Before Whitney, there was Dolly

10 songs that were more successful as a cover

We usually remember songs in the version we first listened to, which means sometimes we gravitate towards a cover instead of the original version. But what happens when the cover is so successful that we forget the original? Here are 10 covers that made such an impact that many people believe they are originals.

One of the most memorable parts of 1992’s The Bodyguard is undoubtedly Whitney Houston’s rendition of "I Will Always Love You". But while Houston’s version broke records at that time, this song was already a hit on its own. Written by Dolly Parton in 1973 as a farewell to his then mentor and business partner Porter Wagoner, it was also a commercial success.

This is the case of an original hit that also became a hit through its cover. Bob Dylan wrote "Knocking on Heaven’s Door" as part of the soundtrack for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid in 1973, and the song instantly climbed up in the rankings. Although it has been covered by several important musicians (Eric Clapton, for example), it can’t be denied that it is most widely known as a cover by Guns N’ Roses.

"I Love Rock’n’Roll" is widely known as one of Joan Jett’s biggest hits, but her version is a cover. It was originally released by the British band The Arrows in 1975 as a response to The Rolling Stones’ "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)". Jett had unsuccessfully tried to cover the song while in the Runaways, and she was able to do it with her next band, the Blackhearts, in 1981.

UB40’s reggae cover of "Red Red Wine" had moderate success upon its 1983 release, but quickly rose in the charts when it was re-released a few years later. According to one of its members, they heard the song as a cover and didn’t know that the original was by Neil Diamond. Reportedly, UB40’s cover version is one of Diamond’s favorites, and he often performs their reggae arrangement in his own concerts.

Did you know that one of the main girl anthems of the '80s was originally written and performed by a man? "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was penned and performed by rock singer Robert Hazard in 1979, and was written from a male perspective. When one of Hazard’s friends brought the song to Cindy Lauper to re-record as a pop-electronic version in 1983, she changed some of the lyrics to fit it to her own perspective.

Johnny Cash’s version of "Ring of Fire" (1963) is part of the Grammy Hall of Fame, but he is not the original singer or songwriter. This song was actually written by Cash’s future wife, June Carter, alongside Merle Kilgore, and was initially performed by June’s sister, Anita Carter, as "(Love’s) Ring of Fire" in 1962. Cash’s first wife, Vivian Distin, has always said that he was the original writer, but the jury’s still out on that one.

Rascal Flatts' version of "Life Is a Highway" (2006) for the movie Cars is the band’s most-streamed song of all time. The original version is by the Canadian singer Tom Cochrane, and was initially conceived in 1991 as "Love Is a Highway", though the title was later changed. While technically Cochrane’s version did better in the charts, the Rascal Flatts version is nowadays more widely known.

When the lead singer for The Zutons wrote "Valerie" for one of his friends in 2006, the track was quite successful, claiming a high position in the UK charts. However, it was Amy Winehouse’s 2007 version with Mark Ronson that cemented the song's popularity, and it is believed by many to be a Winehouse original.

Where were you when you found out that Sinéad O’Connor’s most famous hit is actually a cover? This song was written by no other than Prince (yes, the one from "Purple Rain") in 1984, and originally performed by his band, the Family. However, the original version was not successful, and the song became a worldwide hit in 1990 in O’Connor’s voice.

When Chris Stapleton decided to randomly sing "Tennessee Whiskey" during a soundcheck, he never imagined how popular his version would be, especially after performing it at the CMAs. The track was written in the 1980s by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove, and initially recorded by David Allan Coe, but it didn’t make a big impact. A later version by George Jones 81983) had more success in the Country music charts, but it was Stapleton’s cover (2015) that made the song widely known outside of the genre.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

Stranger Than Fiction: 10 Unbelievable Events That Actually Happened

Image: Diana van Ormondt

They say truth is stranger than fiction, and some of these historical events are living proof of this old adage.

Brace yourself for a rollercoaster ride through history, where the strange and unexpected take center stage in the theater of reality. From absurd battles to mysterious weather phenomena, these 10 astonishing tales will leave you thinking long and hard about the complexities of human history.

Image: Sharon Co Images

Wars are typically waged between nations, but in 1932, Australia faced an unusual adversary: emus. After large numbers of these flightless birds invaded crucial farmland within Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, the government decided to intervene by sending soldiers armed with machine guns to reduce the emu population in the area. However, most attempts were ineffective at most, killing very few birds and costing thousands of dollars in supplies and ammunition.

As soon as the first shot was fired, the seemingly tame emu dispersed way beyond the range of the machine guns, and apparently switched to guerrilla tactics of sorts, avoiding all further military ambushes and frontal attacks while still feasting on the farmer’s crops. The government’s futile attempts were ridiculed and physical barrier methods to manage wildlife were preferred from then on. Sadly, they give no medals for having endured the Great Emu War.

Image: Hannah Skelly

In 1518, the town of Strasbourg, France, was gripped by a strange and inexplicable phenomenon - people suddenly began dancing uncontrollably in the streets. The dancing madness persisted for weeks, with some of the affected succumbing to exhaustion or even death. The authorities at the time did not know how to react, and some people even joined the dancers voluntarily, as they feared it was a punishment from Saint Vitus (and presumably wanted to stay on the safe side).

