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Covering the queen, the king and the Prince of pop

To honor the birthdays of pop music icons Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson (who all turn 50 this year), Hypeful.com has put together a list of 150 cover songs of their material that other artists recorded over the years. They generously offer MP3s of each song, and some of the performers are favorite female artists and bands of AfterEllen.com bloggers and readers.

A few of the songs surprised me. For instance, did you know actress Rebecca Romjin recorded a version of Prince’s naughty “Darling Nikki” back when she was married to John Stamos? Others are a bit more familiar like Tegan and Sara’s version of “When You Were Mine.”

Michael Jackson songs:

“I Want You Back”: K.T. Tunstall, Nickel Creek
“Thriller”: Petra Haden

“Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough": Shivaree
“Beat It”: Amy Winehouse and Charlotte Church (Actually, it’s worth watching this train wreck.)

Madonna songs:

"Gone": Juliana Hatfield
“Ray of Light”: Natasha Bedingfield
“Love Profusion”: Regina Spektor

“Who’s That Girl”: Sara Culler
“Borderline”: The Chapin Sisters
“Into the Groove”: Sonic Youth
“Like A Prayer": Tori Amos

Prince songs:

“Purple Rain”: Kate Nash
“When Doves Cry”: The Be Good Tanyas

“Darling Nikki”: Rebeeca Romjin
“When You Were Mine”: Tegan and Sara
“When Doves Cry”: Ani DiFranco and Aimee Mann

I thought of a few more that didn’t make it to the Hyperful list:

Ashanti: “Rock With You” (MJ)
Chaka Khan: “I Feel For You” (Prince)
Mariah Carey: “Beautiful Ones” (Prince)
Aaliyah: “When Doves Cry” (Prince)
Dean & Britta: “I Deserve It” (Madonna)

Dame Shirley Bassey: “You’ll See” (Madonna)

My vote for the best interpretations goes to Petra Haden because she does such magical things with her voice. The worst? Oh, that’s easy: The horrid cover of “Beat It” by Amy Winehouse and Charlotte Church. If I were Charlotte, I would have kicked Amy for sabotaging what could have been a marvelous duet.

Are you familiar with any of these cover songs? Which one is your favorite? Do you have another one to add to the list?

Gina Vivinetto's blog

Submitted by

Gina Vivinetto

on September 5, 2008 - 9:00am.

TAGS ::

Goodness...

Submitted by

-=[Katie]=- (10 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 9:42am.

That Amy Winehouse and Charlotte Church cover was so bad, and I thought you couldn't get any worse than Fall Out Boys version.

Colbie Caillat has also been covering 'Want You Back' at her concerts. <3 !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-Af6bQ8maI

Missing ear drums...

Submitted by

Cat (37 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 10:04am.

Anyone seen my ear drums? Lost sometime around listening to Charlotte Church and Amy Winehouse? Anyone?

Anyone remember Alien Ant Farm doing Smooth Criminal? It's one of my shameful musical secret loves...

Are You Ok, Annie?

Submitted by

Rabbit317 (62 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 10:13am.

That was my first thought when I started reading this... I love AAF's cover- just because it's as loud and raw as I wanted the original to be.

Yay! Not alone!

I third that!

Submitted by

Gaby (333 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 12:38pm.

I loved the AAF version of Smooth Criminal.

I love Regina. My first

Submitted by

generalsmuts (5 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 10:39am.

I love Regina. My first proper girlfriend and I had our first date at a Regina Spektor gig.

Looks good

Submitted by

Emma (183 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 10:48am.

Lots of great ladies in this list, I'll have to go check it out later.

Before I do though ... Wino, oh my. Was she even really singing in that video? I could barely understand anything she was saying. Glad to hear Charlotte sounds pretty much the same though, I completely forgot about her.

___//♫♪ let your girlfriend do what your boyfriend can't

I think they'll be showing

Submitted by

chaigrrl77 (9 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 11:49am.

I think they'll be showing the Beat It cover on repeat at Guantanamo.

I pretty much despise cover songs. However, Sonic Youth did some pretty amazing covers under the name Ciccone Youth. Though they did remake "Into the Groove", their version was called "Into the Groovy", and they did a version of "Burnin' Up" as well. What I love is that Thurston Moore didn't change the gender of the object of affection from "boy" to "girl".

sara culler!!

Submitted by

alex (130 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 11:59am.

i cant believe she made this list!! i thought she was still relatively obscure, at least to those not obsessed with everything that comes out of sweden. check out "lies of justice house" - she's awesome.

