Misattributed Song / A To M

0– 9

• "1000 Nights and One" is not by Dune. It's by East Beat Syndicate. Likewise, "Love Transmission" is not by Captain Jack.
• "3 A.M." is not by the Goo Goo Dolls, and "Slide" is not by Matchbox Twenty. (Two songs that sound completely the same by two groups who were popular at the same time.)
• "3D Dance" is not by Men Without Hats, but by fellow Montreal synthpop group Trans-X.
• The 1981 song "'65 Love Affair" sounds a lot like Billy Joel's or Daryl Hall & John Oates' output around the same time, but is actually by Paul Davis.
• "7 Years" is not by Jason Mraz, but by Danish band Lukas Graham. The song even mentions the band by name.
• "88 Lines About 44 Women" was not done by They Might Be Giants. It was released by a band called The Nails. TMBG has a number of songs misattributed to them.
• "99 Red Balloons" was not covered by AFI, NOFX or Reel Big Fish. The version that you heard was actually covered by 7 Seconds (on the album Walk Together). The other well known cover, which was featured in Gran Turismo 3, is by Goldfinger, not any of the aforementioned bands. The original, of course, was done by Nena (not Nina Hagen or Björk, with or without the Sugarcubes).
• Binary Finary's 19XX (originally 1998, then 1999) was remixed by Gouryella (Ferry Corsten and DJ Tiesto), not Veracocha (Ferry Corsten and Vincent de Moor). Some CD compilations actually mislabeled it this way.
• "5th of July" is not by The Bangles, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, or Tiffany. It's by Louise Goffin, the daughter of Carole King.
• Rick Springfield did not sing "867-5309/Jenny", nor did Huey Lewis and the News. It's by early '80s one-hit wonders Tommy Tutone (who were a band, not a solo artist).
  • blink-182 never covered "867-5309". That was Less Than Jake or Bracket.

A

• "A Better World" is not by Jewel or Kate Bush. It's by the Italo-Eurodance group Kate Project (who covered Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights").
• "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" isn't by 3 Doors Down, Matchbox Twenty, blink-182, Third Eye Blind, Matchbook Romance, Simple Plan, or Bowling for Soup, it's actually by the One-Hit Wonder band Nine Days.
• "Absolutely Right" is not by a-ha, Alphaville, or The Human League, but by Swedish synthpop group Sine City.
• "Addicted" was not by 3 Doors Down, Hinder, or Fall Out Boy. It was by Saving Abel.
• "Addicted to Love" is not by Huey Lewis and the News. It's by Robert Palmer.
• "Adiemus" isn't by Enya or Enigma; it's written by Karl Jenkins, and performed by a group named, appropriately enough, Adiemus. (Jenkins also wrote the music from the De Beers Diamonds ads, incidentally.)
• Paramore does not have a song called "Again". That's by Flyleaf.
• Michael Bolton did not cover Marvin Gaye's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", that was Michael McDonald. Ditto "Sweet Freedom", which by the way was not originally sung by Shawn Christopher.
• Lenny Kravitz has never covered Bill Withers "Ain't No Sunshine". That version is by the Lighthouse Family.
  • The cover by "Otis Redding" is actually by Al Jarreau. In fact, Redding was dead when the song was written.
• The Airwolf theme was not composed by Jan Hammer, but by Sylvester Levay.
• "All About That Bass" is not by Amy Winehouse, Adele, or Nelly Furtado. It's by Meghan Trainor. Same deal with "Lips are Movin'", "Dear Future Husband", "Like I'm Gonna Lose You", "No", and any other song that Meghan Trainor sang.
• "All Around the World" (not "Been Around the World", though said title was used for a Puff Daddy song that sampled the chorus) is not by Whitney Houston or Chaka Khan, but by white British R&B/soul singer Lisa Stansfield.
• "All for You" is not a Blues Traveler song, nor is it a Counting Crows song, but a Sister Hazel song. Yup, another One-Hit Wonder.
  • John Popper, Blues Traveler's lead singer, is quite annoyed by this misconception, enough so that he wrote something of an answer song called "Just for Me" that includes the lyrics "Just another I-IV-V" (common pop chord progression) and "Oh wait, that's right, no it wasn't me, I didn't do it / Say what you will, but you can't blame a thing on me". Subtle, but awesome.
  • In addition, "Happy" (no relation to the Pharrell Williams song) is not by Counting Crows, but, again, by Sister Hazel, apparently doing their hardest to ape Counting Crows' "Mr. Jones".
• "All I Need is a Miracle" is not by The Cars or The Police, but by Mike + the Mechanics (a side project of Genesis' Mike Rutherford).
• The 1998 #1 hit "All My Life" is not by Boyz II Men. It's by K-Ci & JoJo, formerly of Jodeci (and no, it's not Jodeci's own song).
• "All Out of Love" is not by REO Speedwagon. It's by Air Supply.
• "All She Wants to Do is Dance" is not by Michael Jackson or Prince, but by Don Henley of the Eagles. Also not to be confused with "Everything She Wants" by Wham!, "She Wants to Dance with Me" by Rick Astley, or "All That She Wants" by Ace of Base.
• That song "All You Wanted" that ends with "When you're gone" is by Michelle Branch. "When You're Gone" by Avril Lavigne is a completely different song.
• The songs "Almost", "The Girl All the Bad Guys Want", and the punk cover of "...Baby One More Time" are not by Simple Plan. They are all by Bowling for Soup. People seem to confuse Simple Plan with Bowling for Soup.
• Lasgo did not cover Heart's "Alone", that was DHT. Lasgo did produce an original song titled "Alone" that is completely different from the Heart song.
• A different song called "Alone", performed by Post-Grunge band Downface, has been mislabeled as Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Creed, tool or various combinations thereof.
• "Alone Again, Naturally" is not Paul McCartney. It's the only #1 hit of Gilbert O'Sullivan.
• "A Love Like This" is not by Roxette or Ace of Base. It's by Pandora, AKA Anneli Magnusson, who is also a Europop artist from Sweden.
• "Already Gone" (not to be confused with the Eagles song) is not by Beyoncé or Fergie; "Stronger" (the 2011 hit, not to be confused with the Britney Spears song, the Kristine W. song mentioned below, or the Kanye West song) is not by Lady Gaga; and "Walk Away" is not by P!nk. All three are by Kelly Clarkson. "Already Gone" has been compared to Beyonce’s "Halo"; both were co-written by Ryan Tedder.
• The '80s version of the Burt Bacharach song "Always Something There to Remind Me" is not by Modern English, Soft Cell, or Tears for Fears. It's by Naked Eyes. Naked Eyes' other hit "Promises, Promises", which is not a cover of a Bacharach song despite sharing its name with one, is not by any of those artists either.
• The Byrds didn't reunite to record "American Girl"; that's Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Though, to make it confusing, Roger McGuinn did record a cover of it.
• "Amore", the Eurodance song with Spanish vocals featured in In the Groove 2, is not by Sash!, Alexia, Loona, or Missing Heart, but by the Swedish-Finnish group Uniq.
• "Anniversary" (not "It's Our Anniversary") is not by Babyface or Tevin Campbell, that's Tony! Toni! Toné!.
• "Another Saturday Night" is not an Andy Gibb song; the version you're hearing is Cat Stevens covering up Sam Cooke. By extension, it's also not an early Bee Gees song, either.
• "American Woman" was not originally by Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Steppenwolf, or The Who. That was The Guess Who. There are people who think it was Lenny Kravitz, but that's another trope.
• "America Online" is not by M83; it's by The Midnight.
• Nine Inch Nails never did a song called "Angel". That's by Vinyl Sun.
• Another song called "Angel" is often purported to be by Type O Negative. While it has a similar style to Type O, it's not them; it's another Gothic Metal band named Tears of Passion.
  • Sadly, the only reason why anyone has heard of Tears of Passion is because of the misattribution.
  • Type O Negative never covered "Possession" by Sarah McLachlan, either. That was Mad Machinery.
• "Angel of Mine" is not by Aaliyah; it's by Monica covering up Eternal.
• Marilyn Manson has never covered "Another Brick in the Wall". That cover is by Class of '99, a short-lived supergroup including Layne Staley, Tom Morello and Stephen Perkins, for the film The Faculty. Manson was not a part o that group no were any other members of his band.
• "Anthem", not "I'm In Love with You" or "True Love Can Be Hard to Find" is not by Livin' Joy, but by N-Joi. Likewise, "(Gonna Bring You) Joy" is by Staxx.
• "Anything For Love" is not by Donna Summer, but by the much younger Reina, although both it and Summer's "I Will Go With You" (an English cover of Andrea Bocelli's "Con te partirò") were produced by Hex Hector, hence the stylistic similarities.
• Siouxsie and the Banshees didn't cover Tubeway Army's "Are Friends Electric?". That was either Republica or Moloko.
• "Are You Gonna Go My Way" sounds a lot like ZZ Top. It's not. It's actually by Lenny Kravitz.
• Rage Against the Machine did not do the D-Generation X theme "Are You Ready". That was Jim Johnston featuring Age Against the Machine.
• The nu-Italo dance song "Around The World" with the refrain "Wanna fly with you 'round the world" is not by Whigfield, Nathalie, or Dhany. It's by More, AKA Stefania di Stefano.
• "Around the World (La La La La La)" is not by A-Teens, but by the similarly named German Europop group ATC (A Touch of Class), who, unsurprisingly, were One Hit Wonders.
  • And by the way, the ATC version was a cover. The original is called "Pesenka" and is by Ruki Vverkh, a Russian group. Both feature similar vocals but the instrumentation in the original song is simpler.
• "As Time Goes By" is not by Cole Porter. It was written by the comparatively obscure Herman Hupfeld.
• "As We Grow Old" is not by Lights. It's by Victoria Celestine. Likewise, "Can You Hear The Echo?" may be mistaken for Grimes.
• The vocalist of Chicane's "Autumn Tactics" was not Beth Orton, but a pre-fame Justine Suissa, who was later the main vocalist for Oceanlab and also sang on Armin Van Buuren's "Burned With Desire" and "Wall of Sound".
• "At Seventeen" is not by Janis Joplin. It's by Janis Ian. In fact, Joplin was dead for five years when Ian recorded it. Ian's other hit "Society's Child", did predate Joplin's death, though.
  • "Brand New Key" (not "The Rollerskate Song") isn't by Janis Joplin either, but by Melanie Sabka. Again, Janis Joplin was dead when the song was written.
• "Automatic Lover" (the 1978 synth-disco song, not to be confused with the 1995 Eurodance song by Real McCoy) was not performed by ABBA, Blondie, Donna Summer or Gloria Gaynor, nor was it produced by Giorgio Moroder, despite its stylistic resemblance to his productions such as "I Feel Love" and "Heart of Glass". It's by English diva Dee D. Jackson, with production by Gary & Patty Unwin. Also not to be confused with The Pointer Sisters' 1983 song "Automatic".
• "Awake" is not by Disturbed, Static-X and Slipknot working together; it was solely done by The Clay People.
• The trance song "Awakening" was not by Cygnus X, but by Rank 1 long after CX disbanded, although it is similar to R1's remix of CX's "Superstring".
• "Axel F" (the Beverly Hills Cop theme) was composed and performed by Harold Faltermeyer, not by Herbie Hancock or Paul Hardcastle, though the track resembles Hancock's "Rockit".
• The trance group Ayla never produced a song titled "Ayla Part 3", that's "Escape" by fellow German trance act Kay Cee.
  • Ayla also did not produce "Apollo 1999", that was a song titled "Ayla" (different from the group's self titled song) by MP3.com artist Electicus, pastiching the group Ayla's signature style.
  • And Robert Miles was not in any way involved with Ayla's "Atlantis", despite the piano-based melody reminiscent of his style.