After many efforts to fight the strange epidemic, the dancing eventually subsided and people in the town could resume their normal lives. While theories range from mass hysteria to hallucinogenic substances and neurological disorders like Sydenham's chorea, the event remains a historical enigma that challenges our understanding of the human mind and collective behavior.

Image: Nima Sarram

In 1908, a massive explosion flattened over 80 million trees in the remote Tunguska region of Siberia. The cause? A mysterious airburst, likely caused by the explosion of a meteoroid or comet in Earth's atmosphere. It is now estimated that the event had an explosive energy of 3 to 5 megatons, equivalent to over a thousand Hiroshima bombs. The resulting shockwave broke windows, and knocked people down hundreds of miles away, reaching an equivalent of an earthquake of 5.0 on the Richter scale in some areas.

A bright glow was observed in night skies in Asia and Europe for days after the event due to high-altitude ice particles that formed as a result of the explosion. For all its magnitude, the explosion left no visible crater and minimal debris beside the devastated forest. The Tunguska Event serves as a stark reminder of the potential cosmic threats that lurk in the darkness of space.

Image: British Library

Miscommunication can often lead to chaos, but rarely on the scale witnessed in the Battle of Karánsebes in 1788. The Austrian army, at the time facing the Ottoman Empire, descended into total anarchy when two different scouting parties mistook one another for the enemy, fired on each other, and raised the alarm.

Making matters worse, the Austrian army was made of men of different nationalities who more often than not could not understand each other. All attempts to end confusion and the ensuing friendly fire on the part of the Austrian emperor himself were in vain, and after a while - deeply demoralized - he was forced to give the order of retreat. When the Ottoman army arrived two days later, they found an empty battlefield and were able to take the city of Karánsebes without any resistance.

Image: Aswathy N

In 1807, eight years before Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte had a humiliating defeat at the hands of a strange opponent - a horde of rabbits. During the celebrations that followed the Treaties of Tilsit - which effectively ended the war between the French and Imperial Russia - Napoleon’s chief of staff Alexandre Berthier had the idea of organizing a rabbit hunt to entertain its guests.

So far, nothing out of the ordinary for the time, but when the rabbits were simultaneously freed along the edges of a grassy field, instead of scattering as expected, all these fluffy beasts began running toward their amused hunters. But the fits of laughter didn’t last long, as the now-hunted hunters realized that there was nothing they could do to stop the relentless animals as they swarmed their positions and had no other choice than to flee. Some accounts state that Berthier had gathered around 3000 rabbits, so not even mighty Napoleon was a match for this unexpected army.

Apparently, the chief of staff's mistake was buying tame rabbits from local farmers, accustomed to being fed by humans, instead of trapping wild hares for the hunt. If we learned anything from the Great Emu War, the lesson is clear: never underestimate animals!

Image: Mitsuo Komoriya

In the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia - the largest in at least 1,300 years - 1816 became known as the "Year Without a Summer." The volcanic ash floating in the atmosphere led to climate abnormalities worldwide, resulting in crop failures and widespread famine in the most affected areas.

In Europe and North America temperatures plummeted, and most crops suffered irreparable damage due to the persistent frost. In the United States, a "dry fog" was observed in the eastern regions, dimming sunlight so much that sunspots were visible to the naked eye. Also, the high level of volcanic particles present in the atmosphere caused strange optical effects in the following years, such as strong red hues during sunsets, which can be observed in many paintings produced at the time.

Image: Tiana Attride

It seems that wars against unusual adversaries are a fashionable trend in human history because the Roman Emperor Caligula declared war in the year 40 AD on no one other than the god Neptune himself, king of the raging seas.

Known for his eccentricity, Caligula allegedly ordered his legionnaires to "attack" the sea with swords and spears, after which he declared victory against the powerful god and told the men to gather seashells as trophies of war. One can only imagine that the soldiers had a fun -albeit puzzling- day.

Image: Tim Mossholder

In the late 1980s, Pepsi briefly possessed the sixth-largest navy in the world. In exchange for commercializing Pepsi products in the Soviet Union, the company received 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer.

However, the fleet was composed of obsolete and unseaworthy vessels that were destined to be turned into scrap almost immediately. The payment was made in the only resources the USSR could gather easily at the time, and it provided a way to establish profitable international relations - and open up to the world.

Image: Garry T

The American Civil War started and concluded with a curious connection to Wilmer McLean, an American wholesale grocer from Virginia. The conflict's first major battle, the First Battle of Bull Run, took place in McLean's farm in 1861. A cannonball fell directly through the kitchen fireplace of the McLean’s house, which was being used as headquarters for the Confederate Army, destroying the dinner that was being prepared by the stationed officers - something that was noted not without humor by the Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard.

The McLean family moved to Appomattox, Virginia trying to escape the war, but just four years later, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in McLean's parlor, marking the conclusion of the Civil War. Unintentionally, McLean was a prime witness of one of America’s most defining conflicts. Later, he said of this: "The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor."

Image: Snowscat

Genghis Khan's vast empire and brutal military campaigns had an unexpected impact on the Earth's climate. A recent study suggests that the Mongol invasions in the 13th century led to a significant reduction in global carbon dioxide levels, as large areas of cultivated land returned to forests.

This had the unintentional effect of scrubbing as much as 700 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere, roughly equivalent to the global annual consumption of gasoline today. This drastic ecological shift highlights the effect that land use, and particularly deforestation can have on our planet at a large scale.