It doesn't have to be country to be country. Here are 11 big country music hits that are actually covers of songs originally recorded by pop, rock or older country stars.
Reba McEntire has done it. Garth Brooks has done it multiple times. More recently you'll find hitmakers like Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean releasing songs that were previously recorded by others. Dolly Parton, Dwight Yoakam and Blake Shelton are three more stars who've reimagined older hits.
The 10 songs in the above video are the lesser-known, less obvious cover songs. Most longtime fans know that Travis Tritt's "Take It Easy" is an Eagles cover, Alan Jackson's "Summertime Blues" was a pop-rock hit in the late '50s (Jackson has multiple covers in his catalogue) and the Dixie Chicks' "Landslide" first belonged to Fleetwood Mac.
But did you know "Fancy" was fancy before McEntire's dramatic recreation of it, or that Shelton's most country of country hits was recorded first by at least two country legends?
Covering songs has become taboo in country circles these days, with the biggest stars choosing instead to record original material. That certainly wasn't the case in the '70s, '80s and '90s! Should Luke Bryan decide to cover Waylon Jennings one day, well, you're sure to find out about it on Taste of Country.
11 Country Covers That Became Even Bigger Hits
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
The 20 Best Songs That Make Fun of Country Music
You know the old joke about what happens when you play a country song backwards? You get your dog back, and you get your job back, you get your wife back and so on. Country music isn't just a frequent target of one-liners — there are plenty of songs that make fun of the genre, too! Some are silly, while some are voicing serious concerns. But before you put your dukes up to defend your favorite genre, take a breath: Most of these songs are good-natured jokes from artists who come from the country genre themselves, so it's all in good fun.
Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak
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