey, but her version spent 2 weeks at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 & 3 weeks at #1 on the U.K. Singles chart. It became a runaway #1 hit & was the 18th highest selling single in 1987 & the 32nd highest selling single in Australia in 1988.

15 Twist and Shout - The Beatles
16 Mony Mony - Billy Idol

Their track was their only track top hit the top 20 in the U.K, hitting #1 there, #3 on the Hot 100 & #1 WLS. Though Billy's cover hit #7 on the Billboard dance chart & was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, knocking Tiffany's cover of their song I Think We're Alone Now, hitting #19 on the 1987 year-end Billboard chart. It even started a shouting trend in clubs.

17 I Love Rock 'N' Roll - Joan Jett
18 All Along the Watchtower - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
19 Bad Company - Five Finger Death Punch
20 It's My Life - No Doubt
21 The Tide is High - Blondie
22 The Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana
23 Tell It to My Heart - Taylor Dayne

Originally recorded & released by Louise Florio, Taylor Dayne covered it & it became a #1 hit in European charts such as Austria, Germany, the Netherlands & Switzerland as well as the top 5 in many other regions before hitting the U.S. (#7 on the Hot 100 & #4 on the dance chart). It sold ~900K copies, all of which made this an unexpected hit that made her famous.

24 Do Wah Diddy Diddy - Manfred Mann

It was originally by the Exciters, but the Manfred Mann band popularized it & their cover became an international hit.

25 Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Guns N' Roses
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