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Some of the most iconic songs we love turned out to be powerful covers, reinvented and redefined by legendary artists. From soulful anthems to rock classics, these artists took songs written by others and made them their own definitive hits. Join us as we explore unforgettable renditions that have become timeless favorites and showcase the magic of musical transformation.
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00:00We're going to take the beginning of this song and we're going to do it, you say, easy.
00:06But then we're going to do the finish.
00:09Rough.
00:10Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:12And today, we're counting down our picks for the artists whose best song was, in fact, not their own composition.
00:19Baby, I've been here before.
00:21I've seen this room and I've walked this floor, you know.
00:27Number 20.
00:28Torn.
00:28Nathalie Imbruglia.
00:37This Australian and British singer became known for this song, becoming a worldwide hit and selling 4 million copies in
00:441997.
00:46She even managed to snag a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance,
00:51although she lost to Céline Zion's My Heart Will Go On.
00:55Illusion never changed into something real.
01:00As it turns out, Imbruglia did not write the song.
01:03The composers, Scott Cutler, Anne Previn, and Phil Thornally, gave the song to Danish singer Liss Searnsen,
01:11who first released the song under the title Brandt or Burnt.
01:15Yeah, there's something fun, choosing kind of car, and aims along the lines.
01:22The more you know.
01:24Number 19.
01:25The man who sold the world.
01:27Nirvana.
01:28We passed upon the stairs.
01:33Spoken walls and wells.
01:35It's a mistake many have made and will continue to make.
01:39Nirvana's version is so well-known and influential that it's hard to remember this song was really a David Bowie
01:45composition, first recorded in 1970.
01:55Initially, it had gone unnoticed, although it achieved some success with Scottish singer Lulu's cover in 1974.
02:03The track really took on new life, though, when Kurt Cobain was introduced to the song by drummer Chad Channing.
02:09I searched off on the land for years and years I longed.
02:17Nirvana's version is now considered one of the best cover versions and one of the best songs in their catalog.
02:24Now, that's reinvention.
02:26Your face to face of the man who sold the world.
02:32Number 18.
02:34Tainted Love.
02:35Soft sell.
02:36Sometimes I feel I've got you.
02:40Run away.
02:42Some songs have a splashy debut, while others take time, even years, to become popular.
02:48Composed by Ed Cobb, Tainted Love was originally recorded in 1964 by Gloria Jones with a Motown sound.
02:56I've got to run away.
02:59I've got to get away.
03:02While it had some popularity among the UK's Northern Soul Club scene, it nevertheless failed to chart.
03:09English duo Soft Sells' 80s version changed everything.
03:12Take my tears and that's not nearly all.
03:18Their pop synth arrangement was a big hit worldwide, certified platinum three times in the UK.
03:24To this day, it's difficult to accept this as really a cover, as later versions of the song take a
03:30leaf out of Soft Sells' book.
03:32This ain't that love you give me.
03:35I'll give you all a boy could give you.
03:38Number 17.
03:40House of the Rising Sun.
03:41The Animals.
03:42In you always.
03:45They cold, rising sun.
03:49This British group got a wild hit with their soulful rendition of this number.
03:53A haunting arrangement that captured the hearts and ears of listeners worldwide.
03:57This version was listed as one of the greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine and was even
04:04included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
04:06We say version, of course, because this song is, in fact, a traditional American folk song.
04:12Rest my wicked life beneath the rising sky.
04:20Of dubious origins, the song possibly originated from a 16th century English broadside ballad about a brothel.
04:28Early recorded versions of the song included no less than Bob Dylan.
04:32I'm going back to New Orleans.
04:39Kudos to the Animals on making the song one of their own and one of their best.
04:44I'm going back to New Orleans.
04:49Number 16.
04:51Me and Bobby McGee.
04:52Janis Joplin.
04:53Singer-songwriter Janis Joplin managed to record this song just a few days before her death in October 1970.
05:01The song, released posthumously, became her only number one single.
05:05Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
05:10Nothing.
05:11I mean, nothing, honey, if it ain't free.
05:13Her version even gained platinum certification in the U.S.