B

• The #1 hit "Baby Come Back" is not by Hall & Oates. It's not by Little River Band either. It's by Player.
  • The Bee Gees never covered this song.
• "Baby Don't Hurt Me", the 2023 EDM single that interpolates the refrain of Haddaway's "What Is Love?", is not by Calvin Harris and/or Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, or Bebe Rexha, but by David Guetta feat. Anne Marie and Coi Leray.
• "Baby Got Back" (not "I Like Big Butts") is not by MC Hammer. It's by One-Hit Wonder Sir Mix-A-Lot.
  • "I'm Too Sexy" isn't an MC Hammer song either. It's by Right Said Fred; once-again, a One-Hit Wonder.
• The 1986 hit "Baby Love" (not to be confused with The Supremes song of the same title) is not by Madonna but by one hit wonder Regina. It was originally written for Madonna by frequent collaborator Stephen Bray, but when she turned it down Regina was brought in to be a Suspiciously Similar Substitute. Not only did the production team intentionally try to make her vocals sound like Madge's, but she's even made up to look like Madonna in the music video and on the single cover art. It's also not by Regina Belle.
• Mr. Bungle never did a version of Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time", nor did Mike Patton cover it as a solo artist. That rendition is actually by The Ping Pang Band. The confusion apparently started with the Ping Pang Band version being uploaded to an ftp site that was otherwise dedicated to bootlegs of Mr. Bungle and related projects - The Ping Pang Band have absolutely no connection to Mr Bungle or any other Mike Patton affiliated project, though the vocals on their cover were clearly an Affectionate Parody of Patton.
  • The acoustic cover is not by Weezer, System of a Down, or Blink-182. That would be Scottish band Travis.
  • The pop punk cover is not by Simple Plan but rather Bowling for Soup.
  • Type O Negative never covered it either. That's just Britney slowed down.
• UB40 are probably best-known for their reggae covers of classic songs, but such a cover of "Baby, I Love Your Way" was done by the relatively-obscure One-Hit Wonder group Big Mountain, who came out during UB40's heyday.
  • And UB40 didn't do a reggae cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World", that was Maxi Priest.
• "Bachata", not to be confused with Manuel Turizo's "La Bachata", is not a collaboration between Prince Royce and Pitbull(or any other Latin-American rapper), but rather German rapper Kay One and German-born Spanish singer Cristobal.
• "Back at One", the #2 hit from 1999, is not by 98 Degrees, Boyz II Men, R. Kelly, or Westlife. It's by Brian McKnight, with a cover by Mark Wills.
• "Back For Good" is not by George Michael, it's by the group Take That.
• "Back Here" is not by the Backstreet Boys, it's by UK One-Hit Wonder boy band BB Mak.
  • "Let's Go All The Way" is not by the Backstreet Boys either, but by One-Hit Wonder contemporaries React, though it does resemble "Everybody". (And it's not to be confused with the 1986 hit "Let's Go All The Way" by the One-Hit Wonder duo Sly Fox.)
• "Bad Boys", better known as the COPS theme, is not by Bob Marley, who had been dead six years at the time of its release. It's by Inner Circle.
• "Bad Day" was not sung by Jason Mraz or John Mayer, but rather One-Hit Wonder Daniel Powter.
• "Bad Girlfriend" is not by Nickelback. It's by longtime labelmates Theory of a Deadman. It does sound a little like "Animals," though. Not to mention that band was discovered by Nickelback's Chad Kroeger.
• "Bad of the Heart" is not by George Michael, but by One-Hit Wonder freestyle singer George Lamond.
• "Bad Reputation" (not to be confused with the Joan Jett song) is not by AC/DC. It's by Thin Lizzy.
• "Bad Thing" is not by Bad Company; it's by Cry of Love.
• "Bad to the Bone" is not by ZZ Top. It's George Thorogood. Also, it's not by Bo Diddley, either. The song's guitar riff was borrowed from "I'm a Man," which is over twenty years older. George Thorogood acknowledged this by having Bo Diddley appear in the video.
• There's a strange misconception in some corners of the Internet, shared by a surprising number of lyrics archives, that the Blue Öyster Cult recorded "Ballroom Blitz". The fact that British glam-rockers The Sweet recorded this and had the hit single does not stop it being attributed to the BOC. Nor does the fact it was written by another songwriting team ^note Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman stop it being credited to Eric Bloom and Donald Roeser. OK, it sounds like something the BÖC might have recorded (despite the facts that their songs have slower tempos and Buck Dharma doesn't scream like Brian Connolly does) or at least covered live - but they've never been anywhere near it. Consider the opening lyrics:
  Are you ready, Steve? Aha.
  Andy? Yeah! Mick? OK.
  Alright, fellas, let's Go!!
  • Strange for a band whose members are called Eric, Buck/Donald, Allen (Lanier), Albert (Bouchard) and Joey (Bouchard)^note That was the lineup in their heyday anyway; only Eric and Buck are still in the band today.. Steve (Priest), Andy (Scott) and Mick (Tucker) are, in reality, the first names of the Sweet (as well as Brian).
  • "Ballroom Blitz" was never recorded by AC/DC or the Misfits, either. That cover is by Swiss band Krokus, who often resembled (some might say copied) AC/DC.
    • The original was not by Queen either, nor was it written for/about The Rocky Horror Picture Show, similarities to "The Time Warp" notwithstanding.
• "Balls to the Wall" is not an AC/DC song, nor is it a Quiet Riot song. The song is by 80s metal band, Accept.
• "Bang the Drum All Day" is not by the Specials but by Todd Rundgren.
• The punk rock cover of Aqua's "Barbie Girl" with male vocals is not by Mx Px, The Offspring, Zebrahead, Lagwagon, Blink-182, or Good Charlotte. It's by Home Grown.
  • Rammstein never covered the song either. That turned out to be a Dutch parody by Ome Henk, "Neem een ander in de maling".
• "Battlefield" is not by Leona Lewis or Mary J. Blige, but by Jordin Sparks.
• "Battle Flag" is not by Fat Boy Slim, Fluke, Moby, or The Chemical Brothers; it's by Pigeonhed, remixed by Lo-Fidelity Allstars.
• "Battleship Chains" is not by 38 Special. It's by Georgia Satellites.
• "Beachball" (not "Let's Go to the Beach" or "People Get Ready") is not by Rozalla. It was produced by Nalin & Kane, and sung by Shondell Mims.
• "Be As One" was not a BT/Jan Johnston collaboration. That was Sasha featuring Maria Nayler of Robert Miles' "One And One" fame.
• Neither Dave Aude not Matt Darey remixed Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful"; that mix was by Valentin. "Beautiful" by Matt Darey featuring Marcella Woods is a completely different song.
• "Beautiful Day" is not by Coldplay, but by U2. Though U2 did eventually perform the song with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.
• "Being Boiled" is not by Depeche Mode; it's the debut single of The Human League, originally released in 1978, two years before DM's foundation. DM never covered it either, though KMFDM did.
  • The female-voiced industrial cover of "Being Boiled" is not by Ayria or Lydia Lunch, but Bestial Mouths.
• The Spanglish cover of The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" is not by Camila Cabello, Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez, or Shakira; it's by Dominican-American singer and actress Leslie Grace.
• "Be Near Me" is not by The Human League, Spandau Ballet, or Tears for Fears, but by ABC. Conversely, "Human" is not by ABC, but The Human League, though both groups are from Sheffield.
• "Be OK" is not by Sara Bareilles, but by Ingrid Michaelson. The two have collaborated, but not on this song.
• "The Bad Touch" is not by blink-182. It is by the Bloodhound Gang.
  • Subverted with "Discovery Channel" by Eiffel 65, which turned out to be a remix of "The Bad Touch"... done by Eiffel 65.
• "The Beer Song" is not by "Weird Al" Yankovic, They Might Be Giants, Trey Parker and Matt Stone or Adam Sandler. In fact, the original singer is unknown.
• "The Best Thing" is not by Jimmy Eat World. It's actually by Relient K.
• "The Boys Are Back in Town" is by Thin Lizzy, not Bad Company or Bruce Springsteen.
• "Be Thankful For What You Got" (not "Diamond in the Back") is not by Curtis Mayfield. William DeVaughn sung the song and its actual name is "Be Thankful For What You Got". The "Diamond in the Back" name is a Ludacris song that samples it.
• "Bette Davis Eyes" is not by Rod Stewart. The version you're familiar with is by Kim Carnes (from an album called Mistaken Identity, appropriately enough).
  • It's not Bonnie Tyler either; on a related note, don't confuse "Total Eclipse of the Heart" or "Holding Out for a Hero" with Stewart or Carnes.
  • Interestingly, the theme song to the Michael Crichton movie Looker is frequently misattributed to Carnes. It’s actually by Sue Saad.
    • Actually, it’s only a partial misattribution. Carnes did a cover of "Looker" on her Voyeur album, but people mistakenly attribute her song for being the original theme. It’s not.
• "Best Friend" and "Tarzan and Jane" are not by Aqua. They're by Toy-Box. For a matter of fact, the two bands often get mistaken for each other.
• "Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out)" (not "I've Seen Better Days") by Citizen King is often mistakenly attributed to Sublime, Everclear, Citizen Cope or Sugar Ray due to stylistic similarities. Naturally, Citizen King became a one-hit wonder.
• "Better Place" and "Let Me Live My Life" are not by Three Days Grace. They're both by Saint Asonia, fronted by former 3DG frontman Adam Gontier.
• "Better Now" is not a David Bowie song; it's by Collective Soul.
• "Big Bad John" was not by Johnny Cash. That was Jimmy Dean.
  • Have you ever had Johnny Cash sausage?
• A few people actually believed, in the beginning, that Jim Parsons sang the theme song to The Big Bang Theory. It was written and performed by the Barenaked Ladies. It's not by They Might Be Giants either.
• "Big Girls Don't Cry" (the 2007 song, not the Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons song) is not by Christina Aguilera or Gwen Stefani, but by Fergie.
• "Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream)" is not by Oingo Boingo. It's by The Icicle Works.
• "Bitch" (the 1997 hit, not The Rolling Stones' song) was not sung by Alanis Morissette. That was One-Hit Wonder Meredith Brooks.
  • It's not by Sheryl Crow, either.
  • And not by Tori Amos too.
• "Bitchin' Camaro" is not by Dead Kennedys, it's by The Dead Milkmen.
• "Bitter Sweet Symphony" is not by The Verve Pipe, Coldplay, Radiohead or Oasis, but just The Verve.
  • Brian Vander Ark, the lead singer of the Verve Pipe, lampshades this trope on his Twitter profile and sang a karaoke version of "Bittersweet Symphony" in September 2015.
  • Coldplay later performed the song live with the Verve's lead singer, Richard Ashcroft, at the Live 8 festival.
  • The trance version, "Water Verve", is not by ATB, but by Mark van Dale with Enrico (not to be confused with Marc van Linden).
  • "The Drugs Don't Work" by The Verve is also commonly mislabeled as being by Radiohead. It gets worse; since Ashcroft's voice bears little resemblance to that of Thom Yorke, a few people who fell for the error actually assumed the song was sung by another member for a change, with Yorke demoted to backing vocals!
• The Pet Shop Boys do not have a song titled "Every Time I See You Falling". That's "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order. And Orbital never covered or remixed it.
  • The cover sung by a woman is not by Jewel but by Frente! (or possibly Devine & Statton, who did a similar acoustic version a couple of years earlier - and being so similar, that one sometimes gets misattributed to Frente!.)
• "Black Cat" is not a Pat Benatar song. It's by Janet Jackson.
• Gene Pitney never sang "Black Is Black." Los Bravos did.
• "Black Velvet" is not by Joan Jett or Pat Benatar, but by Canadian One-Hit Wonder Alannah Myles.
  • Melissa Etheridge was also miscredited for the song, but she later covered it on a 2020 livestream.
• That acoustic version of Radiohead's "Blow Out" you may have found online doesn't feature The Pixies (who had broken up not long before Radiohead's Pablo Honey came out anyway). It's Thom Yorke being backed up by Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies live in studio for a Canadian radio broadcast. Presumably this misattribution started with someone mishearing the DJ who lists off the names of the performers afterwards.
• Marilyn Manson never covered New Order's "Blue Monday". That was Orgy.
  • Helps that the song was featured on the Not Another Teen Movie soundtrack along with Manson's cover of "Tainted Love".
• The '70s version of "Black Betty" was not by Lynyrd Skynyrd or ZZ Top, but rather by One-Hit Wonder Ram Jam.
• Not every song on The Bob & Tom Show is by Heywood Banks or Rodney Carrington.
  • Nor is every song performed by Bob or Tom (or Chick or Kristi)...
• "Block Rockin' Beats" isn't by The Prodigy. It's by The Chemical Brothers.
• "Blood and Tears" is not by Tears for Fears, but by Danzig.
• "Blood in my Eyes" was not by Ozzy Osbourne, Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, or Godsmack; that was a group called Dimestore Hoods.
• "Blood Is Pumpin'" is not by Warp Brothers, Aquagen, or Darude, but by Voodoo & Serrano.
• Cradle of Filth never did a Bloody Tears Cover. It's by Naoto Shibata PROJECT.
• The Blue Man Group did not do "Blue (Da Ba Dee)", that was Eiffel 65, who couldn't be any more different from Blue Man Group.
• "Bodies" (not "Let The Bodies Hit The Floor") was not by System of a Down, Rob Zombie, Disturbed, Sum 41(!), Godsmack, Slipknot, or Korn, but by Drowning Pool. In Zombie's case, this is because the song sounds similar to "Dragula."
• "Body Crumbles" is not by Linkin Park, it's by Dry Cell (but Chester Bennington does appear without Linkin Park on the Queen of the Damned soundtrack alongside this song).
• The Bee Gees did not sing "Boogie Wonderland", that was Earth, Wind & Fire featuring The Emotions.
  • The Bee Gees also didn't perform "After The Love Has Gone"; that's still Earth, Wind & Fire.
  • "Cherish" is not the Bee Gees either. That's Kool & the Gang.
• "Boom Boom Boom" is not by Reel 2 Real, it's by The Outhere Brothers.
• "Boom Clap", the theme from The Fault in Our Stars, is not by Avril Lavigne, Miley Cyrus, CHVRCHES, or Icona Pop. It's by Charli XCX, who collaborated with Icona Pop on "I Love It". And Cimorelli didn't perform it first.
• The Title Theme Tune of the late '70s children's TV series Boomerang was sung not by Julie Andrews, but by host Marni Nixon, though she previously started alongside Andrews in The Sound of Music.
• The happy hardcore song "Boomerang" is not by Dune, but by fellow German HHC artist Blümchen (German version) AKA Blossom (English version).
• The trip-hop song "Boomerang" is not by Dead Can Dance, DJ Rap, or Hybrid, but by Cirrus.
• The trance song "Boomerang", not "Coming Back", is not by Alice Deejay, but by Cloud2Ground(whose members also produced under the names Slyder and RRDS, and later founded Shiny Toy Guns), featuring Tracy Truels on vocals.
• Those who've heard "Born Free" in the Chevy Silverado commercials might believe that Bob Seger lent another of his songs to the automaker after the success of "Like a Rock". In reality, it was recorded by Kid Rock, although its titular album had Seger as a guest musician.
• The Village People or Boney M. never recorded "Born to be Alive" either; that was Patrick Hernandez.
• "Born to Be Wild" is not by The Rolling Stones, Billy Idol, The Doors or ZZ Top. It's by Steppenwolf.

  • Krokus may have covered it, but AC/DC did not.