In addition to the Queen,

Submitted by

ChuChu (37 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 1:23pm.

In addition to the Queen, the King, and the Prince of pop, there was another recent 50th birthday, the Goddess Kate Bush

Kate covers:

Wuthering Heights - Pat Benetar

This Woman's Work - Maxwell

The Man With the Child in His Eyes - Natalie Cole

I love Kate Bush

Submitted by

Gina Vivinetto (92 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 2:07pm.

I didn't realize she's 50 as well. That's great that you posted that info - with covers! Bravo.

Kate

Submitted by

ChuChu (37 posts)

on September 6, 2008 - 12:14am.

You're quite welcome Gina :-D I've been a fan of Kate for 30 years (ever since The Kick Inside and her appearance on SNL in Dec 1978. I was a 17 year old high school senior. I saw her, heard her, fell in love and have been a fan ever since).

Loved it!

Submitted by

Denae (25 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 5:36pm.

I loved the cover that Maxwell did of "This Woman's Work." Kate Bush rocks! (Although I do love me some Madonna....LOL) :-)

Mashup

Submitted by

ChuChu (37 posts)

on September 6, 2008 - 3:49am.

A mash-up of Kate's "My Lagen Love" with Tori Amos' "Song For Eric"..... BEAUTIFUL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3FdPQrUPzc

Yay Kate!

Submitted by

CyberWoolf (89 posts)

on September 7, 2008 - 9:16am.

Kate is just simply amazing! I loooove her and she is a Goddess!!! If you want to hear covers by some unknown artists, check out the cd called I Wanna Be Kate. They are all from local bands in Chicago. Some of the covers are really unique but most of them stay the same. I think my fave one off that cd is And Dream of Sheep with a really cool string arrangement. There Goes a Tenner is really interesting. Not my style of music but it was an interesting remake.

Alongside the Queen M...

Submitted by

STACIA (85 posts)

on November 4, 2008 - 7:21am.

I LOVE this woman (Kate Bush), and have for wow, probably around 15-20 years! My brother got me into her music, and I have been a die-hard fan ever since. Her songs speak to me like no one else's. I love her early albums, but among my favorites of her later work is "The Sensual World." I love her videos, too! Such a visionary. She was truly, truly waaaay ahead of her time. I can't believe she wrote the song "The Kick Inside" when she was just a kid.

God, I can't say enough about this woman. I so wish she was not terrified of flying. She really needs to tour the U.S.!

Formerly known on AE as "Madonnaholic"

Tori Amos did Purple Rain

Submitted by

jackedup77 (864 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 1:08pm.

Tori Amos did Purple Rain

Billy Jean

Submitted by

Bente (90 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 1:15pm.

covered by Chris Cornell

Come out, come out. Whoever you are.

Kate Bush

Submitted by

notshane (233 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 3:58pm.

Just YouTubed a Kate Bush song. Liked it.

Don't know that much about Kate Bush, but am always hearing about what a wonderful singer/songwriter she is. So why isn't she more visible? Has she stopped performing and if so, why?

Not at all! Her most recent

Submitted by

ChuChu (37 posts)

on September 6, 2008 - 12:48am.

Not at all! Her most recent cd "Ariel" was released in 2005. If you are in the US, she has just never received much airplay :-( However, outside of her 1979 tour, she rarely performes live, which is a shame because she is a supurb live performer.

BTW - What song did you YouTube that sold you ;-)

link to Ani DiFranco/Aimee Mann is incorrect

Submitted by

purrito bandito (699 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 4:13pm.

the link just goes to Tori Amos' song cover.

here's the link.... also from imeem.com:

http://www.imeem.com/mz90210/music/oXjm1h60/ani_difranco_aimee_mann_when_doves_cry_live/

purrito >' '<

Strange...

Submitted by

CuddlyCarla (80 posts)

on September 5, 2008 - 7:38pm.

Does anyone else find it odd that Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna were all born in the same summer of the same year, were the biggest musical stars of the 80s, and even started having kids at the same time?

::enter Twilight Zone music::

the Ashanti song...

Submitted by

Vix (38 posts)

on September 7, 2008 - 1:08am.

...isn't a MJ cover.

when doves cry

Submitted by

Marianna (83 posts)

on September 8, 2008 - 10:55am.

I downloaded when doves cry - ani difranco and aimee man a few months ago and i think its one of th best covers ever.

~~God save the Queen~~

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