10 Musicians Who Ruined Their Careers With One Horrific Cover Song

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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.  🎤 LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more unbelievable music fails and industry scandals!

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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