Neil Diamond originally did not want this cover of his song used in Quentin Tarantino's film 'Pulp Fiction,' but he eventually allowed it. The cover not only got Urge Overkill noticed but introduced Diamond to a new generation of fans.
Bruce Springsteen's original version failed to chart, but the Manfred Mann version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. On VH1 'Storytellers,' Springsteen said the popularity of the Manfred Mann version was partially because of singer Chris Thompson's enunciation of the lyrics "rewed up like a deuce" instead of the original "cut loose like a deuce."
In February 2007, Prince performed the Foo Fighters' song 'Best of You' at Super Bowl XLI. Many fans see this as retaliation because Prince objected to having 'Darling Nikki' covered by the Foos.
Originally released by Louis Armstrong in 1968, this recording was released a year after Ramone's death on his only solo album. It was made just weeks before the legend passed away. No. 6 on our best cover songs list was also played over the end credits of Michael Moore's film 'Bowling for Columbine.'
Alien Ant Farm did not intend for this Michael Jackson cover to be a single. An FM radio station picked it up and began playing it. Instead of taking offense, Alien Ant Farm went with the flow and decided to release it to the public as their very first single.
Drummer Lars Urlich heard the Bob Seger song while driving home and knew his bandmate James Hetfield could do something magical with it. 'Turn the Page' gave the band its longest-lasting streak on top of the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Originally by Nine Inch Nails, lead singer Trent Reznor reacted positively to the Johnny Cash version. Reznor said in Alternative Press, "I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning -- different, but every bit as pure."
List Your Top 10 Cover Songs
Leave your own list of the 10 best cover songs in the comments. Meanwhile, don't miss these 15 cover songs you may have not known were actually covers!
Listen to Rock Cover Songs Radio
51. Seether's cover is absolutely awesome. When they played the Co-lab in '06 with Metallica they did a short version of "Sad but true" and "Walk" from Pentura. To those who oppose Metallica and Seether...tisk tisk...Metallica are hall of Famers and could have a top 10 cover of their own, and i am a Proudly South Africa supporter of our man Shaun "Morgan" Welgemoed. They keep the "metal" going.
Posted at 12:55AM on Oct 27th 2009 by Wessel