Cover songs have long been a staple of music, although listeners tend to favor the originals. However, there have been some covers which outshone the original – in some cases, to the point that people may not realize the song with which they’re so familiar is not recorded by the original artist. Here, according to the rankings in Dave’s Music Database, are the top cover songs of all time:
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1. Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You” (1992)
2. Bill Haley & His Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954)
3. Marvin Gaye “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968)
4. Aretha Franklin “Respect” (1967)
5. Bobby Darin “Mack the Knife” (1959)
6. The Animals “The House of the Rising Sun” (1964)
7. Sinéad O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U” (1990)
8. Elton John “Candle in the Wind 1997 (Goodbye England’s Rose)” (1997)
9. Elvis Presley “Hound Dog” (1956)
10. Artie Shaw “Stardust” (1941)
11. Artie Shaw “Begin the Beguine” (1938)
12. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I Love Rock and Roll” (1981)
13. Chubby Checker “The Twist” (1960)
14. The Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody” (1965)
15. Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong “St. Louis Blues” (1925)
16. Billy Murray with the Haydn Quartet “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908)
17. Al Jolson “Swanee” (1920)
18. Ethel Waters “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933)
19. Gene Austin “My Blue Heaven” (1927)
20. Ray Charles “Georgia on My Mind” (1960)
21. The Kingsmen “Louie Louie” (1963)
22. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “All Along the Watchtower” (1968)
23. Fats Waller “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929)
24. Patti Page “Tennessee Waltz” (1950)
25. Bing Crosby “Silent Night” (1935)
26. Haydn Quartet “Sweet Adeline (You’re the Flower of My Heart)” (1904)
27. Elvis Presley “All Shook Up“ (1957)
28. Ray Charles “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1962)
29. Haydn Quartet “In the Good Old Summertime” (1903)
30. Billie Holiday “Summertime” (1936)
31. Soft Cell “Tainted Love” (1981)
32. Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes” (1981)
33. Dooley Wilson “As Time Goes By” (1942)
34. Etta James “At Last” (1961)
35. Sophie Tucker “Some of These Days” (1911)
36. Elvis Presley “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” (1960)
37. Woody Herman “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” (1941)
38. The Byrds “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)
39. Debby Boone “You Light Up My Life” (1977)
40. The Weavers “Goodnight Irene” (1950)
41. Jerry Lee Lewis “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (1957)
42. Louis Armstrong “All of Me” (1932)
43. The Flamingos “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1959)
44. Red Nichols “I Got Rhythm” (1930)
45. Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” (1949)
46. Marion Harris “After You’ve Gone” (1919)
47. Pee Wee Hunt “Twelfth Street Rag” (1948)
48. Cyndi Lauper “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (1983)
49. Larry Clinton with Bea Wain “Deep Purple” (1939)
50. Ben Selvin “Happy Days Are Here Again” (1930)
51. Arthur Collins with Byron Harlan “The Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (1918)
52. Vess Ossman “Maple Leaf Rag” (1907)
53. Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler & Joe Perry “Walk This Way” (1986)
54. The Harmonicats “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947)
55. Harry MacDonough “Down by the Old Mill Stream” (1911)
56. John McCormack “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” (1915)
57. Henry Mancini with Audrey Hepburn “Moon River” (1961)
58. Paul Whiteman “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1933)
59. The Beatles “Twist and Shout” (1963)
60. Cliff Edwards “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (1928)
61. The Ink Spots “The Gypsy” (1946)
62. Les Paul & Mary Ford “How High the Moon” (1951)
63. Ritchie Valens “La Bamba” (1958)
64. Fats Domino “Blueberry Hill” (1956)
65. Willie Nelson “Always on My Mind” (1982)
66. Glenn Miller “Tuxedo Junction” (1940)
67. The Fifth Dimension “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” (1969)
68. Perry Como “Some Enchanted Evening” (1949)
69. Vess Ossman “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” (1900)
70. Harry Nilsson “Without You” (1971)
71. The Five Satins “In the Still of the Nite (I’ll Remember)” (1956)
72. Bunny Berigan “I Can’t Get Started” (1938)
73. Count Basie “April in Paris” (1956)
74. Rudy Vallee “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” (1932)
75. Judy Garland with Gene Kelly “For Me and My Gal” (1942)
76. Coleman Hawkins “Body and Soul” (1940)
77. Alma Gluck “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” (1915)
78. Paul Whiteman “Three O’Clock in the Morning” (1922)
79. Mitch Miller “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1955)
80. Natalie Imbruglia “Torn” (1997)
81. John Yorke Atlee “Listen to the Mocking Bird (aka “The Mocking Bird”)” (1891)
82. Peerless Quartet “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier” (1915)
83. Knickerbocker Quartet “Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile” (1917)
84. Hal McIntyre with Ruth Gaylor “My Funny Valentine” (1945)
85. Fred Astaire “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” (1937)
86. The Tokens “The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)” (1961)
87. Louis Armstrong “When the Saints Go Marching In” (1939)
88. Elvis Presley “That’s All Right, Mama” (1954)
89. The Temptations “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” (1972)
90. Dionne Warwick & Friends “That's What Friends Are For” (1985)
91. Paul Whiteman “My Mammy” (1921)
92. Ada Jones & Billy Murray “Come Josephine in My Flying Machine” (1911)
93. All-4-One “I Swear” (1994)
94. Louis Armstrong “Hello Dolly!” (1964)
95. Fats Waller “Honeysuckle Rose” (1935)
96. Charles Harrison “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” (1918)
97. Roy Acuff “Wabash Cannonball” (1938)
98. Ray Noble “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (1936)
99. Ben Selvin “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” (1919)
100. Bert Williams “Nobody” (1906)
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First posted 11/23/2018; last updated 6/30/2021. | 
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