The Best Cover Songs

It's a tried-and-true formula for singers: cover a hit song, make it your own, have your own hit with it. Some covers can never top the original, but sometimes a cover version can match or best the original. Here are 20 songs that do the latter.



1. "Satisfaction" by Otis Redding

This late soul man covered the Rolling Stone's classic, but I think his version is superior -- and sexier -- than the Jagger version.

2. "Helpless" by k.d. lang

There are many great covers of this song, but lang's version will give you goose-bumps.

3. "Proud Mary" by Ike and Tina Turner

This R&B duo recorded several fine covers including the Sly & the Family Stone's "I Want To Take You Higher" and The Beatles "Come Together", but their version of CCR's "Proud Mary" is superior to the original, thanks to the opening spoken-word intro by Tina and the kick-ass rock version that follows.

4. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell had a hit version with a fast, loose version of this Ashford & Simpson-penned song in the late '60s. But when Diana Ross recorded it in the early '70s, at the beginning of her post-Supremes solo career, A&S produced her version, which resulted in a dramatic, six-minute epic that has become a staple for Miss Ross.

5. "I Feel For You" by Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan had the biggest hit of her solo career in 1984 with this version of Prince's funk classic. There have been several outstanding covers of Prince songs, but Chaka's is the best.

6. "To Love Somebody" by Nina Simone

Nina Simone was famous for covering other people's songs, but if the High Priestess of Soul covered your song, it was an honour, because this woman could make the phone book sound good. To some, this Bee Gees song may be just average, but in Simone's hands, it's a classic.

7. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" by Etta James

This sizzling, smoky cover of Muddy Waters' 1954 blues song is still as hot as ever, and Ms. James is still as feisty as ever!

8. "Tragedy" by Steps

Sure, this British pop band made fluffy music (that was popular in the late '90s/early '00s), but their version of the 1979 Bee Gees disco stomper was a Hi-NRG/Europop classic even when it was released in 2000.

9. "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston

Say what you will about Whitney's overplayed version of Dolly Parton's sweet ballad, you can't deny those vocal arrangements are amazing. No wonder it was such a huge hit in 1992.

10. "Respect" by Aretha Franklin

Many forget this is a cover of Otis Redding's original (he wrote it as well). Aretha decided to record it for her first album on Atlantic Records, and the rest is history...

11. "Venus by Bananarama (1986 cover of Shocking Blue's 1970 version)
12. "Desperado" by Linda Ronstadt (Eagles cover version)
13. "Always on My Mind" by the Pet Shop Boys (Dance version of Willie Nelson's country hit)
14. "Liar, Liar" by Debbie Harry (underrated cover of the 1965 original by the Castaways)
15. "Could It Be Magic" by Donna Summer (Disco version of Barry Manilow's hit song)
16. "I'm Every Woman" by Whitney Houston (Energetic version of Chaka Khan's disco classic)
17. "Hurt" by Johnny Cash (the country legend covering Nine Inch Nails? It works beautifully)
18. "No More I Love You's" by Annie Lennox (brilliant cover of an obscure song)
19. "Wild Night" by Martha Reeves (Van Morrison cover)
20. "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by Petula Clark (a beautiful slowed-down version of the Beatles classic)