Out of all the artists in popular music, few have been as generous as Prince when it comes to letting other artists cover and remake his songs. Because of this, Prince is one of the most-covered artists in all of music: dozens of his songs have been covered by artists in numerous musical genres over the years. So if you're a devoted Prince fan (or fanatic) and can't get enough of his tunes, below is a list of some of the best versions of Prince songs by other artists. Each is definitely worth tracking down and listening to.
"Nothing Compares 2 U," by Sinead O'Connor
Beautifully heartbreaking. Technically, the original version was by a short-lived Prince side project called The Family, but it was the Purple One who wrote the music and lyrics. Sinead's version can be found on her 1990 breakthrough album, I Do No Want What I Haven't Got.
"The Beautiful Ones," by Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey and Dru Hill covered this track on Mariah's 1997 album, Butterfly, and turned in one of the best-sung Prince covers ever (if it wasn't for Sisqo's over-singing, it would be the best. Rumor is Mariah's version of the song is a commentary about her ex-husband, music mogul Tommy Mottola.
"I Feel For You," by Chaka Khan
One of the few Prince songs that's more identified with the cover artist than with the Purple One. Chaka breathed new life into her career when she covered this Prince song in 1984. But it was Melle Mel's rapping that turned this into arguably the most unique remake ever of a Prince song. Chaka's version of the song is on her I Feel for You album, which went on to sell millions of copies.
"Let's Pretend We're Married," School of Fish
This rare cover by an obscure band is one of the best Prince cover ever by a rock group. The song's not on any of the band's albums, though: it can only be found as a b-side on the group's "3 Strange Days" single.
"Kiss," by Tom Jones with Art of Noise
When this remake was recorded in 1988, Tom Jones' vocals added a whole new attitude to the song and made him a relevant artist again and Art of Noise's production resulted in this being one of the biggest hits of their careers.
TIE: "When Doves Cry" by Aaliyah and "When Doves Cry" by Ginuwine
Aaliyah's sad, haunting version of this song is rare and hard-to-find. Ginuwine's more upbeat version is on his debut album, The Bachelor.
"If I Was Your Girlfriend," by TLC
The TLC version of this song - which is on their 1994 album CrazySexyCool, is very similar to the Prince version. So much so, in fact that it's a little hard to tell which is which."Erotic City," by Semisonic
The vocals on Semisonic's version of this very naughty Prince classic are weak, but the lively rock instrumentation by the band is up to the task of matching the original version's wanton decadence. The Semisonic version can only be found on a five-song maxi-single the group released in 1998.