05:16The bitter ironies don't stop there.
05:18The composition wasn't even an original of Joplin.
05:22Me and Bobby McGee was written by Chris Christofferson and first recorded by country singer Roger Miller.
05:34Singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot was the first to cover the song, achieving success on the Canadian charts with his rendition.
05:41But it was Joplin's version that people still remember, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.
05:48Rest in peace.
05:55Number 15.
05:57Unchained Melody.
05:58The Righteous Brothers.
06:00Oh, my lord.
06:04Now a pop standard, musical duo The Righteous Brothers first released this version as a B-side of the single
06:11Hung on You.
06:12Unchained Melody was no B-side melody though, initially reaching number four on the Billboard Top 100.
06:18The single was even more of a hit when it featured in the supernatural romance film Ghost.
06:33Of course, the song wasn't original.
06:35Composed by Alex North with lyrics by Hai Zeret, it first featured in the 1955 prison film Unchained.
06:43Time goes by so slowly.
06:48Other covers followed suit and even charted, but the Righteous Brothers version is certainly the most known and influential.
06:56Are you still mine?
07:04Number 14.
07:06Killing Me Softly with his song, Fugees.
07:17An international hit, this version by the hip-hop group Fugees was a blockbuster.
07:22Certified triple platinum in the U.S., the song broke records in many countries as well.
07:27And it wasn't even their own composition.
07:29And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there.
07:36In 1971, 19-year-old singer-songwriter Lori Lieberman was so inspired by a Don McLean performance,
07:43she penned this lovely ditty with the help of famed lyricist Norman Gimbel.
07:48Her version failed to chart, but Roberta Flack's version was a hit and won two Grammy Awards.
07:53Telling my whole life with his words killing me softly.
08:00Still, Fugees made their name just by their rendition alone, now considered a hip-hop classic.
08:06That's the power of arrangement for you.
08:08Killing me softly with his song, Killing me softly.
08:14Number 13.
08:16Midnight Train to Georgia, Gladys Knight and The Pips.
08:19He's leaving, leaving.
08:23Oh, that Midnight Train to Georgia.
08:26Oh, that Midnight Train.
08:27This 70s hit was a big one for this group.
08:30Earning them a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a duo, group, or chorus.
08:35Becoming a signature song for Gladys Knight.
08:38Midnight Train to Georgia was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1990.
08:42So naturally, the song wasn't composed by them.
08:45It was composed by Jim Weatherly under the title Midnight Plane to Houston,
08:50after a phrase he heard in real life by actress Farrah Fawcett.
08:53She's leaving.
08:57All the Midnight Plane to Houston.
09:01Gospel singer Sissy Houston was the one to change the title for her version.
09:05And the rest is history.
09:07To the world, however, this is Gladys Knight and The Pips' triumph.
09:21It hurts us to say it, but if you don't know by now, you won't ever know.
09:25The last album released by legendary singer-songwriter Johnny Cash during his lifetime included this song.
09:32Everyone I know goes away.
09:37With over 2 million downloads, Cash's cover is considered one of the best songs in his repertoire.
09:43We say cover, of course, because it very much is.
09:47Rock band Nine Inch Nails recorded the song for their 1994 album, written by their lead songwriter Trent Reznor.
09:58Reznor himself was impressed by Cash's sensitive rendition, even going as far as to say the song was no longer
10:04his.
10:05Now, that's legendary.
10:12Number 11, Valerie, Mark Ronson, and Amy Winehouse.
10:23Teaming up in 2007, Ronson and Winehouse's up-tempo track became the ninth biggest selling single of the year in
10:31the UK,
10:32and a worldwide hit in general.
10:34To this day, it is one of Winehouse's best-known songs.
10:38Valerie, in fact, was first recorded in 2006 by the Zootons, an English indie rock band.
10:52Dave McCabe wrote the song as a tribute to his American friend, a makeup artist,
10:57after she was arrested for driving under the influence.
10:59While their version was successful, Ronson and Winehouse's version has definitely eclipsed it in sales and popularity.
11:15Number 10, Nothing Compares to You, Sinead O'Connor.
