10 More Famous Songs With Unknown Originals

You know that moment when you confidently sing along in the caronly to learn the “classic” you love is actually a cover?
Congratulations: you’ve just joined the world’s biggest music-history club. Pop culture has a funny habit of crediting the loudest echo,
not the first voice in the canyon.

This list is for anyone who loves a good plot twistespecially the kind that happens in the liner notes. Below are ten mega-famous songs
where the version everyone recognizes is not the original recording (or at least not the version that came first into the world).
The originals aren’t “bad.” They’re just… hiding in plain sight, like the quiet kid in class who turns out to be a genius.

What “Unknown Originals” Really Means

No, this isn’t a conspiracy board with red string and pushpins. “Unknown originals” usually means one of three things:

• The first recording was a B-side, a regional release, or a modest flop.
• The songwriter was famous, but the first performer wasn’t (or the first release wasn’t pushed).
• The later version had better timing, bigger marketing, or a sound that fit radio like a glove.

10 More Famous Songs With Unknown Originals

1) “Hound Dog” Elvis Presley (Most Famous) / Big Mama Thornton (Original Recording)

Ask the average person who originally did “Hound Dog,” and you’ll hear “Elvis” so fast it’ll sound like a drum fill.
But the first recording that hit the world came from Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton in the early 1950sraw, bluesy,
and packed with attitude. When Elvis recorded his version in 1956, it became a cultural earthquake.
Thornton’s original didn’t just deserve the spotlightit helped build the stage.

2) “Tainted Love” Soft Cell (Most Famous) / Gloria Jones (Original Recording)

Soft Cell turned “Tainted Love” into a neon-lit synth-pop sprint in 1981, the kind of track that makes even grocery shopping feel dramatic.
But the song’s first recording was by American soul singer Gloria Jones in the mid-1960s.
Her version is all punchy Motown-adjacent energyproof that the song had great bones long before the keyboards arrived.
Soft Cell didn’t invent the heartbreak; they just gave it new eyeliner.

3) “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” Cyndi Lauper (Most Famous) / Robert Hazard (Original Demo/Recording)

Cyndi Lauper’s version is pure pop freedom: bright, bouncy, and impossible to frown through.
The twist is that the song was written by Robert Hazard in 1979 from a male perspective, closer to rock than bubblegum.
Lauper famously “flipped the script,” reshaping it into the anthem people quote, celebrate, and blast at parties when nobody’s watching.
Same title, totally different vibelike turning a moody diary entry into a parade float.

4) “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (Most Famous) / The Arrows (Original)

Joan Jett’s version is basically a musical leather jacket. It stomped onto radios in the early ’80s and never left.
But the song was first released by British glam-rock band The Arrows in the mid-1970s.
Jett saw The Arrows perform it on TV, then later made it her own with that signature grit-and-grin delivery.
The original is funJett’s is the version that kicks the door open and asks the jukebox for its number.

5) “Nothing Compares 2 U” Sinéad O’Connor (Most Famous) / The Family (First Release)

Sinéad O’Connor’s 1990 rendition is iconic in a way that feels bigger than the decade it came fromintimate, direct, and emotionally
unavoidable. The song was written by Prince, and the first official release came via his side project band The Family in 1985.
That earlier version is far less known, which is wild when you consider how globally famous the song became.
Sometimes the “original” isn’t missingit’s just quietly standing behind the superstar moment.

6) “Respect” Aretha Franklin (Most Famous) / Otis Redding (Original)

Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” is so definitive that it feels like the song arrived fully formed with her name on it.
But Otis Redding recorded and released it first in 1965. When Aretha recorded her version in 1967, she transformed itmusically and culturally
into an electrifying demand rather than a request. The result became a career-launching statement and a lasting symbol.
It’s not just a cover; it’s a reinvention that rewrote the song’s place in history.

7) “Killing Me Softly with His Song” Roberta Flack (Most Famous) / Lori Lieberman (First Recording)

Roberta Flack’s 1973 version is velvet and gravityone of those songs that can quiet a room with a single opening line (no quotes needed;
you already hear it). But the first recording was by singer-songwriter Lori Lieberman in 1972.
Flack heard the song and reshaped it into a chart-topping classic, and decades later, the Fugees gave it yet another life.
This one is a relay race: one emotional baton, multiple unforgettable handoffs.

8) “The Tide Is High” Blondie (Most Famous) / The Paragons (Original)

Blondie’s 1980 hit feels like cool confidence with a beach breezepart new wave, part reggae-flavored pop, all charisma.
The song actually began as a rocksteady track recorded by Jamaican group The Paragons in 1967, with John Holt on lead.
Blondie’s version went massive and introduced countless listeners to a whole earlier musical universe.
If you’ve ever fallen down a reggae/rocksteady rabbit hole after hearing a cover, this song is basically the gateway.

