Some of the rock era's biggest hits were so big, it's easy to believe that these songs - many of which are the artists' signature tunes - are all original versions. It might come as a surprise to learn that these 20 songs are all covers, each one first recorded by someone else. In every case listed here, the remake far exceeded the first release of each title.
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"Without You", Nilsson (1972) and Mariah Carey (1994)
It's obvious that Mariah Carey's version of "Without You" is a cover, but most people think the original is Nilsson's recording, No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1972. Nilsson found the song one drunken night while looking for material for his Nilsson Schmilsson album. The next day, after sobering up, he searched for the song he thought was a John Lennon recording but couldn't find it on any Beatles album. Then he remembered it wasn't a Lennon song. "It was another group - Grapefruit, or something," he said. Wrong again. Turned out, "Without You" was written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans and recorded by their group, Badfinger. Nilsson took the song to his producer, Richard Perry, and told him it could be a No. 1 hit. "I wish I had written it," Nilsson said. "But then again, it's not what I write."
(excerpt from Billboard)
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