11:24This is a torch song to remember.
11:27O'Connor released this emotional ballad for her second album.
11:30It was later accompanied by an iconic music video of just O'Connor singing the number in close-up.
11:36But nothing, I said nothing can take away this blues.
11:43Nothing Compares to You was a worldwide hit, topping charts in several countries and becoming critically acclaimed.
11:50So it's shocking to realize this is actually a Prince song, first recorded with his funk band, The Family, in
11:551985.
12:04This version received a little attention until O'Connor came to record her cover.
12:09To this day, it is considered one of the best songs in O'Connor's repertoire.
12:14Talk about owning a song.
12:23Number 9, All Along the Watchtower, The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
12:36One of rock's most influential guitarists, Jimi Hendrix's recording of this song in 1968 has become a thing of music
12:44legend.
12:44It was certified platinum in the U.K.
12:47In the U.S., All Along the Watchtower is Hendrix's highest-ranking American single.
12:52The song was in fact written by Bob Dylan, recorded a year earlier after a motorcycling accident.
13:05But even he conceded Hendrix's version has far outclassed his.
13:15Dylan would later go so far as to incorporate elements of Hendrix's arrangement into his own performances.
13:22It's safe to say that Hendrix owned this song.
13:32Number 8, Hound Dog, Elvis Presley.
13:43Granted, Mark James's Suspicious Minds did become one of Presley's biggest hits, but it honestly doesn't get as iconic as
13:50this.
13:51Presley's unforgettable rendition of Hound Dog sent both fans and mainstream audiences howling, albeit for different reasons.
13:58We've set up a committee to keep an eye on this vulgar, animalistic, rock-and-roll bust.
14:03The style of jarrating while you sing has been bitterly criticized.
14:06I don't feel I'm doing anything wrong.
14:08We simply will not advertise on any station that puts this delinquent on television.
14:12Amid the controversy, one thing became clear.
14:15Hound Dog was a success, selling some 10 million copies worldwide.
14:20Except it was not Presley's to begin with.
14:22Songwriters Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller wrote the song for Big Mama Thornton's tough vocals.
14:28In her version, it was about kicking out her no-good ex.
14:38Presley, however, was inspired more by the more up-tempo version by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys.
14:43Whether you're Team Thornton or Presley, however, it's hard to deny this dog is one of Presley's best.
14:49Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit.
14:52You ain't open my head.
14:58Number 7.
14:59I Love Rock and Roll.
15:01Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.
15:03Speaking of rock and roll, here comes this number.
15:06We was going strong.
15:08Playing my favorite song.
15:11Composed by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker of The Arrows,
15:14I Love Rock and Roll was a musical answer to the Rolling Stones'
15:18It's Only Rock and Roll, But I Like It.
15:20But the track really took on a new and better life
15:23when Joan Jett and her new band, The Blackhearts, covered it.
15:34Jett's gritty vocals and harder rock arrangement proved a winning combination.
15:39A worldwide sensation, Jett's I Love Rock and Roll was certified platinum in no less than three countries.
15:45We'll always put another dime in the jukebox for this song.
15:54Number 6.
15:55At Last.
15:56Etta James.
15:58We come to this song.
16:00At last.
16:05Composed by Harry Warren with lyrics by Mac Gordon,
16:08This sweet love song got an even sweeter swing arrangement by Glenn Miller.
16:13Miller played the song as an instrumental in the film Sun Valley Serenade,
16:17with the vocal version by John Payne and Lynn Barry in Orchestra Wives.
16:32A jazz standard, it nevertheless became an even bigger hit by gospel singer Etta James.
16:39Arranged as an R&B number, James's soaring, sultry vocals have made it a favorite of weddings and receptions.
16:46I found a dream, I found a dream, that I could speak to.
16:53In 2008, her rendition was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.
17:00It was a success for Warren, Gordon, and Glenn Miller, but a life-changing hit by James.
17:06For you are mine, at last.
17:18I've heard there was a secret chord that David played, and it pleased the Lord.