• Rod Stewart did not sing "Brother Louie." That was Stories, covering a song by Hot Chocolate.
• "Burn in Hell" (not "Abandoned Lands") is not sung by Alice Cooper; it's by Twisted Sister. The band acknowledged this by having Cooper duet with Dee Snider on "Be Chrool To Your Scuel" one album later.
• Similarly, the theme from Chariots of Fire is not by Yanni, but rather fellow Greek composer Vangelis.
• "Brave" was not performed by Katy Perry, but by Sara Bareilles. Not helping matters is that Perry's song "Roar" sounds very similar to it.
• "Brave Heart" from Digimon Adventure is by Ayumi Miyazaki, not Kouji Wada. When the latter died, the Youtube video for Brave Heart was filled with memorial messages for Kouji Wada, even though he didn't even sing the song.
• "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is not by Matchbox 20, the Wallflowers, Hootie & the Blowfish, Everclear, Gin Blossoms, Oasis, the Ramones, or the Barenaked Ladies, but rather by a One-Hit Wonder band called Deep Blue Something. (And the song has nothing to do with "Moon River", the actual theme from the Breakfast at Tiffany's movie)
• "Break My Stride", not "Got to Keep On Moving", is not by Men at Work, but by Matthew Wilder.
• "Breaking All The Rules" is not by the Spice Girls; it's by the American One-Hit Wonder girl group She Moves.
• "Breathe (2 AM)" is not by Faith Hill; it's by Anna Nalick. Faith's "Breathe" is a completely different song.
• "Brick House" is not by Cameo, but by the Commodores, the former group of Lionel Richie.
• The male singer on "Bring Me to Life" (not "Wake Me Up Inside") by Evanescence is not from Linkin Park, but Paul McCoy of Twelve Stones, who sounds somewhat like Mike Shinoda. Several other people seem to think that it was Papa Roach's Jacoby Shaddix singing the male vocals instead.
• "Broken" isn't a collaboration between Nickelback and Evanescence. While the female vocalist is indeed Amy Lee, the male vocalist is not Chad Kroeger, but rather Shaun Morgan of Seether (who was Lee's boyfriend at the time). Seether is the actual lead artist.
  • "Nobody's Home" (not "Broken Inside") was not by Evanescence either, it was by Avril Lavigne, although Evanescence's Ben Moody co-wrote it.
• The song "broken"^note Officially stylized in all lowercase letters. is actually by lovelytheband, not by Foster the People (it was a hit around the same time as FTP’s "Sit Next to Me", plus its chorus features the same chord progression as FTP's biggest hit "Pumped Up Kicks").
• Peter Gabriel did not make (or cover) the song "Broken Wings" (the one that goes "Take these broken wings and learn to fly again, learn to live so free..."); that was Mr. Mister, whose vocalist sounds somewhat like Gabriel. Same deal with "Kyrie."
  • "Broken Wings" isn't by Mike + the Mechanics, Journey or Richard Marx either.
• "Brown Eyed Girl" is not by the Rolling Stones, James Taylor or Creedence Clearwater Revival. It's by Van Morrison.
  • And neither Sex Pistols, Green Day, or blink-182 covered "Brown Eyed Girl". That was a band called Lagwagon.
• The vocalist on Freaky Chakra's "Budded On Earth To Bloom In Heaven" is not Stevie Nicks, but Toni Halliday of Curve.
• KMFDM did not cover Ministry's "Burning Inside", that was either Static-X (male vocals) or Death Ride 69 (female vocals).
• The Doobie Brothers never performed "But It's Alright" (not to be confused with "It's Alright" by Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions), that was either J.J. Jackson (no relation to The Jacksons), Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, or Huey Lewis and the News.
• The Powerpuff Girls song "Buttercup (I'm a Super Girl)" from the album Heroes & Villains is not by Puffy AmiYumi. It's by Shonen Knife.
• "Butterfly", the bubblegum Eurodance song featured in the DanceDanceRevolution series, is not by Aqua, but rather by a Swedish group called Smile.dk.
  • Although Aqua did produce a song called "Bumblebees", the song with the lyrics "Sweet little bumblebee, I know what you want from me" is not by them, but Bambee, another Danish bubblegum dance group.
  • "Butterfly" is also, oddly, sometimes misattributed to Ayumi Hamasaki, who records exclusively in her native Japanese.
• The rap-rock track "Butterfly" (not "Come My Lady") is not by Limp Bizkit, but by One-Hit Wonder group Crazy Town.
• "Buzzin' (I Feel Like Money)", mostly known for the song's subtitle, is not by Jason Derulo, Trey Songz, New Boyz, or Chingy. It's by rapper Mann. Mann did have another song called "Text" that featured Jason Derulo.

C

• "Cadillac Cadillac" is not by Maroon 5, but by Train. "Maps" (not "Road that Leads to You") is not by Train, but by Maroon 5.
• "California Dreamin'" is not by Jefferson Airplane but by The Mamas and the Papas.
  • The punk rock cover is not by Pennywise, but by Japanese band Hi-STANDARD.
  • The 2000s dance version isn’t by Benny Benassi, it’s by the Royal Gigolos.
• "Callin'(Will you Players Ever Learn?)" is not by TLC. It's by One-Hit Wonder girl group Amari.
• The 1990s Eurodance song "Call Me" (not to be confused with the 1980 Blondie song or the 2007 Kandystand song) is not by Culture Beat, but by Le Click.
• There is no Rasputina song called "Call Me Alice" or "Life 101”. That was actually “Life 101” by a band called “Call Me Alice”.
• "Candy Girl" was not performed by The Jackson 5. That was New Edition. The Jacksons were in their 20's when the song was recorded, and Michael's voice wasn't that high anymore
• "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" (not "I Love You Baby") is not by Al Green, but by Frankie Valli.
  • Frank Sinatra never covered the song, but it was notably covered by Andy Williams (whose music is often misattributed to Sinatra and vice versa), as well as Morten Harket (the lead singer of music/aha), whose cover was also credited to Sinatra.
  • Gloria Gaynor never covered the song either. That was The Boys Town Gang.
• "(Can You) Feel The Passion" was not by Bizarre Inc.(though it Sampled Up their "Playing With Knives"), Black Box, The KLF, Traci Lords, or S'Express, but by One-Hit Wonder Blue Pearl.
• Linkin Park never covered George Michael's "Careless Whisper"; that was Seether.
• Carmina Burana never had anything to do with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They were written as poems centuries before his time, and set to music by Carl Orff a century after his time.
  • Nor, obviously, did Richard Wagner compose the most famous part of that symphony, "O Fortuna".
• "Carry on Wayward Son" is not by Boston, That was Kansas.
  • "Dust in the Wind" is not by Boston either, by the way. Still Kansas. It's easy to confuse those two mid-'70s bands named for American geography.
    • "Dust in the Wind" isn't by the Eagles, Linkin Park (!) or Led Zeppelin either.
  • They're also not by Styx either, considering both Styx and Kansas were midwestern rock bands with similar styles (progressive rock blended with soft rock, hard rock and arena rock).
  • "Caught Up in You" and "Hold on Loosely" are also not by Boston. They're by 38 Special.
• So that synth-heavy new wave song "Cars" (not "Here In My Car") must be the theme song of The Cars, right? Wrong. It's by Gary Numan.
  • As for the Industrial Metal cover, that was by Fear Factory, not Marilyn Manson.
  • Conversely, the new wave song "Shake it Up" is not by Gary Numan, but by The Cars.
  • The 1988 hip-hop rendition of "Cars" is not by Run–D.M.C.. That was Randi Rann.
  • "We Know Who Done It", the "Who Shot J.R.?" Filk Song utilizing the tune of "Cars", is not by "Weird Al" Yankovic, but by the British parody group The Barron Knights.
• "Castles in the Sky" (no relation to the anime film Castle in the Sky or its theme tune) was not by DHT, but by fellow Belgian Eurotrance group Ian van Dahl, before DHT was even founded.
• "Castle on the Hill" is not by The Fray, but by Ed Sheeran. "You Found Me" is not by Sheeran, but by The Fray (note that the latter song came out before Sheeran even started his career).
• "Catch Me (I'm Falling)" is not Gloria Estefan, but Pretty Poison. And "I Can't Wait" is by Nu Shooz. As you might guess, both are one-hit wonders.
• "Catch Me I'm Falling" (no parentheses) is not by Men at Work, but by fellow Australian New Wave band Real Life.
• "Catch the Wind" is by Donovan, not Bob Dylan, although there are videos all over YouTube claiming otherwise. The confusion seems to be because the song is very much in Dylan's early folk style. In fact, almost all of Donovan's songs sounded like that (he was dubbed "The British Bob Dylan" by the press), but he's mainly known today for 'Season of The Witch," a somewhat out-of-character psychedelic rock song.
• "Cat's in the Cradle" is not by Cat Stevens. It's by Harry Chapin, similarities to "Father and Son" notwithstanding. The fact that the two sound a lot alike, in addition to the fact that Stevens has a compilation album called Cat's Cradle, doesn't help matters.
  • And the lyrics of the song come from a poem written by Sandy Chapin, his wife.
    • Skid Row, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, or Kid Rock never covered "Cat's in the Cradle". That cover was by Ugly Kid Joe.
    • And "Cat's in the Kettle" was not done by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It was a parody by Bob Rivers.
    • Speaking of Cat Stevens — "American Pie" is also not by Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan or Harry Chapin. That's Don McLean.
• Metallica never did a version of "Carol of The Bells". It wasn't called "Carol of the Bells", either, it was called "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24". The song was made famous by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but it was written by the progressive/power metal that spawned TSO, Savatage.
• "Celebrate the Love" is not by Robert Miles or Ayla, but by the German trance group Zhi-Vago.
• Metallica didn't do "Cemetery Gates," either. That would be Pantera.
• "Centerfield" (not "Put Me In, Coach") is not by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It's a solo song by former CCR frontman John Fogerty.
• "C'est La Vie" (the 1996 neoclassical trip-hop song) is not by Enigma, but by Hubert Kah, although Enigma producer Michael Cretu collaborated with them on their 1980's albums (but not this one). Furthermore, Sandra, Cretu's then-wife and musical collaborator, was not featured on "C'est la vie" or "Cathy". The former's female singer was Susanne Kemmler(then married to frontman Hubert Kemmler, in addition to co-writng many of Sandra's hits), the latter's was Amy Goff.
• Another "C'est la vie", the 1998 girl group song, is not by Spice Girls, All Saints, or A-Teens. It's by B Witched. And if you're thinking of Ace of Base, they did produce a song called "C'est la vie (Always 21)", which is completely different.
• "Chandelier" is not by Rihanna. It's by Sia. It somewhat sounds like Rihanna's "Diamonds", though, which Sia wrote.
• "Cheerleader", the smash summer 2015 hit, is not by Akon, but rather One-Hit Wonder reggae singer OMI.
• "Cherry Pie" is not by Def Leppard, Poison or Whitesnake. It's by Warrant, although Poison's C.C. DeVille played the song's guitar solo.
• The "Children's Orchestra fail" going round the Internet has nothing to do with children, Swedish or otherwise. It was played by an orchestra, however: the Portsmouth Sinfonia, a crowning example of "So Bad, It's Good." (Here's the complete version of their rendition.)
• "Chill Me Out" is not by Chic, but by Masayoshi Takanaka.
• "Cinnamon Girl" is not by Tom Petty (who is featured nowhere on the track, not even background vocals). That would be Neil Young, with backing band Crazy Horse, years before Tom Petty even emerged.
• Propellerheads never did a remix of "Circles" by Soul Coughing; that was Ashley Beedle. Propellerheads' remix of "Super Bon Bon" was one of Soul Coughing's most popular songs, and the "Circles" remix is in a similar style, so you can see why people would jump to the wrong conclusion.
• "Click Click Boom", "Ladies and Gentlemen", and "Your Disease" are not by P.O.D., but by Saliva. Conversely, "Youth of the Nation," "Boom," and "Alive" aren't Saliva, but P.O.D.
  • "Click Click Boom" isn't by Limp Bizkit either.
• Coldplay had nothing to do with "Closer To Love"; it's by Mat Kearney.
• "Closer Together" isn't by Men Without Hats, but the Box, another short-lived Canadian synth-pop act from the 80s.
• "Closing Time" (not "Take Me Home") is not Green Day, 3 Doors Down, Matchbox 20, or Weezer. It's the only hit by Semisonic.
  • Parodied in the movie Friends with Benefits; the song is originally thought by Justin Timberlake's character to be by Third Eye Blind, and Mila Kunis' character objects. Semisonic receives their credit at the end.
• "C'mon n' Ride It (The Train)" is not by Tag Team or 69 Boyz, but by Quad City DJs. 69 Boyz did have a song called "Da Train", but it's otherwise unrelated to the Quad City song.
• "Cocaine" is not by ZZ Top. That was Eric Clapton.
  • Actually, this one is an odd triangular interaction of this trope and Covered Up. The original version of "Cocaine" is by JJ Cale (the same is true of "After Midnight"), and is itself frequently thought to be either by ZZ Top (more understandable than with the Clapton version, given the gritty twang of JJ's voice), an alternate version by Clapton himself, or a cover of the Clapton version.
• "Coco Jamboo" is not by Inner Circle or Fun Factory. It's the lone American hit of Mr. President.
• "Cold", the 2004 rock hit, is not by the band Cold, but by contemporaries Crossfade. Ironically, it was a bigger hit than anything Cold ever released.
• "Cold Rock the Mic" is not by The Chemical Brothers, but by Apollo 440.
• Trent Reznor and Roger Waters have never collaborated, on a live version of "Comfortably Numb" or any other project. If you find a song on a P2P network labelled as this, it's typically just Pink Floyd's own live version from Delicate Sound of Thunder, which neither Reznor nor Waters appears on (though Waters did co-write the song and might legitimately show up in the credits for that reason). In fact, the melody on the verses of that version, which is quite different from that of the original studio recording, is a version Waters has never played on, with or without Pink Floyd.
• Subverted with "Come and Get It" (not "If You Want It, Here It is") which was not a hit song by the Beatles, it's by Badfinger. Paul McCartney wrote, produced, and performed it during a recording session for Abbey Road, though it never made the final cut (it was eventually released on a deluxe version of the album).
• The '90s cover of Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love" is not by Dr. Alban or Fun Factory, but by The Real McCoy. This song deviates greatly from their signature style, with the male vocals being toasted a la reggae rather than rapped.
• "Come on Eileen" is not by The Clash, Men at Work, or The Cure. It's by Dexys Midnight Runners.
  • There's also a ska-punk cover of the song that's commonly mislabeled as being by No Doubt or Reel Big Fish, it's actually by Save Ferris (yes, as in Ferris Bueller's Day Off).
• "Comin' Back" (the 1997 big beat/breakbeat song, not to be confused with DJ Dado's house single "Coming Back" from the same year) is not by Amanda Ghost, Garbage, Luscious Jackson, or Alanis Morissette, but by The Crystal Method featuring Trixie Treiss.
• "Commercial" isn't by Cheech & Chong. It's Spanky & Our Gang, and it predates C&C by several years.
• "Confident" is not by Nelly Furtado, but by Demi Lovato.
• "Conga Feeling" is not by Gloria Estefan (you're thinking of "Conga" with Miami Sound Machine), but by Belgian–Salvadorian singer Vivian Muyshondt.
• "Constant Craving" is not by Eurythmics or Annie Lennox. It's by k.d. lang.
• "Control", the song used for Reptile's theme in Mortal Kombat: The Movie, is not by KMFDM or Ministry. It's by Juno Reactor and Traci Lords.
• "Cool Kids" is not by Ellie Goulding, but by Echosmith. Not to mention that Goulding uses English pronunciations in her vocals (due to her upbringing in the The Midlands) while Sydney Sierota uses American ones.
• "Copacetic" isn't by Nirvana, and that's not its name (nor is it "And You Don't" or "Born to be Down"). It's called "Bound for the Floor", and it's by Local H.
• "Corporate Slave" is not by Faderhead (it came out over a decade before his/their debut), KMFDM, Project Pitchfork, or Skinny Puppy, but by Australian industrial band Snog.
• One of the oddest misattribution seen on filesharing systems is Rednex's "Cotton Eye Joe" listed as being by Primus. The male vocalist in Rednex arguably sounds slightly similar to Les Claypool (they both have western country voices), but otherwise, completely different styles of music.
  • "Cotton Eye Joe" isn't by Scatman John either.
• "Could Have Been Me" isn't by Queen. It's by the Struts, a band often considered somewhat of a spiritual successor to Queen (Freddie Mercury had been dead for decades when the song was recorded). It doesn't help that frontman Luke Spiller looks quite a bit like Mercury.
• The cover of "Crash" by The Primitives that was used in the film Mr. Bean's Holiday wasn't done by Sum 41. It was by Matt Willis, formerly of the band Busted.
• "Crazy All My Life" is not by Maroon 5. It's another song by Daniel Powter of "Bad Day" fame (and no, "Bad Day" is not Maroon 5 either).
• "Crazy Bitch" is not by Chuck Berry or Hinder. It's by Buckcherry, whose name is a spoonerism of Chuck Berry's.
• "Crazy Train" is not by Black Sabbath. It's an Ozzy Osbourne solo recording. Similar confusion with the rest of his solo career.
• Lifehouse or BBMAK never recorded a song called "Crazy for this Girl". It was actually by Evan & Jaron, and was popular shortly before Lifehouse even scored their first hit.
• "Creep", (the one that goes "Half the Man I Used to Be") isn't by Nirvana; it was Stone Temple Pilots.
• The acoustic version of the Radiohead song "Creep" is not by Muse. It's still Radiohead.
  • However, there is an acoustic version performed by Korn on their "Unplugged" album.
• "Crimson and Clover" is not by the Velvet Underground or Fleetwood Mac, but by Tommy James.
• "Crossfire" is not by The Killers. It's a solo recording by lead singer Brandon Flowers.
• "Crucified" is not by ABBA; it's by fellow Swedish band Army of Lovers, and came out nearly a decade after ABBA disbanded.
• "Crush", the 1998 pop hit, is not by Amy Grant or Mariah Carey. It's by One-Hit Wonder Jennifer Paige.
• The Sisters of Mercy did not do "Cry Little Sister". That was Gerard McMann.
  • They also never did a song called "Hey Little Sister", that's "White Wedding" by Billy Idol.
• "Crying in the Club" is not by Alessia Cara; it's by Camila Cabello, formerly of Fifth Harmony.
• "Crystal Love" is not by Boston. It's a track by Lee Hyun Suk recorded 7 years before Corporate America, which was the album it was thought to have been a bonus track for.
• "Cuddly Toy" is not by INXS; it's by Roachford.
• "Cumbersome" (not "I Have Become" or "Too Heavy, Too Light") is not by Pearl Jam or Stone Temple Pilots, but by One-Hit Wonder rock band Seven Mary Three. Incidentally, both STP and 7M3 were signed to Atlantic Records at the time.
• For some reason people think "Cum On Feel the Noize" is from Twisted Sister, but the more frequently-heard version is actually Quiet Riot (a confusion that would not be made by a trained ear, as Kevin DuBrow's voice was significantly higher than Dee Snider's), both covering up Slade.
• "Curveball" is not by The Crystal Method, but by Elite Force. TCM never remixed it either, though it did appear on their Community Service mix compilation.

