AC/DC cover voted worst ever

Celine Dion: a serial ruiner of other people's songs.
Celine Dion: a serial ruiner of other people's songs.

Celine Dion and Anastacia's performance of AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long has been named the worst cover version ever by Total Guitar magazine. This wretched reworking tops its list of abominations, while Jimi Hendrix's version of Bob Dylan's All Along The Watchtower has been voted the best cover.

Mercifully, Dion and Anastacia never released their song commercially - it was only performed once - but thanks to YouTube, its place in the musical hall of shame is assured. However, MusicRadar would contend that Dion's soulless version of Stevie Wonder's I Wish is just as bad - not a trace of funk is left by the time she's finished.

All Saints, Westlife, Will Young and The Mike Flowers Pops make up the rest of the 'worst ever' top five, while lower down the list, there are dishonourable mentions for Bruce Willis and - of course - David Hasselhoff.

Hendrix's All Along The Watchtower has long been hailed as a classic, and the same goes for The Beatles' version of Twist And Shout, which makes it to number two on the 'best ever' list. We're not sure that Guns N'Roses clumsy plod through Live And Let Die should be at number three, though - in fact, it's probably on the wrong list entirely.

Here are the top fives in full:

Worst covers
1. Celine Dion and Anastacia, You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC)
2. All Saints, Walk This Way (Run DMC ft Aerosmith)
3. Westlife, More Than Words (Extreme)
4. Will Young, Light My Fire (The Doors)
5. The Mike Flowers Pops, Wonderwall (Oasis)

Best covers
1. Jimi Hendrix, All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan)
2. The Beatles, Twist And Shout (The Top Notes)
3. Gun N' Roses, Live And Let Die (Wings)
4. Nirvana, The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie)
5. Muse, Feeling Good (Nina Simone)

Based on the votes of the Total Guitar staff, the lists of the 30 worst and 40 best covers are published in the July issue of the magazine, which is on sale now.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.