17:26Canadian singer Leonard Cohen composed this haunting ballad for his 1984 album,
17:31though it did not have much success.
17:34John Cale's version fared better, and was in fact the inspiration for Jeff Buckley's take in 1994,
17:40released as a single in 2007.
17:48Buckley's Hallelujah was certified two times platinum in the U.S. and three other countries.
17:54In 2013, it was inducted in the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.
18:00Hallelujah is considered one of Buckley's best songs,
18:03if not the best version of the song per critics, including Rolling Stone magazine.
18:08Now, that's legendary.
18:18Number four, Proud Mary, Ike and Tina Turner.
18:22Looking for a job in the city,
18:26working for the man every night and day.
18:29Written by John Fogerty for the rock band Credence Clearwater Revival,
18:34this song was based on Fogerty's experiences on a real-life ship after he got discharged from the National Guard.
18:40R&B duo Ike and Tina Turner's cover was a masterpiece of duality.
18:45But I never saw the good side of the city
18:53Starting as a soulful, pared-down rearrangement of the original,
18:57it pivots halfway into an explosive, energetic classic.
19:01This version won a Grammy Award,
19:02and it reached the top five of many charts.
19:06We all keep on turning,
19:08now Mary keep on burning,
19:11rolling, rolling.
19:12After she parted ways with Ike,
19:15Turner began singing the song as a solo.
19:17Proud Mary eventually became one of her signature songs,
19:20and one of her best.
19:21We hope this river keeps on rolling.
19:28Number three,
19:30Girls Just Want to Have Fun,
19:31Cyndi Lauper.
19:39When it comes to musical reinvention,
19:42this version is worth mentioning.
19:44Girls Just Want to Have Fun was first written by rock musician Robert Hazard,
19:48with the lyrics from a male perspective.
19:56Lauper not only sang it as a pop electronic song,
19:59but changed the lyrics to a female one.
20:01Their rearrangement definitely resonated more with audiences,
20:05becoming a smash success,
20:06and receiving a whole host of MTV nominations.
20:09It has since been certified six times platinum in the US,
20:13eclipsing Hazard's version.
20:15This is Lauper's most well-known hit,
20:17if not her signature one.
20:26Number two,
20:27I Will Always Love You,
20:29Whitney Houston.
20:36You really have to have tremendous star power to eclipse the Dolly Parton.
20:41I Will Always Love You is a composition of hers,
20:44written as a farewell to business partner Porter Wagoner.
20:47Love, babe, love you, love.
20:53Parton's version was a solid success,
20:56becoming one of the best-selling singles of 1974.
20:59But for most people,
21:01this song is Whitney Houston's.
21:03You,
21:06my darling, you.
21:08Her version was first recorded in 1992,
21:11and became a huge international hit.
21:14It won two Grammy Awards,
21:16and was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
21:20Considered one of the best songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine and Billboard,
21:25this song is now tied inextricably to Houston,
21:28and Parton herself liked her rendition better than her own.
21:31And I will always love you.
21:50Before we continue,
21:51check out this single from Sound Mojo's album current,
21:54EDM Transformed.
21:55Check out the full track and album below.
22:111. Respect, Aretha Franklin
22:15We will always respect this song.
22:26Legendary singer Aretha Franklin
22:29made respect her signature song in her 1967 cover.
22:33Apart from soaring through the charts,
22:35the track has since been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame
22:38and included in the National Recording Registry.
22:47It's hard to believe that Franklin didn't write the song.
22:50Otis Redding first recorded his original song in 1965,
22:53with lyrics about a husband expecting a wife's love after work.
22:58All I want to do is give a good respect
23:00when I get home.
23:01Hey, girl, hey, hey, hey, hey.
23:03Franklin rearranged the song
23:05and changed the lyrics to a female perspective,
23:08giving it a feminist twist.
23:10This feminist slant gave the song new life
23:12and truly made it Franklin's own.
23:15Respect.
23:23Which other legendary song by an artist
23:26were you shocked to discover was actually a cover?
23:29Let us know in the comments.
23:30Let us know in the comments.
23:32We'll see you in the comments.
23:33We'll see you next time.
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