D

• "Da Da Da" is not by Bruce Springsteen, Crash Test Dummies (though the similarly named Crash Dummies remixed it), Devo, Johnny Cash, Kraftwerk, Men Without Hats, or Right Said Fred. That was German One-Hit Wonder group Trio.
• "Da Dip" isn't by 2 Live Crew or 69 Boyz, and it also isn't called "When I Dip" either. It is in fact by a little-known Atlanta rapper named Freak Nasty.
• "Dance of the Dead" is not by Metallica, it is by Corrosion of Conformity.
• "Dancing in the Moonlight" isn't by Van Morrison or Elvis Costello, but '70s One-Hit Wonder King Harvest covering Boffalongo. If you're in Europe, the version you've heard is probably the one by Toploader, covering up the previous cover. The fact that Van Morrison has an entirely different hit song called "Moondance" may add to the confusion there.
• "Dangerous" is not a collaboration between the Scissor Sisters and Weezer. It's by Big Data and Joywave.
• "Da Turdy Point Buck" is not by Da Yoopers. It's by Bananas at Large, a Wisconsin group. You're probably thinking of "Second Week of Deer Camp", which is by Da Yoopers.
• You may understandably mistake "Day After Day" as a latter-era Beatles song. It isn't; it's actually by one of their Apple Records labelmates, Badfinger, though George Harrison did produce and play some of the guitar bits on the song.
  • "Come and Get It", by the same band, is also widely misattributed as a Beatles song. It doesn't help that Paul McCartney actually wrote it, and that a demo version appears on one of The Beatles Anthology compilation albums.
  • The members of the Beatles all individually worked with Badfinger at one point or another (either writing songs, producing, or occasionally playing instruments). The two bands were actually pretty good friends and had a similar style, so it makes sense that they are confused. Badfinger had three top 10 hits in the USA, but the band has since faded into obscurity. They were better known in the UK though so it's less common for them to be mistaken for the Beatles there.
• "Dam Dadi Doo" is not by Eiffel 65. It's by Fantasy Project.
• "Dancehall Queen" is not by Dr. Alban, Ice MC, Inner Circle, Mr. President, Ninjaman, Reel 2 Real, Sean Paul, or Shaggy, but by Beenie Man & Chevelle Franklin.
• "Dancing in the Dark" (the 1984 Eurodisco song, not to be confused with the Bruce Springsteen song) is not by Modern Talking, but by fellow German Mike Mareen.
• "Dancing on Nails" is not by Asking Alexandria, but by We Are Harlot, the side band of AA's Danny Worsnop.
• "Dancing with an Angel" is not by Culture Beat or Kim Sanders. It's by Double You featuring Sandy Chambers.
• "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" is not by A Flock of Seagulls, The Cars, Cutting Crew, or Tears for Fears, but by Ultravox.
• "Dangerous", the 2019-20 synthwave song (whose title is not "Black Heart"), is not by Dana Jean Phoenix, but by Roxi Drive. Although the two artists are stylistically similar, as with the aforementioned Ellie Goulding, Roxi, based in London, uses British pronunciations (e.g. non-rhoticity and the trap-bath split), while Dana, from Toronto, uses American/Canadian pronunciations.
• Gershon Kingsley didn't produce either of the Moog synthesizer pieces featured in the educational short film A Day in the Life of a 2-Dollar Bill. The first, "Holiday for Girls"(which sounds similar to "Popcorn"), is by Tony Tape(one of the many aliases of Austrian library musician Gerhard Narholz), while the second, "The Princess", is by Wolfgang Kaltenbach(a pseudonym of Gerhard's wife, Rotheide Narholz).
• "Day 'n Nite" is not by Flo Rida, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, or Timbaland. It's by Kid Cudi.
• "Dazzy Duks" is not by Tag Team, but by fellow Miami bass One-Hit Wonder Duice, although one of the remixes of "Whoomp! (There It Is)" sampled it.
• "Dead Man's Curve" is not by The Beach Boys, although Brian Wilson did co-write it. The song was actually done by their friendly early-'60s rivals, Jan and Dean.
• The song "Deadly Sleep" isn't by Iron Maiden, but by the lesser known Iron Savior. If this song doesn't sound familiar, you may know it as "Take Me Home".
• The album Deep Forest is not by Enigma, either; it's by a group named... you guessed it... Deep Forest. (And Deep Forest and Enigma have never collaborated, either, despite what many people think.)
• "Deeper Shade of Blue" is not by A-Teens, but by Steps.
• Laserdance never produced a song called "Deflektor", that was the theme tune of the Commodore 64 Light and Mirrors Puzzle game Deflektor, composed by Ben Daglish, which had an OC Remix misleadingly titled "Laser Dance"(though it is In the Style of said group) by Chuck Dodgers.
• The English version of "Der Kommissar" is not by the Talking Heads, but by one hit wonders After the Fire. That's not the Falco version you're listening to.
• "Desenchantee" is not by Céline Dion, but by fellow Quebec-born singer Mylene Farmer, with a Eurodance cover by Kate Ryan.
• "Detachable Penis" isn't by The Flaming Lips, Nada Surf, Rollins Band, The Dead Milkmen, The Cramps, Primus, or The Butthole Surfers. It's by King Missile.
• "(I Wanna Give You) Devotion" is not by Black Box, C+C Music Factory, or The KLF. It's by the lesser known UK house group Nomad.
• "Diamonds" is not by Prince and/or Sheila E.. It's by Herb Alpert featuring Janet Jackson. And it's not a Janet solo song, contrary to popular belief.
• That Soulja Boy diss called "Die Already" that surfaced the web is not by Eminem. It's actually rapper Nasty, who sounds a lot like Em.
• The Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas soundtrack is not by Junkie XL. It's by BT. Misattribution may occur due to some songs' similarities with "Def Beat" and other signature JXL songs.
• "Die Motherf**ker Die" is not by Drowning Pool, it's by Dope.
• "Die Trying" is not by Linkin Park or Three Days Grace. It's by Art of Dying. It doesn't help in the former case that it sounds a lot like "From The Inside", and in the latter case that Adam Gontier's cousin Cale is the band's bassist and later joined him in Saint Asonia.
• "Din Daa Daa (Trommeltanz)" is not by Falco. It's by One-Hit Wonder George Kranz. Also not to be confused with "Da Da Da" by fellow German one-hit wonder Trio.
• "Disco Inferno" is not by Supertramp or the Bee Gees, but by The Trammps.
• "Discord" is not a song by The Living Tombstone redone by Eurobeat Brony trying to piggyback on its huge popularity. Eurobeat's version is the original that was Covered Up by Tombstone.
• "DJ Girl" is not by Angelina, but by the similarly-named One-Hit Wonder Katalina. "Feels So Good (Show Me Your Love)" is not by either of those, but by fellow freestyle one-hit wonder Lina Santiago.
• "Dr. Feelgood" was not by Guns N' Roses. It was Mötley Crüe.
• "Doctorin' The TARDIS", the industrial techno remix of the Doctor Who theme with the repeating chants of the show title, is not by KMFDM, but by The Timelords, an early alias of The KLF.
• "Do It Again" is not a Santana song. It's by Steely Dan.
• "Do I Wanna Know?" despite having an Epic Riff and sounding like a visceral love song is not The Black Keys work. It's actually by a British viral band called Arctic Monkeys.
• "Domino" is not by Katy Perry but by Jessie J.
• "Dona Nobis Pacem" is not a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart song.
• "Don't Call Me Baby" is not by Kylie Minogue or her sister Dannii. It's by fellow Aussie band Madison Avenue.
• "Don't Call Me Up" is not by Dua Lipa, but the Breakthrough Hit of Spanish-born British-Swedish singer Mabel.
• The trap song "Don't Let Me Down" is not by Sia. It's by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya. And it's not a Daya solo song.
  • "Don't Kill My Vibe" is not by Sia either. It's by Sigrid.
• The theme song for Doom 3 is not by Tool. It's by Tweaker.
• "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" is not by The Beach Boys. It's by Manfred Mann.
• David Wise did not compose Donkey Kong Land 2's soundtrack. It was Grant Kirkhope who composed it. He went on to compose GoldenEye (1997), Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie and -Tooie, and Donkey Kong 64.
• "Don Quichotte", not "No Señor", is not by Boney M., but by French One-Hit Wonder band Magazine 60.
• Nick Cave and Enya didn't cover Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper"; that was Ville Valo of HIM and Finnish vocalist Sanna-June Hyde.
• "Don't Fence Me In" is not a traditional cowboy song. It's a parody by Cole Porter.
• "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" is not by George Michael. It's by Glass Tiger featuring Bryan Adams.
• The acid house track "Don't Laugh" is not by Daft Punk. It's by Winx, AKA Josh Wink of "Higher State of Consciousness" fame.
• "Don't Leave Me" (the late '90s R&B boy band song) is not by Boyz II Men, but by Blackstreet(not to be confused with the Backstreet Boys either).
• Neither Donna Summer nor Diana Ross sang the disco version of "Don't Leave Me This Way", that was Thelma Houston.
• "Don't Matter" (not "Nobody Wanna See Us Together") is not by Sean Kingston, Jay Sean, or Iyaz, but by Akon.
• Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" was misattributed to Cat Stevens on this very wiki. Tropers are not immune!
  • On this wiki's Trope Namers page, "Runaway Train", actually by Soul Asylum, was misattributed to Skid Row.
    • "Runaway Train" is also frequently attributed to Tom Petty. Adding to the confusion is a completely different song, written by a former member of The Kingston Trio and released in 1988, called "Runaway Train".
    • It's not by Bon Jovi either.
• "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" is not by Fitz And The Tantrums, but by Foster the People.
• "Don't Pull Your Love" is by Hamilton, Joe Frank, & Reynolds. NOT Elvis Presley.
  • "Lonely This Christmas" is not by Elvis either. It is by British glam rock band Mud, with lead singer Les Gray doing an impression of Presley.
• "Don't You (Forget About Me)", the theme song from The Breakfast Club, is not by Sting or The Police, but by Simple Minds.
  • It's not by Tears for Fears or David Bowie either.
  • It's also not by Billy Idol, though he did release a relatively little-known cover of it on his Greatest Hits album.
  • It's also not by the Human League — you're probably thinking of "Don't You Want Me."
• Beenie Man didn't perform the toasting vocals in Azzido Da Bass's "Doom's Night Revisited" or Basement Jaxx's "Jump N' Shout", those were both MC Slarta John.
• "Down with the Sickness" is not by Linkin Park or System of a Down. It's by Disturbed.
• "Do You Know (What It Takes)" (not "Always Be Around") is not by Britney Spears. It's by Robyn, and was first released in 1995, three years before Britney's debut. Both artists had Max Martin (Karl Martin Sandberg) as a producer, though.
• "Drag Me Down" is not by Lostprophets, but by One Direction.
• "The Dream" isn't by Thursday; it's by Open Hand. And neither is "This Sadness Alone" (which doesn't even sound anything like Thursday). That one's by Reach the Sky.
• "Dream On" was not performed by Led Zeppelin. That was Aerosmith. It just sounds like "Stairway to Heaven", but it's still not Zeppelin.
• "Dream Police" is not by Aerosmith. It is by Cheap Trick. The confusion is probably due to Aerosmith's similarly-named song "Dream On", and the fact that "Dream Police" was included on Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
  • Similar confusion with Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever", which was also included on Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
• "Dreamin'" (the 1987 electro/dance-pop single) is not by Scritti Politti. It's by Miami freestyle group Will to Power.
• "(We'll Go) Dreaming" is not by Julee Cruise, Delerium, Enya, Enigma, Kate Bush, Opus III, or Orbital. That was Judie Tzuke, covered up by BT with former Opus III singer Kirsty Hawkshaw on vocals.
• "Dreamin' of That Angel" is not by 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, or Matchbox 20. It's by Unconditional Life.
• The 2001 trance track "Dreamland" is not by Armin Van Buuren, but by Nu NRG. One may confuse it with "Future Fun Land", which Armin released under his Perpetuous Dreamer alias in 1999.
• "Drift Away" (not "Give Me the Beat Boys") is not by the Doobie Brothers, Bob Seger, or Bill Withers, but by Dobie Grey (and no, Uncle Kracker didn't do it first).
• "Drop Dead Gorgeous" is not by Garbage but by Republica.
• "Dub-i-dub (I Don't Need your Love)" is not by Aqua or Bambee, but by fellow Danish Europop act Me & My. Also not to be confused with "I Don't Need Your Love" by freestyle artist Angelina.
• "Dude in the Moon" is not by Apollo 440(although it resembles "Stop The Rock"), but by Dastrix, a collaboration between German trance DJ-producer Mike Koglin and UK techno producer Michael Clark.

