Bands Who’s Cover Songs Were More Popular Than Their Originals

Earlier this month, third wave “emo” band Weezer released their cover of Toto’s “Africa,” something fans had been pressuring the band to do for almost a year. The band’s cover has now become their first mainstream hit in nearly a decade, hitting the Billboard Hot 100 at number 89. Despite having released two outstanding albums in the last five years, the band hasn’t had a Hot 100 single since 2009’s “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” from the mediocre-at-best ‘Raditude.’

Weezer isn’t the only band to have a cover chart higher than some of their originals. A lot of artists have hits with songs other artists have written. There are even artists whose only claim to fame is their cover of someone else’s song.

With that in mind, Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, is taking a look at artists whose covers outperformed their original singles on the charts. Whether they charted with their own songs later or not, here are seven whose covers have come to define their careers.

1.       Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You”: Houston is a great example of a successful artist having even bigger success with a cover. Although she had been releasing number one songs in the United States for more than a decade, her transformative cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” became her biggest hit of all time. It’s her only single to have gone multi-platinum upon its first release, as well as an extra two times platinum after her untimely passing in 2012.

2.       Alien Ant Farm, “Smooth Criminal”: You can’t go a day without hearing Alien Ant Farm’s 2001 cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” on rock radio. It became the band’s biggest single, as it was the only one to chart on the Hot 100. The song even eclipsed their original song, “Movies,” on the modern and mainstream rock charts.

3.       Joan Jett, “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll”: Joan Jett had her biggest hit in 1982 with “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll,” a track originally written and recorded by Arrows in 1975. The song became her first and only number one hit, charting higher than her best-known originals “Bad Reputation,” “Crimson and Clover” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You.”

4.       Sinead O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”: Originally written by Prince and recorded by his band The Family, “Nothing Compares 2 U” was pretty much a wash until O’Connor took it on. Her 1990 cover of the song became a number one hit and her most well-known single. Although her following single, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” also hit number one in the US, O’Connor would never see the kind of staying power with her own compositions that “Nothing” has had.

5.       The Ataris, “Boys of Summer”: Pop-punk band The Ataris entered the halls of rock infamy when they released their cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” from their fourth album, ‘So Long, Astoria,’ as a single in 2003. Increasing the pace and changing a couple of the lyrics to reach a different audience, the song outperformed the album’s previous single “In This Diary” on the US Alternative chart, and was their only single to chart in the Hot 100.

6.       Aretha Franklin, “Respect”: No stranger to the charts, Aretha Franklin has been releasing hit after hit for more than five decades. However, it was her 1967 cover of Otis Redding’s 1965 song “Respect” that really put her on the map. The song was not only her first Hot 100 number one, but also became a women’s empowerment anthem for decades to come. Though she would become known for songs like “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and “Chain of Fools” as well, nothing would compare to the popularity of “Respect.”

7.       The Monkees, “I’m A Believer”: Before Smash Mouth covered the song for the ‘Shrek’ soundtrack, television actors-turned-real band The Monkees recorded a cover of Neil Diamond’s “I’m A Believer” for their sophomore album, ‘More Monkees.’ It was the band’s first number-one single outside of North America and kickstarted their real life music career. The popularity of “I’m A Believer” surpassed that of songs that were specifically written for the band, like “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Daydream Believer.”

Sometimes it happens that an artist will find greater fame covering other people’s songs than with their originals. Such is the case with the artists listed above, whose biggest (and sometimes only) hits were originally recorded by others. Weezer’s fan-requested cover of “Africa” now joins that list, though its popularity will probably not overtake their biggest hit, “Beverly Hills.”

Don’t see your favorite artist’s cover on the list? Let us know which covers you enjoy most in the comments below.

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Find your favorite cover tracks and originals at Long Island’s favorite new independent record shop, Vinyl Bay 777. Located in Plainview, the store has a wide selection of titles to choose from in a variety of genres to satisfy most music lovers. Browse their ever-expanding collection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs and memorabilia in store or online at vinylbay777.com. With more titles being added to their selection all the time, you never know what you might find on your next visit to Vinyl Bay 777.