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single bad performance can haunt an artist forever — and for these musicians, one terrible cover song was enough to damage their careers. In this countdown, we reveal 10 Musicians Who Ruined Their Careers With One Horrific Cover Song, from cringe-worthy live performances to infamous recordings that fans still can’t forget.

These shocking moments prove that sometimes, one song really can change everything.

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Music
Transcript
00:00I'm not trying to cause a big sensation
00:03Just talking about my generation
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo
00:10And today, we're looking at musicians and bands
00:12who managed to do huge damage to their careers
00:15with one ill-advised cover song
00:18On a river
00:18With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
00:24Duran Duran
00:269-1-1 is a joke
00:289-1-1 is a joke in your town
00:30Get up or get, get, get down
00:33No list of totally pointless and bizarre covers
00:36would be complete without a mention
00:38for Duran Duran's attempt at public enemies
00:409-1-1 is a joke
00:42Yes, you heard that correctly
00:44For some strange reason
00:46Duran Duran, who were known for chart-topping synth-pop
00:49decided to try to emulate
00:51one of hip-hop's most socially conscious groups
00:54The end result was a cover that baffled listeners to no end
01:02Duran Duran released the cover as part of an entire album
01:06made up of homages to other artists' songs
01:08You better wake up and smell the real flavor
01:11Cause 9-1-1 is a fake lifesaver
01:14And while some of their choices are actually pretty good
01:17Hearing Simon Laban trying to emulate Chuck D's delivery
01:20left us all wondering
01:21what the heck the point was
01:22A totally tone-deaf move
01:25In our book
01:25Now I'm on is a joke
01:27Now I'm on is a joke
01:30Now I'm on is a joke
01:33Happy Mondays
01:34The boys are back in town
01:36Guess who just got back today
01:39Them wild-eyed boys that had been away
01:42Hard-rocking Irish band Thin Lizzy
01:44brought innovative twin guitar leads
01:46to the masses with their 1976 hit
01:49The Boys Are Back in Town
01:50As for what the Happy Mondays cover brought us
01:58We're still trying to figure that out
02:02Guess who just got back today
02:05Them wild-eyed boys that had been been away
02:09Sean Ryder's vocal delivery sounds
02:11like it's coming straight out of a karaoke bar
02:13at 2am on a Saturday night
02:15And as for the rest of the band's performance
02:18They sapped all of the gutsy energy of the original
02:21And replaced it with a gritty mess
02:23That brings absolutely nothing interesting to the table
02:27By the time this 1999 release came
02:38The band were clearly past their peak
02:40And this cover proved it beyond any doubt
02:43Nickelback and Kid Rock
02:46Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
02:48Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
02:59is a glam rock masterpiece
03:01Easily one of the punchiest numbers of the 70s
03:04It's an upbeat track that never loses its danceability
03:07As for the Saturday refrain
03:15Genius
03:16And so when Nickelback decided to enlist Kid Rock
03:19to cover it for the soundtrack to Charlie's Angels
03:22Updating it for a new generation
03:24probably seemed like a good idea, right?
03:26Well, unfortunately
03:27all of the groove and fun that defined the original
03:30was nowhere to be found
03:32Chad Krueger and Kid Rock
03:42simply couldn't hold a candle
03:44to Elton John's loose and charismatic vocals
03:47And the backing band's performance
03:49wasn't any better
03:51Nickelback hadn't quite hit the meme status
04:02they reached in the 2010s
04:03but they were getting there
04:05Train, Light My Fire
04:15Train might know how to deliver a soft rock folkish anthem
04:25for a post-2000 world better than anyone
04:27but turning their hands to the drug-fueled poetry
04:30of Jim Morrison and the Doors
04:32was simply never going to work
04:35Train's version deviated pretty heavily
04:46from the original, sure
04:47but to say that they misunderstood the source material
04:50would be an understatement
04:52The song's darkness and eerie charm
05:00are utterly lost in Pat Monahan's vocal delivery
05:03Sure, they would later hit it big
05:05with smash singles like
05:07Drops of Jupiter and Hey Soul Sister
05:08but this attempt at Light My Fire
05:10sounded totally out of touch
05:12Guns N' Roses
05:22Sympathy for the Devil
05:24Please allow me to introduce myself
05:27I'm made with well and tasty
05:31When Slash famously described this cover
05:33as the sound of a band breaking up
05:35he wasn't lying
05:37Somehow, someway
05:39Guns N' Roses succeeded
05:40in making one of the most exciting songs
05:42of the 1960s a total bore
05:44Please allow me to introduce myself
05:47I'm a man of well and taste
05:51Sympathy for the Devil
05:53when performed by the Rolling Stones
05:55turns all of the groove dials
05:56right up to the max
05:57Mick Jagger sounds like he's genuinely
06:04been possessed by an otherworldly being
06:07and the rest of the band's performance
06:09rises to meet him
06:10Axl Rose and company
06:11never truly got out of second gear
06:14with their version
06:14It would be the last song
06:24G&R recorded for another 14 years
06:27Paris Hilton
06:33Do You Think I'm Sexy?
06:35Rod Stewart's
06:36Do You Think I'm Sexy?
