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I can think of a bunch of songs that have spawned many covers... sometimes too many. But which song has had the most covers / versions (including the original, if it charted) that have themselves hit the charts ? (These could be straight covers, or lyrical re-workings).

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  • 2
    Great question. I can find lists of covers that charted, as well as the most covered songs and even songs that were covers of covers, but nothing that specifically answers this. The easiest way to find out might to just count titles from the charts each year, then look at those with the highest counts and determine how many were covers vs. just songs with the same name. Which I would attempt if I could find decently formatted lists anywhere :/
    – Matthew Read
    Commented Feb 27, 2015 at 1:47

7 Answers 7

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Yesterday - The Beatles

From Wikipedia

Yesterday is one of the most recorded songs in the history of popular music; its entry in Guinness World Records states that, by January 1986, 1,600 cover versions had been made.
The song has been covered by an eclectic mix of artists including Cilla Black, Aretha Franklin, Marianne Faithfull, Tose Proeski, The Mamas and the Papas, Barry McGuire, the Seekers, Joan Baez, Donny Hathaway, Michael Bolton, Royce Campbell, Bob Dylan, Liberace, Bill Champlin, Frank Sinatra, Matt Monro, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Daffy Duck, Jan & Dean, the Sylvers, Wet Wet Wet, P. P. Arnold, Plácido Domingo, The Head Shop, Billy Dean, Wing, En Vogue, LeAnn Rimes, Muslim Magomayev, Andy Williams, and Boyz II Men.

The trouble is, I can't find a list of chart positions for these covers, so this remains speculation.

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I think Shocking Blue - Venus. It's been covered a number of times successfully:

  • Original
  • Stockley Sisters (1976)
  • Yōko Nagayama (1986)
  • Bananarama (1986)
  • Seduced (2004)

Arguably, the two most famous are the original and the Banarama cover.

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    How many versions made the singles chart and can you link to those charts?
    – Dom ♦
    Commented Mar 29, 2015 at 2:42
  • 1
    Shame it had to be this song, really ;-)
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Apr 8, 2015 at 19:13
  • I was a little dubious about this one, but apparently it hit US #1 twice in different versions, which has to be a rare distinction.
    – Chris Sunami
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 14:22
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'Unchained Melody' seems a potential winner with the following UK chart successes

  • Jimmy Young (1955)
  • Al Hibbler (1955)
  • Les Baxter (1955)
  • Liberace (1955)
  • Righteous Brothers (1965 & 1990)
  • Robson & Jerome (1995)
  • Gareth Gates (2002)

and, as can be seen from the above linked Wiki page, a raft of other successful versions (notably appearing on US genre charts).

However, 'Everlasting Love' at least matches 'Unchained Melody' in terms of UK hit versions

  • Love Affair (1968)
  • Robert Knight (1968 and 1974)
  • Rex Smith & Rachel Sweet (1981)
  • Worlds Apart (1993)
  • Gloria Estefan (1995)
  • The Cast From Casualty (1998)
  • Jamie Cullum (2004)

and also had a string of US successes, not least by Carl Carlton (1974) reaching the Billboard Hot 100 top 10.

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I Think imagine by John Lennon has made many hits throughout the years up until now.

The song have been recorded each and every year and it has made many hits in the charts.


Title   Performer   Release date    Info
Imagine John Lennon October 8, 1971 First release
Imagine Ray Conniff January 1972    
Imagine Carl Wayne  February 1972   
Imagine Joan Baez   May 1972    
Imagine Andy Williams   June 14, 1972   
Imagine Susan Shirley   October 1972    
Imagine Sarah Vaughan   1972    
Imagine Franck Pourcel et son Grand Orchestre   1972    
Imagine Ray Sanders 1972    
Imagine The Terry Baxter Orchestra and Chorus   1972    
Imagine Clodagh Rodgers 1972    
Imagine Merl Saunders   1972    
Imagine Springbok   1972    
Imagine Diana Ross  June 22, 1973   
Imagine The Larry Page Orchestra and Chorus 1973    
Imagine Vince Hill  1973    
Imagine Nana Mouskouri  1973    
Imagine Danny Williams  1973    
Imagine Wigwam  April 1975  
Imagine Mae McKenna 1975    
.
.
.

Imagine Artichoke   July 30, 2017   
Peace & Love Medley Anthem Lights   September 8, 2017   
Imagine Free Souffriau  November 17, 2017   
Imagine The Radish Friends  December 18, 2017   
Imagine Malia   April 13, 2018  
Imagine Gems    April 2018  
Imagine Rayshun LaMarr  May 14, 2018    
Imagine Thomas Quasthoff - NDR Bigband  May 18, 2018    
Imagine Shan Ako    October 20, 2018    
Imagine / What a Wonderful World    Barbra Streisand    November 2, 2018    
Imagine Peter Hollens   December 28, 2018

https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/13144/versions#nav-entity

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Although Yesterday is indubitably the most recorded song, I haven't seen any evidence that it has hit the charts multiple times, perhaps because the original version is so definitive.

Blue Moon, however, according to its Wikipedia article, has hit the US charts at least four separate times, in very different versions (as well as having additional iconic versions, such as the one by Elvis, that didn't chart), reaching #1 in the Marcels' version. An additional version charted in Canada.

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The Loco-Motion hit #1 twice and by Little Eva and then Grand Funk Railroad and then hit #3 by Kylie Minogue. For big hits charting multiple times I do not know of any more successful cover versions of any song.

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In the United States, as of November 2016, the song "Hallelujah", written by Leonard Cohen, has seen 8 different versions enter the Billboard Hot 100, with 3 of those reaching the Top 40. I'm not sure whether this is the U.S. record for this particular feat, or whether any additional versions of the song have charted since then. On edit, Leonard Cohen's original version, recorded in 1984, hit the chart on Dec. 3, 2016, shortly after his death, at no. 59 for one week. So that means that as of that week, there have been 9 versions to hit the Hot 100.

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