9) “Twist and Shout” The Beatles (Most Famous) / The Top Notes (First Recording)

The Beatles’ version is legendaryloud, sweaty, and famously recorded when the vocalist’s throat was on borrowed time.
But “Twist and Shout” was first recorded by an R&B group called The Top Notes in 1961.
The Isley Brothers reworked it in 1962, and then The Beatles turned it into a world-famous riot.
The song’s history is like a glow-up timeline: each version adds something until the final one becomes the poster on the wall.

10) “Dazed and Confused” Led Zeppelin (Most Famous) / Jake Holmes (Original)

“Dazed and Confused” is often filed under “classic rock immortals,” but its origin story is famously messy.
Songwriter Jake Holmes recorded it in 1967, after which The Yardbirds reworked it in their live set.
When Led Zeppelin recorded their version, the song’s credit and evolution became the subject of long-running disputes and legal action.
Whatever version you love most, it’s a reminder that “music history” sometimes comes with footnotesand lawyers.

Why Covers Outsell Originals: The Pop-Music Cheat Codes

If you’re wondering how the “second” version becomes the “only” version in people’s minds, it usually comes down to a few repeatable patterns:

• Timing: The right sound at the right moment (radio trends are picky eaters).
• Distribution: Bigger labels, better promotion, more playlists, more screens.
• Re-framing: Changing perspective, tempo, genre, or attitudewithout losing the hook.
• Icon power: A famous performer can turn a good song into a cultural event.
• Production leaps: New studio techniques can make an older composition feel brand new.

How to Be a Human “Cover-Song Detective”

Want to catch unknown originals before your friend does (and steals your thunder)? Try this:

• Look up the songwriting credits and the first release date, not just the most-streamed version.
• Search for “originally recorded by” or “first released by” along with the song title.
• Check compilation albums and reissuesbonus tracks often reveal the earlier trail.
• Follow the genre breadcrumbs: soul, rocksteady, and early R&B are cover-song gold mines.

Conclusion

Famous songs with unknown originals aren’t musical triviathey’re proof that a great idea can survive multiple lifetimes.
Sometimes the “best” version is the one that found the biggest microphone. Sometimes it’s the first one that made the whole thing possible.
Either way, listening to the originals doesn’t ruin the hit you loveit adds depth, context, and a few excellent “fun fact” moments
the next time someone says, “Wait… that was a cover?!”

of “Been There, Heard That” Experiences (Listener Edition)

If you’ve ever fallen into a “Wait, who did this first?” spiral, you already know the feeling: it starts innocent, like a quick search,
and ends with you staring at a 1960s single cover at 2 a.m. while thinking, “How is this not common knowledge?” It’s one of the most fun
kinds of musical whiplash because it changes how you hear a song you thought you had fully memorized.

A lot of people have their first “unknown original” moment through a parent, a cool uncle, or a random algorithm that refuses to mind its business.
You’re streaming the hit version, and suddenly the app serves you something labeled “(Original)” or “(1967)”and the vocals, tempo,
and whole personality of the track feel different. It’s like meeting a friend’s childhood self: recognizable, but not the same person.

The most common reaction is surprise, followed by a kind of respect (no pun intended) for how much interpretation matters.
A cover can change the emotional point of view without changing the core idea. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” is a classic example of that:
same title, but the shift in perspective turns it into something that feels bigger than a storyit becomes a statement.
That’s also why people get so attached to “their” version. It’s not always about which recording came first; it’s about which one arrived
first in your life.

There’s also a social side to these discoveries. Someone plays the famous version at a party, and you casually mention,
“You know this is a cover, right?” You don’t even mean to sound dramatic, but it lands like you just revealed a secret level in a video game.
Then the room splits into two groups: the “I had no idea!” crowd and the “Yes, and here’s the entire backstory” crowd.
Five minutes later, you’re swapping deep cuts and queuing up originals like you’re curating a tiny museum exhibit.

And honestly, that’s the best part: unknown originals make listening active again. Instead of treating songs like finished products,
you start hearing them as evolving storiespassed from artist to artist, decade to decade, genre to genre. Sometimes the original feels like
a sketch, and the famous version feels like the final painting. Other times, the original has a bite and honesty that gets smoothed out later.
Either way, once you notice how often pop history works this way, you can’t unsee itand you’ll never run out of new “Wait… seriously?”
moments.