E

• "Edelweiss" is not an Austrian folk song. It's from The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
  • It's become an Austrian standard though - The Sound Of Music isn't actually that popular there, but they know what the tourists expect...
  • Likewise, "Do Re Mi" was not a folk song or composed by The Sherman Brothers, although it resembles "It's a Small World". Confusion may also result from both The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins starring Julie Andrews.
• "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" is not an Anne Murray song. It was performed by Kathy Mattea.
• "Eighth World Wonder" is not by Vanessa Carlton. It's by American Idol finalist Kimberley Locke.
  • "Extraordinary" is not by Vanessa Carlton either. It's by Mandy Moore.
• "El Caballo de Troya" is by Tierra Santa, not Mägo de Oz.
• Harry Belafonte didn't perform "Electric Avenue", that was Eddy Grant. Nor was it Bob Marley (he was dead when it was recorded).
• "Empty Frames" is not by Ne-Yo, but rather by Davon Farris. Can't blame those who uploaded the song on YouTube and P2P networks though, as Davon's voice sounds kinda' similar to Ne-Yo's.
  • Ne-Yo has since addressed this discrepancy in a short video promoting Farris.
• "Epic" (not "You Want It All" or "What Is It?") is not by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's by Faith No More. For starters, Mike Patton doesn't sound that much like Anthony Kiedis. Though he may be trying, and the song is kind of a parody of them (the video sure as hell is), so we can see where you would make that mistake.
• Many people misattribute Boney M's song "El Lute" to ABBA, because of its (probably intentional) similarity to "Fernando" and "Chiquitita".
  • Errr... Fernando, by ABBA, was shamelessly ripped off by British group The Brotherhood of Man (like ABBA, Eurovision winners), a band marketed as an ABBA clone. TBOM's "Angelo" is so suspiciously similar to "Fernando", it is often mis-attributed to ABBA, whilest "Fernando" is also mis-attributed to TBOM. It gets confusing, especially as other TBOM songs — especially "Figaro" — are also suspiciously ABBA-like.
  • Ditto for "Rasputin", which has also been misattributed to fellow German disco act Dschinghis Khan. This is possibly because of YTMND where "Rasputin" is the Alternate Universe equivalent of the "Moskau" meme.
  • Also "Seven Tears" is not by Boney M. It's The Goombay Dance Band, a similar manufactured outfit and case of Follow the Leader. Both bands were faux-Caribbean reggae-disco outfits, similarly both formed by white West German musicians (Frank Farian - Boney M, Oliver Bendt - Goombay Dance Band). Both sang on their band's tracks. The difference was while Bendt was the face of the band, Farian had a black dancer - Bobby Farrell mime to Farian's vocals. Goombay's other songs are often mistaken as Boney M's.
• "Elephant" is not a long-lost Beatles demo sung by John Lennon. It's by Tame Impala.
• "El Niño", the 1998 trance track with Spanish spoken-word vocals, is not by Armin Van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, or any other Dutch or German trance figurehead you might think of. It's by the British duo Agnelli & Nelson, with a remix by Matt Darey featuring Marcella Woods on vocals(The original mix Sampled Up Carolina Damas's vocals from Sueño Latino's "La Puerta del Sol").
• "Eye in the Sky" is not by Daryl Hall & John Oates (despite the similarities to "Private Eyes"), The Kinks, Men at Work, or The Police. It's by The Alan Parsons Project.
• Timo Maas never covered "Enjoy the Silence"; he merely remixed the Depeche Mode original.
  • Like wise for "Doom's Night" by Azzido da Bass, which he also remixed.
  • The same goes for Linkin Park. "Enjoy the Silence" was remixed by Mike Shinoda in 2001.
• "Enola Gay" is not by The Cars, The Cure, or The Kinks. It's by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.
• "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" is not by Jimmy Buffett, but Rupert Holmes. It doesn't help that Buffett's best known song, "Margaritaville," is also about a cocktail.
• "Eskimo" (not "I'm The Only Gay Eskimo") isn't Tenacious D., Ween, Weird Al or Stephen Lynch, but instead Corky and the Juice Pigs.
  • Another song commonly mistaken for Tenacious D (or sometimes, bizarrely Alice in Chains) is "Chewbacca" by Supernova, best known for its use in Clerks.
• Cascada's "Evacuate The Dancefloor" has a rapping part NOT performed by Eminem or Pitbull, it is performed by German rapper Carlprit, who sounds like a hybrid of the two.
• "Even Flow" is not by Godsmack. It's by Pearl Jam. Godsmack weren't even around when "Even Flow" was recorded. Not to mention that Godsmack were more comparable to Alice in Chains than Pearl Jam.
• Alice Deejay didn't cover Rozalla's "Everybody's Free(To Feel Good)", that was either Angel One, or a mashup of Rozalla's original vocals with the instrumental of Alice Deejay's "Better Off Alone".
• "Everyone Falls in Love" is not a collaboration between Maxi Priest and Beenie Man. It's by fellow Jamaican dancehall duo Tanto Metro & Devonte.
• "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" is not by Guns N' Roses, but by Poison, similarities to "Patience" notwithstanding.
• "Everything Changes" is not a Taylor Dane song. It's by Kathy Troccoli.
• "Everything You Want" is not by 3 Doors Down. It's by Vertical Horizon, and was popular shortly before "Kryptonite" was.
• Eminem does not have a song called "Everywhere I Go". That's by Hollywood Undead. The song isn't about Charlie Sheen either.
• "Ex's & Oh's" (the 2015 alternative #1 turned pop #10, not Atreyu's 2006 song) is not by Amy Winehouse, Meghan Trainor, Sia, or Duffy. It's by One-Hit Wonder Elle King, the daughter of actor Rob Schneider. In the case of Winehouse, she had been dead for four years by the time the song was recorded. And much like Trainor, King is quite the plus-sized lady (and it peaked on the charts around the same time as "Like I'm Gonna Lose You").
• "Eye of the Tiger" is not by Journey. It is by Survivor. People have made this mistake because Survivor's lead singer Dave Bickler (who was later replaced by the late Jimi Jamison) sounds a lot like Steve Perry.

F

• "Fable" (not "Tell Me a Fable") is not an early Ayla song; it's by Robert Miles of "Children" fame.
• Ellie Goulding does not have a song titled "Where Are You Now". The song is "Faded" by Alan Walker, with Iselin Solheim on vocals.
• Hey, Emo kids! "Falling For You" is actually by Student Rick, not Something Corporate (amazingly enough, there's even a fan-made video with the exact misattribution).
  • And it isn't by Finch, Taking Back Sunday, The Starting Line, or whatever Pop Punk band existed in 2002 either.
• "Fall In Line" is not by Devo, but an early track by Information Society.
• The Softer and Slower Cover of The Human League's "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" featured in Kingsford Charcoal's 2010 "Slo Mo" commercial wasn't by Morrissey, Radiohead, or The Shins, but by Rob Crow of Pinback.
• The Pussycat Dolls didn't perform or contribute to "Faster Kill Pussycat"; that was Paul Oakenfold featuring Brittany Murphy on vocals.
• "Fat Boy" is not by Inner Circle (you may be thinking of "Bad Boys"), but by Max-A-Million, whose frontman, Duran Estevez, is Jamaican-born, hence the accent.
• "Father" is not by Slipknot, but actually by Lollipop Lust Kill.
• Children Of Bodom did not cover Iron Maiden's "Fear of the Dark." That was Italian melodic black metal band Graveworm.
  • And neither did Nightwish. That was Sturm und Drang (who, despite their name, are a Finnish band with a Swedish singer).
• "The Fear That Gave Me Wings" is not by Bring Me the Horizon but by a more obscure, American Metalcore band called Glory of This. BMTH themselves never claimed authorship of the song, but do supposedly play it live once in a while after dispelling the rumor.
• "Feelin' Alright" is not by Ray Charles; who you're hearing is Joe Cocker covering up Traffic. Charles never covered the song, either.
• Prior to its identification, "Feels Like A Wish", formerly nicknamed "Fond My Mind" or "The Most Mysterious Song In Brazil" was theorized by some listeners to be by the Italo Disco artist Valentino, due to having a similar intro to one of his songs. It's not by him, nor New Order (though Bernard Sumner was supposedly involved in its production), the Pet Shop Boys, or Stevie B, but by Station K, a one-off duo comprised of Brazilian freestyle producer Edde Edman (as confirmed by Word of God) and singer André Nobrega.
• "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" is not by Little Mix, but by Foxes. "No More Sad Songs" is not by Foxes, but by Little Mix feat. Machine Gun Kelly.
• Sarah Brightman did not sing the theme to The Fifth Element. She also never collaborated with Enigma.
• Less Than Jake never covered the Proclaimers' "500 Miles". It was actually Down by Law.
  • That same cover is also not by Mx Px (who, to confuse things a bit, DID later cover "500 Miles", minus the F-bomb in the Down by Law cover.)
• The Chemical Brothers didn't do the Fight Club soundtrack. That was the Dust Brothers.
• "Fight Song" (as in the 2015 pop hit, not Marilyn Manson's "The Fight Song") is not by Katy Perry, Sara Bareilles, P!nk, or Kelly Clarkson. It's by little-known singer/songwriter Rachel Platten. At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the use of both Platten's song and music by Perry in the campaign led many people, and even some media organizations to misattribute "Fight Song" to the latter. A similar misconception happened with her follow up "Stand By You", although not to the same extent.
• "Fight To Survive" from Bloodsport is not by Survivor, but by Stan Bush of "The Touch" fame.
• "The Final Countdown" was not performed by Queen, Van Halen, Journey, or Styx, but by Europe.
  • And Children of Bodom never covered it. Depending on the version you've heard, it was either Norther or Dispatched.
• Nightwish never had a non-lyrical song called "A Final Dream". That's Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Seriously, you need a behind-the-ear amplifier or something.
• "Firecracker" (the funk track Sampled Up by 2 Live Crew in "Me So Horny", not to be confused with the Martin Denny exotica instrumental Covered Up by Yellow Magic Orchestra) is not by Earth, Wind & Fire, but by Mass Production.
• Utada Hikaru never recorded an English version of their song "First Love". It's a cover by Filipina singer Jessa Zaragoza.
• Annie Lennox never sang "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". That version (sampled by Way Out West in "The Gift") was by Joanna Law.
• Radiohead did not get Stephen Hawking to provide guest vocals on "Fitter Happier". The vocalist is in fact a text-to-speech voice called "Fred", available as part of Apple's SimpleText application.
• "Flagpole Sitta" (not "I'm Not Sick But I'm Not Well" or "Paranoid") isn't by Lit, blink-182, or Green Day. It's by Harvey Danger.
• "Flaming June" is not by Chicane, but by BT featuring Paul van Dyk(not the other way around), though there is a Chicane remix of it.
• "Flat Beat" is not by Flat Eric, who isn't even a musical artist (he's the handpuppet featured in the video), it's by Mr. Oizo.
• "Flava in Ya Ear" is not by Craig David, but by Craig Mack. You might be thinking of David's song "What's Your Flava?"
• "Flavor of the Weak" is not by New Found Glory, All-American Rejects or Bowling for Soup, it's by American Hi-Fi.
  • "The Breakup Song" is also not by Bowling for Soup, but by American Hi-Fi.
• "Fly" (the 1997 hit) was not done by Sublime. Sugar Ray did it. Also, the Jamaican toasting vocals were not by Sean Paul, but Super Cat.
  • Likewise, "Hooch" is not by Sublime or Sugar Ray either. It's by a band called Everything (not to be confused with Everything but the Girl).
• Tiësto never made a song called "Fly Away", that was fellow Dutchman Vincent de Moor.
• Utada Hikaru did not sing the Bayonetta version of "Fly Me to the Moon", that was done by Belgian singer Helena Noguerra.
• DJ Sammy did not do the Speedy Techno Remake of the Olsen Brothers' "Fly on the Wings of Love", that was by XTM & DJ Chuckie, although they are also from Spain.
• The Beatles' "The Fool On The Hill" was not the theme to the ABC 1969 dramedy Room 222. People think that because Sergio Mendes did a cover of the song and their arrangement sounds similar to the Room 222 theme (composed by Jerry Goldsmith) which was affected in 7/4 time.
• The Title Theme Tune of Footloose was not by Loverboy, Prince, or ZZ Top, but by Kenny Loggins.
• "Foreplay/Long Time" was not by Rush, but by Boston.
• "Forever Young" (the '80s synthpop ballad) is not by a-ha or Europe, but by Alphaville. Rod Stewart did cover Bob Dylan's "Forever Young", but that's a completely different song.
  • Also, neither Dune nor La Bouche covered Alphaville's "Forever Young"; those versions were by Interactive and DJ Company, respectively.
  • Kate Bush didn't cover it either, that was Laura Branigan.
• "Forget Me Nots" (the basis for Men in Black's title song by Will Smith) is not by Janet Jackson. It's by Patrice Rushen.
• The original version of "Fortunate Son" (not "It Ain't Me") is not by Bob Seger. It's Creedence Clearwater Revival from their album Willy and the Poor Boys. (Seger did cover the song live, though, and his version (included on the Like a Rock album) often gets airplay on classic rock stations.)
  • Conversely, "Old Time Rock & Roll" is Bob Seger, not CCR. Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry or Little Richard didn't do it either. Another "CCR song" that actually isn't is the 1971 Canadian hit "Jodie", by Joey Gregorash.
• 2 Live Crew didn't perform "Freak-a-Holic", though it sounds just like them. That was (The) Egyptian Lover.
• "Freak of the Week" (not "Can You Make Me a Promise") is not by Third Eye Blind, Green Day or Matchbox 20. It's Marvelous 3.
• "Freestyler" is not by The Freestylers. It's by Bomfunk MC's.
• "The Freshmen", not "We Were Merely Freshmen", is not by Third Eye Blind or Matchbox Twenty, but by The Verve Pipe (not to be confused with the aforementioned The Verve).
  • This confusion may be due to 3EB's similar sounding "Slow Motion".
    • Likewise, "Two Princes" (Not "If You Want To Be My Baby") is also not by Third Eye Blind. It's by Spin Doctors. This confusion may be due to the similar sounding "Semi-Charmed Life", which is not by Matchbox Twenty, by the way.
• Bob Dylan never covered "Friday" by Rebecca Black, nor did Black cover the song from Dylan. That cover was by a singer named Mike Bauer who intentionally covered the song to sound like Dylan.
• "Fuck the World" is not by Slipknot either, but by Insane Clown Posse.
  • Although Slipknot does have a song that is mistakenly called "Fuck the World" which is properly titled "Surfacing".
• "Funk It Up" is not by Apollo 440, Armand van Helden, Daft Punk, Elite Force, or Mighty Dub Katz. It's by Sex-O-Sonique(not to be confused with Sonique), released as a B-Side to their remix/remake of Herbie Hancock's "I Thought It Was You", which may also be mistaken for Daft Punk due to the nu-disco instrumentation and repetitive vocodered vocals.
• "Funk Phenomena" (not "The Funk Phenomenon") is not by Fat Boy Slim or Daft Punk. It's by Armand van Helden. And The Crystal Method did not remix or cover it; that version may have been a fan mix.
• "Funky Town" is not by Blondie, nor was it a Donna Summer song. It's by One-Hit Wonder group Lipps Inc.
  • And INXS never covered it. That was Pseudo Echo, who, like INXS, were Australian. Just like Lipps, Pseudo Echo never had another hit.
• "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" is not by ZZ Top, It's the sole hit of Timbuk 3.
  • Neither is "Keep Your Hands To Yourself;" that was the Georgia Satellites, another one-hit wonder.
  • Or "Tuff Enuff," which was by the Fabulous Thunderbirds, the Satellites' longtime rivals and, yes, yet another group who never had another hit.