06:37was a tongue-in-cheek turn to disco
06:39that never took itself too seriously
06:41Paris Hilton's brutal cover of the track
06:50is the total opposite
06:52Unlike Stewart
06:53who is poking fun at himself
06:55with his performance
06:56Hilton is very seriously
06:57asking the title's question
06:59for her listeners
07:00and sure
07:00that could work
07:02with the right performance
07:03but Paris Hilton
07:04is definitely not up to the task
07:06It should come as no surprise
07:16that Hilton turned her focus
07:18away from music once again
07:19after this train wreck
07:20waiting seven years
07:21for her next single release
07:23and 18 before her next album
07:25This one was truly dead
07:35on arrival
07:35Hilary Dove
07:37My Generation
07:38When Roger Daltrey
07:44and The Who
07:45told the world
07:46they hoped that they'd die
07:47before they got old
07:48back in the 60s
07:50it actually meant something
07:51Hilary Duff
07:52on the other hand
07:53deviated from her
07:54sugary sweet teen pop roots
07:56and made a move
07:57towards hard rockin' legitimacy
07:58The problem?
08:05Well, firstly
08:05she changed the most famous line
08:07in the song to say
08:08Hope I Don't Die
08:09Before I Get Old
08:10which completely destroys
08:11the overarching message
08:13of the original's lyrics
08:14Hope I Don't Die
08:15Before I Get Old
08:17On top of that
08:20the cover just doesn't lend itself
08:22well to her
08:22her band
08:23or the production
08:24The song was released
08:25as a bonus track
08:26on her 2004
08:27self-titled album
08:28Even without this cover
08:38the critical reception
08:39was poor
08:40to say the least
08:41William Shatner
08:42Lucy in the Sky
08:44with Diamonds
08:45Lucy in the Sky
08:47with Diamonds
08:49Lucy in the Sky
08:52This one is either
08:54a stroke of absolute
08:55comedy genius
08:55or one of the most
08:57god-awful serious covers
08:58of all time
08:59Picture yourself
09:00in a boat
09:02on a river
09:04When the fun side
09:05of William Shatner's
09:06spoken word music hits
09:07it tended to work
09:09pretty well
09:10But when Captain Kirk
09:11decided to take
09:12a psychedelic left turn
09:13and cover the Beatles
09:14Lucy in the Sky
09:15with Diamonds
09:16the end result
09:17was truly bizarre
09:18Somebody calls you
09:20You answer
09:21quite slowly
09:23A girl
09:24With kaleidoscope
09:26I
09:27The chorus hook
09:28plays things
09:29understandably safe
09:30but when Shatner
09:31comes into the fray
09:32for the verse
09:33things get weird
09:34The album it comes from
09:35The Transformed Man
09:37is regularly cited
09:38as one of the worst
09:39albums ever made
09:40In a boat
09:41on a river
09:42With tangerine trees
09:46and marmalade sky
09:48Jessica Simpson
09:49These Boots
09:50Are Made For Walking
09:51Nancy Sinatra's
09:58classic hit
09:59These Boots Are Made For Walking
10:00is one of those songs
10:01that is pretty much
10:02unsurpassable
10:03for cover artists
10:05But that didn't stop
10:14Jessica Simpson
10:15from having a go
10:16Her cover
10:16which featured
10:17on the Dukes of Hazzard
10:19soundtrack
10:19takes all of the
10:20defiant energy
10:21of the original
10:22and throws it in the trash
10:23The result is a totally
10:33unoriginal attempt
10:34that comes off
10:35as seedy
10:36and try hard
10:37Simpson was known
10:38more for her
10:39appearances on reality
10:40TV than her work
10:41on the mic
10:41and this cover
10:42proves it
10:43Needless to say
10:44there was no
10:45Grammy nomination
10:46in store for this one
10:47Come on Boots
10:48Stop
10:51Come on ladies
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11:07Puddle of Mud
11:11About a Girl
11:12Who knows
11:20what went wrong
11:21when Puddle of Mud
11:22decided to cover
11:23Nirvana's
11:23About a Girl
11:24Maybe it was simply
11:32the wrong song choice
11:34Perhaps
11:34it was the wrong key
11:36Could vocalist
11:37Wes Scantlin
11:37simply have been
11:39having an off day
11:40The probable answer
11:41is all three
11:42But that didn't excuse
11:44this musical disaster
11:45The instrumentalists
11:46actually do a decent job
11:48but Scantlin's
11:49Screaking delivery
11:50sealed his place
11:51in meme history
11:52more and more
11:52with each note
11:53he failed to hit
11:54I do
11:55I do
11:56Have a clue
11:58Take it
12:00Then it's wild
12:02The band had already
12:03had a successful run
12:04in the 2000s
12:05but if you ask
12:06most people
12:07about Puddle of Mud
12:08now
12:09this Sirius XM
12:10performance
12:10may be the first thing
12:11that springs to mind
12:12Are there any other
12:20terrible covers
12:21that spring to mind?
12:22Let us know
12:23in the comments below
12:24The night giants
12:25They're the teenagers
12:27And they are now
12:29They're the teenagers
12:30They're the teenagers
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