G

• "Gamemaster" is not by Paul Oakenfold, but by Lost Tribe, the supergroup of fellow British trance producers Matt Darey and Red Jerry.
• Tupac Shakur did not sing "Gangsta's Paradise". That was Coolio.
• "Gemini Dream" is not an Electric Light Orchestra song. It's by the Moody Blues.
• "Genius of Love" is not by Cocteau Twins, but by Tom Tom Club.
• "Gerbil" was not sung by Jack Black. That was Stephen Lynch.
• "Ghetto Supastar" was not by The Notorious B.I.G.. That was Pras featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard and Mýa. In fact, BIG had been dead a year when it came out.
• The Ghostbusters theme is not by Huey Lewis and the News or ZZ Top; it's by Ray Parker Jr. who got sued by Lewis for plagiarizing "I Want a New Drug".
• Slight variation involving mistaken movie soundtracks: Yes, there is such thing as an Avril Lavigne song called "Give You What You Like". it is not part of the soundtrack to Fifty Shades of Grey, but it is the theme song to Lifetime original movie Babysitter's Black Book.
• that hilariously ironic cover of "Gin and Juice" was not performed by Phish, OAR, Blues Traveler or Rodney Carrington. It was The Gourds.
• "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" is not by Dolly Parton, but by Cyndi Lauper.
• Iggy Pop didn't do "A Girl Like You" — that was Edwyn Collins, the former singer for 80s indie heroes Orange Juice. Mind, his vocal style on that particular song is similar enough that All Music Guide called it an "Iggy Pop tribute", it was his only U.S. hit, and the fact that Iggy Pop's Lust for Life ended up having a sudden resurgence in popularity the next year due to it's use in Trainspotting may have had something to do with it as well. The song occasionally gets credited to Urge Overkill and David Bowie too.
• "Girl Next Door" is not by P!nk, but by One-Hit Wonder group Saving Jane (not to be confused with fellow one-hit wonders Saving Abel).
• "Girls on Film" is not by The Kinks, but by Duran Duran.
• "Girl On Fire" is not by Beyoncé, Adele or Rihanna, but by Alicia Keys.
• "Girls on the Dance Floor" is not by LMFAO. It's Far East Movement.
• "Give a Little Bit" is not by REO Speedwagon. That was Supertramp.
  • Some think it's Goo Goo Dolls, but that's a separate trope.
  • Similar confusion with "The Logical Song."
• "Glad You Came" was not by One Direction, but by The Wanted. Likewise, "What Makes You Beautiful" is not by The Wanted, but by One Direction.
• "Glitter Girl" and "Pearl Necklace", the opening and ending themes to Perfect Dark Zero, are not by Poe, but by MorissonPoe.
• "Gloria" (the 80s one, not to be confused with Them's 60s hit) is not by ABBA or Olivia Newton-John (similarities to "Physical" notwithstanding), but by Laura Branigan covering up Umberto Tozzi.
• "Glory of Love" (from The Karate Kid Part II) is not by Chicago or Phil Collins. That was a solo hit from Chicago's lead singer Peter Cetera.
• "Glycerine" is often mistaken for a Nirvana song, when it is by Bush. Several lyric websites list it as a Nirvana song, though.
• Buckethead has nothing to do with "Go Go Power Rangers". Ron Wasserman did the original, and a one-off supergroup called The Power Rangers Orchestra did the 1995 movie's version. The confusion may stem from him playing a solo in another song from the movie's soundtrack ("Firebird" by Graeme Revell).
• "Gollum's Song" from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is not sung by Björk. It's Emiliana Torrini. Yes, she sounds a lot like Björk. Yes, this is deliberate: The song was originally intended to be performed by Björk and accordingly written in her style, but she had to decline the offer because of her pregnancy. It doesn't help that the end credits as seen in the theatrical version of the film actually did mistakenly list Björk as the performer, which was subsequently corrected for the DVD release and soundtrack album.
• "Gone", the synthpop song that stylistically resembles CHVRCHES, is not by them, but by Jonna Lee (ionnalee) of iamamiwhoami. CHVRCHES do have a song called "Really Gone", but it's completely different.
• Another "Gone", whose title may be mistaken as "Everything You Want Me to Be" or "It's All Gone", is not by Gorillaz, M83, or Passion Pit, but by Jr. Jr.(formerly Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., not to be confused with Junior Senior).
• "Goodbye to You" is not by Patti Smith; it's by Scandal, whose singer is coincidentally named Patty Smyth.
• "Good Grief" (that rap-rock song starting with the line "Good morning Vietnam") was not by Rage Against The Machine. It's by Urban Dance Squad. Really. (And for that matter, UDS inspired RATM, not the other way around!)
• "Good Life", from The Fate of the Furious, is not by Jay-Z & Rihanna, but by G-Eazy & Kehlani.
• The late '60s hit "Good Morning Starshine" (originally written for the musical Hair) isn't by John Denver, nor is it Donovan; it's by Oliver.
• An example of a misattributed album: "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys is not on the album Pet Sounds. Yes, it was recorded during the sessions for that album, but it was intended for Smile, which was shelved, and the song was eventually put on the album Smiley Smile.
• Neither Nena nor NINA (Boldt) covered "Go The Distance" from Hercules, popularized by Michael Bolton. That was Filipina singer Nina Girado, who also goes by the mononym Nina. NINA does have a song titled "The Distance", but it's otherwise completely unrelated.
• "Gotta Tell You" is not by TLC or Britney Spears. It's by Irish One-Hit Wonder Samantha Mumba.
• "Got to Be Real" is not by Cher, but by Cheryl Lynn.
• "Got to Be Your Lover" is not by Rick Astley, but by Taco In the Style of Astley. Both it and Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" were covered by Eurobeat artist Kevin Johnson (Davide Budriesi), though.
• A song leaked on the Internet some time ago called "Grape Jelly" and it was credited to Linkin Park. It's not by them. It's by Dry Cell^note  Somewhat ironically, former Dry Cell vocalist Jeff Gutt would later go on to provide vocals for Stone Temple Pilots, which had been previously fronted by late Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington.
  • Linkin Park didn't perform "Hey Bartender" or "I Just Want Your Company". That's "Bartender" by (həd) p.e..
• The vocal remake of "Grazing in the Grass" isn't by the Fifth Dimension. It's by the Friends of Distinction.
• "The Great Commandment" is not by Depeche Mode. It's by Camouflage.
• "Weird Al" Yankovic had nothing to do with that "Great Mighty Poo" song from Conker's Bad Fur Day. The credited writers are Robin Beanland and Ed Horowitz (there's a rumour that the latter is Yankovic using a pseudonym, but there's zero evidence to back this up) and the vocals are performed by Chris Marlow. You'd think the profanity, as well as the fact Marlow's deep British accent sounds nothing like Yankovic at all, would be enough of a clue...
• The theme from Gremlins is not by Danny Elfman. (That was released before his first actual film score, for Pee-wee's Big Adventure) It was actually composed by the late Jerry Goldsmith.
• "Greyhound" is not by Avicii, but by Swedish House Mafia.
• "Groove Is in the Heart" is not by Blondie; it's by Deee-Lite.
• "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" is not by Diana Ross, but by Spiller featuring Ross soundalike Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
• "Gucci Gang" is not by Gucci Mane. It's by Lil Pump.

H

• "Halfway to Heaven" is not by Cascada or Groove Coverage, but by lesser known hard Eurodance diva Melanie Flash. To add to the confusion, there actually is a Groove Coverage remix of this song, and GC's singer is named Mellanie Munch.
• The Speedy Techno Remake of the Halloween theme with the "Do you believe in the boogeyman?" voice clip from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is not by Adam Starr. It's by Da Boy Tommy.
• "Hammer to the Heart", not "Boom Boom Boom", is not by Alice Deejay or the Vengaboys, but by The Tamperer featuring Maya (not to be confused with Mýa), of "Feel It" and "If You Buy This Record" fame, and is completely different from the Vengaboys' "Boom Boom Boom Boom".
• The Vengaboys didn't produce "The Hampsterdance Song" either, that was Hampton the Hampster, an alias of the Canadian group Boomtang Boys.
• "Happy Together" was not performed by The Beatles. That was The Turtles.
  • That pop punk cover is not by New Found Glory but by Buck Wild.
• "Have You Never Been Mellow" is not by The Supremes or Diana Ross solo. It's by Olivia Newton-John.
• "Heads Will Roll" (not "Off With Your Head") is not by Aural Vampire; it's by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, with a remix by Little Vampire.
• "Headstrong" is not by Linkin Park or Papa Roach but by Trapt. Ashley Tisdale also has a song by this title, but it's not related to the Trapt song either.
• Christina Aguilera did not sing "Heart Attack" or the Rewritten Pop Version of "Let It Go" from Frozen. Both were by Demi Lovato.
• "Heart of Asia", the trance remake of the theme to Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, is not by Binary Finary, but by Watergate. This confusion may be because the Rising Sun mix has a synth hook similar to BF's "1998".
• The '80s power ballad "Heaven" is not by Eric Clapton. It's by Bryan Adams, and it was not a DJ Sammy original. There is another 80s power ballad, also called Heaven, from Warrant. Clapton's 1991 song "Tears in Heaven" has no relation.
• "Heavy" is a Linkin Park song featuring Kiiara, not Selena Gomez.
• The trance song "Hear You Calling" is not by Ayla, but by Aurora (the British duo, not to be confused with the Norwegian singer).
• "Heaven Is a Halfpipe" (not "If I die before I wake" or "In heaven I can skate") is not by POD, but OPM.
• "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" is not by Wilson Phillips, Tiffany, The Go-Go's or Cyndi Lauper. It's by Belinda Carlisle, who is the lead singer of The Go-Go's.
• Céline Dion didn't sing "Heavens Divide" from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, that was Donna Burke.
• Avicii did not produce a progressive house song named "Hello Miami". That song is by Disfunktion, and it's real title is "Galette".
  • Also he did not collabrate with Taio Cruz on a song called "The Party Next Door". That song's actual name is "Animal" by RIO with vocals by U-Jean, who sounds similar to Taio Cruz.
  • Even Avicii himself stepped in to mention the frequent misattributing of Avicii soundalike songs during his early years.
• "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" is not by Spike Jones, Tom Lehrer or Adam Sandler. It's by Allan Sherman. The confusion arose because it is sung to the tune of "The Dance of the Hours" by Amilcare Ponchielli, which Jones and the City Slickers also used. In fact, Sandler wasn't even born when Sherman recorded the song.
• "Here I Go Again" is not by Van Halen or Sammy Hagar. It's by Whitesnake.
• The Europop song "Here I Go Again" is not by Sash! and/or Tina Cousins, but by E-Type.
• "Her Diamonds" is not a Matchbox Twenty song; it's a solo piece by their lead singer Rob Thomas.
  • It's been said that radio stations had calls for "that new Matchbox Twenty song" when another solo recording by Thomas, "Lonely No More", received regular airplay.
• Contrary to what you may have read e. g. in some film credits, "Here Comes the Bride" is not a traditional folk tune, but was written by Richard Wagner for his opera Lohengrin.
• The tune of "Hernando's Hideaway" is not the most traditional of tangos. It's from The Pajama Game.
• "Hero" (the 2001 Latin-pop ballad) is not by Marc Anthony, but Enrique Iglesias.
• "Hero" (the 2002 rock hit from the Spider-Man soundtrack) was not performed by Nickelback. It was performed by Chad Kroeger (of Nickelback, just not for this song) and Saliva's Josey Scott.
• "Heroes" (not "All My Heroes") is not by Godsmack but by Shinedown. It should also not be confused with the David Bowie song either.
• "Hey Jealousy" is not by the Goo Goo Dolls or Candlebox. It's by the Gin Blossoms.
• "Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me for Me)" is not by Third Eye Blind or blink-182, but rather Blessid Union of Souls.
• "High Dive" (not "Someone Else's Song") is not by Train or Walk the Moon, but by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness.
• "Higher" and "With Arms Wide Open" are not by Pearl Jam. They're both by Creed. It's pretty easy to mix it up because of the vocal style. This was parodied on a Mad TV sketch.
• "Higher Love" is not by Genesis or Phil Collins; it's by Steve Winwood feat. Chaka Khan. Eric Clapton had nothing to do with it either.
• "The Hippy Hippy Shake" suffers from this in both its original recording and as a cover. The former is by Chan Romero, not Ritchie Valens, and while The Beatles did cover the song, the best known version of the song is by the Swinging Blue Jeans.
• Destiny's Child did not sing "Hit Em Up Style" (not "Hey Ladies"). That was Blu Cantrell.
• "Hold the Line" (not "Love Isn't Always on Time") was not performed by Foreigner. That was Toto.
• "Hold My Breath" is not by New Order; it was by Holy Ghost! while New Order was broken up.
• "Holiday Road" was not performed by Kenny Loggins. That was Lindsey Buckingham.
  • Likewise, Kenny Loggins didn't sing "The Heat is On". That was Glenn Frey.
• "Hollywise" (not "Superman is Killing Himself Tonight") is not by blink-182, Green Day, or The Killers, but by a rather obscure band called Blacktop Manhattan.
• Despite being a top search on Youtube, "Make This Place Your Home" by Mumford and Sons doesn't exist. The song that goes "No you're not alone, I'm gonna make this place your home" is NOT by Mumford and Sons, The Decemberists, nor pretty much any other folk-rock band. It's called "Home" and it's by American Idol winner Phillip Phillips.
  • And "Ho Hey" isn't a Mumford and Sons song either. That's The Lumineers. And let's not get started on "The A Team" by Ed Sheeran.
• "Homegrown Hawaiian" was not by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, but by Sean Na'auao, six years after Kamakawiwo'ole's death.
• "Home Sweet Home" is not by Bon Jovi, but by Mötley Crüe. The female cover is not by Kelly Clarkson, but by fellow American Idol champion Carrie Underwood.
• "Homosapien" is not by Duran Duran or Midnight Oil, but by Pete Shelley. And Simple Minds didn't do it first.
• "Hopeless" is not by Alanis Morissette. It's by Dionne Farris.
• "A Horse with No Name" isn't by Neil Young; it's by the band America (coincidentally, it replaced Young's "Heart of Gold" on top of the charts). The confusion is understandable, since they were deliberately imitating Young's style.
  • "Sister Golden Hair" and "Ventura Highway" aren't Young's works either.
• "Hot Bhangra" is not an Inna & Daddy Yankee collaboration. It's by DJ Valdi featuring fellow Romanian songstress Elena Gheorghe. Adding to the confusion, Inna's real first name is also Elena, plus both her and Daddy Yankee have recorded their own unrelated songs titled "Hot".
• "Hot Child in the City" is not by Pat Benatar. That was Nick Gilder.
• "House of the Rising Sun" was not done by The Rolling Stones or The Doors. The most famous version was done by the Animals, though it's much older, with a recording even done by Lead Belly, and Bob Dylan did a version on his first album. There was also a rather strange version by Jim Nabors.
  • Pink Floyd never covered the song either. That was Frijid Pink.
• "How Do You Talk to an Angel?" is not by Bryan Adams. It's by the cast of The Heights, a TV show similar to Glee.
• The credits version of "How Far I'll Go" from Moana is not sung by Rihanna, Sia, Daya, Meghan Trainor, Ariana Grande, or Demi Lovato. It's by Italo-Canadian singer Alessia Cara.
• The female-voiced cover of The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now" is not by Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, Garbage, No Doubt, Paramore, or Republica, but Snake River Conspiracy.
• "How to Save a Life" is not by Five For Fighting, but by The Fray. Conversely, "Slice" (not "Slice of American Pie") is not The Fray, but Five for Fighting.
• "The Human Germ" is not by The Church, but by Snog. In addition to both bands being from the Land Down Under and having strikingly similar vocalists, the song happens to be a Surprisingly Gentle Creator's Oddball for Snog.
• "The Humpty Dance" is not by MC Hammer, Sir Mix-A-Lot, 2 Live Crew, or Public Enemy. It's by Digital Underground. And while Tupac Shakur was briefly a member of Digital Underground, he did not appear on "The Humpty Dance".
• "Hungry Eyes", featured in Dirty Dancing, is not by Hall & Oates. That was Eric Carmen covering up Franke and the Knockouts.
• "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Rio" are not by Men at Work. They're both by Duran Duran.
• "Hymn", not "The Power and the Glory" or "Till Thy Kingdom Come", is not by Clan of Xymox(and in fact predates their formation by a year), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Talk Talk, or U2, but by Ultravox.
• "Hysteria" and "Uprising" are not by Green Day, but by Muse.
• Ozzy Osbourne did not sing "I Am Santa Claus". That was a parody by Bob Rivers.
  • Ozzy did make a cameo in the music video though.
  • This isn't a Weird Al song either.

I

• "I Am Retarded" (aka "I be an Retarded") is by Hemorrhoy Rogers and most definitely not They Might Be Giants. Bit worrisome that this even needs to be mentioned, since a) it doesn't sound remotely like a TMBG song and b) do you really think they'd release a song openly making fun of developmental disabilities?
• "I Believe I Can Fly" is by R. Kelly, not Craig David.
• "I Can Dream About You" is not by Hall & Oates; it's by Dan Hartman. In this case, the confusion is somewhat understandable, as Hartman had originally written the song with them in mind; they declined to record it because they had just finished their new album, so Hartman decided to record it himself.
• "I Hope You Dance" is not by Dolly Parton, LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain, Faith Hill or Alison Krauss, it's by Lee Ann Womack.
• "I Can't Drive 55" and "I've Done Everything for You" are not Van Halen songs, but Sammy Hagar solo recordings.
  • Van Halen also had nothing to do with David Lee Roth's "California Girls" cover, or "Just Like Paradise."
• The freestyle song "I Can't Get You Out of My Mind" is not by Rockell, but by Lil' Suzy.
• The happy hardcore song "I Can't Stop Raving" was not by DJ Liquid, but Dune.
• The hip-hop cover of Nu Shooz's "I Can't Wait" is not by Salt-N-Pepa, TLC, or All Saints; it's by Ladies First.
• "I Don't Wanna Go On" is not by Boyz II Men, 98 Degrees, or Nu Flavor. It's by Filipino-American One-Hit Wonder group Innerlude.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks never covered "The Emotions' "I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love" (not to be confused with The Outfield's "Your Love"); 2 Bad Mice just used a sped-up sample of the original song for "Hold It Down".
• "I Feel Love" is not by Diana Ross, but by Donna Summer. Conversely, "I'm Comin' Out" is not Donna Summer, but Diana Ross.
• On This Very Wiki, the Live-Action TV subpage for Diegetic Soundtrack Usage actually used to claim that Simple Plan performed "I Found a Way", the theme to Drake & Josh. It's actually by Drake Bell, who played Drake on the show. It also claimed "Follow Me", the theme to Zoey 101, was sung by JoJo when it's actually by Jamie Lynn Spears, the actress who portrayed the title character.
• "I Like It" is not by Jack White or The White Stripes. It's by Foxy Shazam. Note that the Stripes had broken up long before this song ever came out.
• "I Like It (Like That)" is not by Patrick Hernandez, Santana or The Village People, but by the one-off Latin supergroup The Blackout All-Stars, covering up Pete Rodriguez.
• The Supremes didn't perform "I'd Like to Teach The World To Sing"; that was The New Seekers.
• "I Live for the Sun" sounds like it's by The Beach Boys, but it's actually by The Sunrays.
• "I Love Your Smile" is not by Janet Jackson or SWV. It's by One-Hit Wonder Shanice (Wilson).
• "I Need to Know" is not by Ricky Martin. It's by Marc Anthony.
• "I See Stars" is not by Ian van Dahl, but by Australian One-Hit Wonder Robin Fox.
• "I Try" is not by TLC, but by Macy Gray.
• "I Will Love Again" is not by Céline Dion, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, or Trisha Yearwood. It's by Belgian-Canadian One-Hit Wonder Lara Fabian.
• "Ice Ice Baby" is not by Ice Cube, Ice-T, or Eminem. It's by Vanilla Ice.
  • The Rap Metal version ("Too Cold") is not by Limp Bizkit or Korn. That's still Vanilla Ice.
• U2 never performed a song called "I Don't Want to Fall in Love with You". In fact, that song is actually "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak.
• "I Don't Want to Wait", the theme from Dawson's Creek, is not by Dido. It's by Paula Cole.
• Chris Isaak didn't cover "I Drove All Night" in 1992. It was actually a Roy Orbison original recording that didn't get published until after his death.
• "Ievan Polkka":
  • That techno remix with the sped-up vocals is not by Crazy Frog. It's by Basshunter, who made it for the song's 2007 release.
  This is a remix, a Basshunter remix.
  • The song is also not by Hatsune Miku; it's a Finnish folk song, and the Miku version is a cover of a gibberish stanza from the version by acappella group Loituma.
  • It isn't by Loituma either; again, it's a Finnish folk song, the Loituma cover just happens to be more well-known.
• "If I Die Young" (not "Bed of Roses") is not by Taylor Swift. It's by The Band Perry.
• "If I Only Were A Goth" is not by Voltaire. It is by ThouShaltNot.
• The Ramones never covered "I Fought the Law". That was the Dead Kennedys.
  • And that "original" version by The Clash that every one seems to be covering is actually a cover of the Bobby Fuller Four... which was itself a cover of the original recording by the Crickets.
• "If U Seek Amy" is not by, nor is it about, Amy Winehouse. It's by Britney Spears.
• "If You Could Only See" was by Tonic, not Foo Fighters or Sister Hazel.
• Gloria Estefan never sang "If You Leave Me Now". It was produced by Stevie B. and originally sung by Filipina One-Hit Wonder Jaya, then covered by Stevie B. himself as a duet with Alexia Phillips, who should not be confused with the Eurodance vocalist Alexia.
• "If You Let Me Go" (not "Rescue Me") is not by Grimes or CHVRCHES, but by Salt Ashes.
• "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" was not by The Police, but is a Sting solo work.
• The Eurobeat song "If You Were Here" (of DanceDanceRevolution fame) wasn't sang by Clara Moroni or Nathalie Aarts; it was by an American-born singer Jennifer Sherwood (mononymously known as Jennifer).
• "I Just Called to Say I Love You" is not by Lionel Richie. It is by Stevie Wonder.
  • On the other hand, "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is not by Stevie Wonder. It's by One-Hit Wonder group Steam.
  • Neither is "All Right Now". It's by Free, also one-hit wonders.
• "I Just Can't Wait" is not by Bananarama; it's by Mandy Smith. The stylistic similarity is due to Stock Aitken Waterman producing for both artists.
• "If You're Not the One" is not by Savage Garden or either of the individual members. It's by Daniel Bedingfield (Natasha Bedingfield's older brother).
• "(I Just) Died In Your Arms" was not by Journey, Foreigner, Eddie Money, Meat Loaf, The Police, Duran Duran, or Corey Hart of "Sunglasses at Night" fame. It's Cutting Crew. And the freestyle cover was not by Johnny O., TKA, George Lamond, Collage, or Stevie B., but by the Canadian group Intonation featuring Joée (Joseph DeSimone).
• "I Knew You Were Trouble" is not by Lostprophets. It's by Taylor Swift.^note This misattribution was the result of a particularly sneaky troll who released the song back as a single on Spotify. Except the cover attributed it to Lostprophets, who by that time had broken up due to its lead singer Ian Watkins being outed as a pedophile (around the exact same time "Trouble" was a hit, ironically enough), and the cover of the song featuring a screenshot of the Canadian cartoon Scaredy Squirrel, bizarrely enough. In fact, on this very wiki, pages were constantly edited to attribute the song to Lostprophets.
• Neither Harry Belafonte nor Bob Marley performed "Iko Iko" (AKA "Jockamo"), that was either James "Sugar Boy" Crawford (the original), Dr. John, Captain Jack, or Justin Wellington. In the case of the latter two covers, Marley had been dead for decades by the time of their recordings. Also, the version used in Rain Man was not by Ace of Base, Bananarama, Blondie, or Cyndi Lauper (though she did cover it on her True Colors album), but by One-Hit Wonder group The Belle Stars.
• P2P services also sometimes list "I'll Be" as being by the Goo Goo Dolls. Actually it's by Edwin McCain. It does sound a lot like "Iris," though.
• "I Live for the Sun" isn't by The Beach Boys,^note although Murry Wilson did produce the record or even Jan and Dean. It's by a group called the Sunrays.
• "I Love College" is by Asher Roth, not Eminem.
• "I Love Myself Today" is not by Joan Jett or The Donnas, although it is similar to the former's "I Love Rock N' Roll" mentioned below. It's by Bif Naked.
• "I Love Rock N' Roll" is not by Pat Benatar, but by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and they didn't perform the original version either, that was The Arrows.
  • "Bad Reputation" is also not by Pat Benatar either. That's also Joan Jett.
• Gloria Gaynor never performed "I Love the Nightlife". The original is by One-Hit Wonder Alicia Bridges, while the cover version on the soundtrack of The Last Days of Disco is by Nuyorican Soul featuring India.
  • "In The Evening" is not by Gaynor either, but by one-hit wonder Sheryl Lee Ralph.
• Although most people know that "Imagine" is not a Beatles song, despite John Lennon having been a Beatle, even it isn't immune from being attributed as "a Beatles song". The song was a hit a year after the Beatles broke up. The same thing has happened with "Mother" when referring to the namesake of the Mother video game series.
• "I'm Alive" (the 2013 trancy EDM song) is not by Inna, Alexandra Stan, or Kerli. It's by One-Hit Wonder Gali.
• The Cure didn't record "I Melt with You" (not "I'll Stop the World and Melt with You"), but Modern English did.
• "I'm Falling Even More in Love with You" is not by Creed, Three Doors Down, or The Calling, but by Lifehouse, and is called "Hanging By a Moment".
  • Likewise, "Wherever You Will Go" is also not Creed. It's The Calling.
• That cover of The Rolling Stones "I'm Free" is not by INXS. It's actually by The Soup Dragons.
• "I'm Gonna Luv U", the house tune that samples The Art Of Noise's "Moments in Love", is not by Bizarre Inc., but by one-hit wonders Summer Junkies. You're thinking of "I'm Gonna Get You", which is totally different.
• "I'm In The Mood For Dancing" is not by ABBA, despite being stylistically similar to "Dancing Queen". It's by The Nolans. Caramell never performed it either, though the Speedy Techno Remake by "Sharon" featured in DanceDanceRevolution is reminiscent of "Caramelldansen".
• "I'm Just a Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock! is not by Randy Newman. It's by Jack Sheldon, featuring his son John.
• "I'm On Fire" is not by Johnny Cash, but by Bruce Springsteen.
• "In a Dream" is not by Cynthia, but by Rockell (not to be confused with Rockwell). Conversely, "Thinking About You" is not by Rockell, but by Cynthia.
• "In a Gadda Da Vida" was not performed by Steppenwolf or The Doors. That was Iron Butterfly.
• Enigma didn't perform "Incantation"(not "Too Late To Scribe"), that was Delerium.
• "In De Ghetto" is not by Reel 2 Real, Dr. Alban, or Beenie Man, but by David Morales & The Bad Yard Club.
• Thanks to Mandy Moore never really being known for incorporating Middle Eastern influences into her music, whereas Shakira was famously one of the very few mainstream artists of the mid-2000s who did, it led to many hearing the strongly Middle Eastern-influenced "In My Pocket" and assuming it was a Shakira song instead.
• "Insensitive" is not by Lisa Loeb or Heart. It's by Jann Arden.
• "Internet Friends" is not by LMFAO or Skrillex, nor is its title "You Blocked Me on Facebook (And Now You're Going to Die)". That was Knife Party.
• Eminem did not guest star on a rap remix of Linkin Park's "In the End". That was Kutmasta Kurt featuring Motion Man.
• Richard Wagner did not compose "In the Hall of the Mountain King"; that's from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg.
  • And somewhat related, the techno remix of "In the Hall of the Mountain King"— which is actually titled "Razzia" by an artist simply known as "M"— has absolutely nothing to do with Inspector Gadget, despite often being titled as such on file-sharing sites.
    • Though the theme from Inspector Gadget is in fact based on the Grieg piece.
• Many people think that the Temptations do "In the Still of the Night", which is actually by The Five Satins, about ten years before the Temptations' heyday. The Platters never performed it either, although they did cover Cole Porter's 1937 song of the same name, which is completely different.
• "In the Summertime" was by Mungo Jerry, not Bob Dylan. And Shaggy didn't do it first.
  • To make things more confusing, Dylan wrote and recorded a different song called "In The Summertime" from his 1981 album Shot Of Love, then a few years later recorded a Cover Version of the Mungo Jerry song that didn't get released, but has been bootlegged.
• "In The Year 2525" is not by Simon and Garfunkel. It's by One-Hit Wonder duo Zager and Evans.
• "Into the Night" is not by Michael Bolton, and it's not a solo hit by Paul Stanley of KISS either. It's the only hit single by Benny Mardones.
• "Into the Night" (the 1996 Eurodance single) is not by Corona(though it resembles "The Rhythm of the Night"), but by the Swedish group Ondina.
• "Invisible" is not by Tina Turner. It's by former Yazoo singer Alison Moyet. And it's not Pat Benatar either; you're thinking of "Invincible".
• "IOU", not to be confused with the completely different "AEIOU Sometimes Y" by Ebn Ozn, is not by Jamiroquai, but by fellow British funk group Freeez, and was recorded a decade before Jamiroquai even existed as a group.
• "I Ran Over the Taco Bell Dog" is the hardest song to find a real artist. The song has been misattributed to "Weird Al" Yankovic, Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, Cheech & Chong, Afroman, South Park Mexican, Chingo Bling, Bob & Tom, & Andrew & Anthony! The real artists are Tim (Scott) & Mark (Derringer) who hosted a radio show years ago.
• Johnny Cash did not cover "I Ran (So Far Away)" by A Flock of Seagulls. It was done by an amateur musician who was deliberately rendering the song In the Style of Cash.
• "I Remember You", not "Remember Yesterday", is not by Warrant. It's by Skid Row.
• "Irresistible" is not by Debbie Gibson. It's by Cathy Dennis.
• "Iron Man" is not by Iron Maiden or Iron Butterfly, but by Black Sabbath from their album Paranoid.
  • Iron Maiden wasn't even around at the time "Iron Man" was a hit. Not mentioning the fact that Bruce Dickinson's operatic voice sounds nothing like Ozzy Osbourne's more limited-range voice.
• "I Saw the Light" isn't by Carole King; it's Todd Rundgren singing falsetto! Yes, his voice was really that high in the '70s.
• "I Still Believe", i.e. the proto-grunge-sounding song used in the film The Whoopee Boys, is not by Dire Straits, INXS, or Journey. It's by The Call.
• "I Swear" is not by Boyz II Men, it's by All 4 One. The original was performed by country artist John Michael Montgomery. All 4 One also covered Montgomery's "I Can Love You Like That" (which is still not Boyz II Men).
• "I Think I'm In Love" is not by Mariah Carey. It's by Jessica Simpson.
• "It Must Have Been Love", from Pretty Woman, is not by Wilson Phillips. It's by Roxette.
  • Also, Cyndi Lauper never sang "Listen to Your Heart". That was also Roxette.
    • By the way, the popular 2005 cover is not by Kelly Clarkson. It's by Edmee from D.H.T.
• The industrial cover of the Divinyls' "I Touch Myself" is usually attributed to Jack Off Jill. It was in fact by The Genitorturers.
  • the original was not by Blondie, Eurythmics, or Pink, by the way. In fact, this song came out long before Pink ever started making music.
• "It's a Rainy Day" is not by Dr. Alban or T.H. Express. It's by Ice MC feat. Alexia (uncredited).
• "It's My Life" (the early 90s dance song) is not by Sean Paul, but rather by Dr. Alban. In fact, the song was a hit about two years before Sean Paul started recording and a good decade before he became popular.
• The Vengaboys didn't cover or remix MC Sar & The Real McCoy's "It's on You"; that mix was by the similarly named Bonbonboys.
• Men at Work never performed "It's Your Move", best known from Diana Ross's version being Sampled Up by Macintosh Plus. The original is by a more obscure Australian, Doug Parkinson, while the other male-voiced version is by America(retitled "Your Move").
• Neither Bryan Adams, Michael McDonald nor Rick Astley sang "I've Been Thinkin' About You". It's by Londonbeat. And the female vocalist on the duet remake is not Kylie or Dannii Minogue, but Damae of Fragma fame.
• "I Wanna Be Somebody" is not by Quiet Riot, but by WASP
• "I Wanna Sex You Up" is not by Tony! Toni! Tone!. It's by Color Me Badd.
• "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" were not sung by Shirley Temple. They were sung by Gayla Peevey and Jimmy Boyd, respectively.
• "I Want to Know What Love Is" is not by Journey. It's by Foreigner. And Mariah Carey didn't do it first.
• The late '80s song "I Want You" is not by Madonna, it's by Shana, who also should not be confused with Shannon ("Let the Music Play").
• The disco song "I Want Your Love" is not by Sister Sledge, but by Chic. There is a much later and rather obscure Sister Sledge cover, but that's not the one everybody knows.
• Mariah Carey never sang "I Will Always Love You", that was either Music/Whitney Houston (the definitive version), Sarah Washington, LeAnn Rimes, or Gloria Gaynor, all of whom Covered Up Dolly Parton. Patsy Cline never performed it either, as she had been dead for over a decade by the time of Parton's original recording, and for three decades by the time of the other mentioned versions.
• "I Will Survive" is widely miscredited to Donna Summer, though it's actually by Gloria Gaynor.
  • It's also been credited to Gloria Estefan.
  • Bad Religion never recorded a ska-punk cover of this song. It's actually by Snuff.
  • And Diana Ross didn't perform it first.
• "I Won't Grow Up" is not from the 1953 Disney film of Peter Pan, but the 1954 Broadway musical.
• "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" is not by Fall Out Boy. It's by Panic! at the Disco. "Thnks fr th mmrs" is not by Panic! at the Disco; it's by Fall Out Boy.
• "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" and "Steppin' Out" are not Billy Joel songs. They're actually by Joe Jackson, the former from his album Look Sharp! and the latter from Night and Day.
• Haddaway did not sing "Is This Love?" (the 1992 Eurodance song, not to be confused with Whitesnake's hit), that was Jesse Lee Davis. Yes, the title sounds like "What Is Love?", but otherwise there's no relation.
• Cascada never produced a song titled "It's a Dream". That was either Kate Lesing, who ironically covered Maggie Reilly's "Everytime We Touch" with Trinity two years before Cascada, or DJ Dean, whose song of the same name was remixed by Cascada producers DJ Manian & Yanou.
• "It's Gotta Be You" is not by *NSYNC, but by the Backstreet Boys. The similarly titled *NSYNC song "It's Gonna Be Me" is completely different.
• "It's Over Now" is not by Whitney Houston. It's by Deborah Cox. Conversely, "It's Not Right (But it's Okay)" is not Cox, but Houston.
• Frank Sinatra never sang "It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year", that was Andy Williams.
• "It Was Always You" is not by Phil Collins or Genesis. It is sung by Maroon 5. Collins and Maroon 5 both have had hits called "One More Night", however.
• The Beastie Boys had nothing to do with Run–D.M.C.'s "It's Tricky" from Raising Hell.

J

• "James Brown is Dead" is not by 2 Unlimited or Scooter, but by the Dutch techno duo LA Style(one half of which was Michiel Van Der Kuy of Laserdance fame), though Scooter later sampled it for "Call Me Mañana".
• "Janie's Got a Gun" is not by Guns N' Roses, but by Aerosmith.
  • The parody "Elmo's Got a Gun" is not by "Weird Al" Yankovic. That was Tommy & Rumble.
• "Jerk it Out" (of iPod commercial fame) is not by Duran Duran, but by Caesars — long after Duran Duran's heyday.
• "Jerusalem" is not by Bob Dylan. It's by a sound-alike named Dan Bern (see the Stealers Wheel example).
• "Jessie" by Joshua Kadison sounds so much like Elton John that radio stations running contests to "call in when we play an Elton song to win Elton tickets" were flooded with calls every time it played.
• "Jessie's Girl" is not by Bruce Springsteen, but by Rick Springfield.
• "Jingle Hells Bells" is not by AC/DC or Weird Al, but by Bob Rivers.
• "The Joker" is not by Tom Petty, but by the Steve Miller Band.
• Rachael Leigh Cook and company did not do the vocals on the songs from Josie and the Pussycats; they only did the acting. Kay Hanley from Letters to Cleo did.
• "Jump Around" was not by Cypress Hill or Kris Kross, but it was by House of Pain. It was, however, based somewhat on Kris Kross's "Jump.", and was also produced by DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill.
  • "What It's Like" is not by Sublime, it's by House of Pain frontman Everlast. In fact, Brad Nowell was dead when it was recorded.
• "Jump" (the stadium techno song) is not by 2 Unlimited. It's by The Movement.
• The Judds never recorded "Men", that was The Forester Sisters, and neither one of those two groups did "Leave The Pieces", that song was done by The Wreckers.
• "Just Got Paid" is not by Bobby Brown or Keith Sweat. It's actually by fellow New Jack Swing artist Johnny Kemp.
• "Just When I Needed You Most" was not by Christopher Cross, but by Randy VanWarmer. The song does bear a resemblance to Cross' main hit "Sailing"

.

K

• Phil Collins had absolutely nothing to do with later covers of his band Genesis' song "Keep It Dark"; those would be World Trade (whose lead singer vaguely sounds like Collins) and Collins' son Simon (who sounds exactly like Collins).
• "Keep Pushin'" (not "Keep On Pushin'") is not by Todd Terry or Nightcrawlers, but by Boris Dlugosch Presents Booom!. You're probably confusing it with "Keep on Jumpin'" or "Push The Feeling On".
• "Kick the Can", the Eurodance remake of The Can Can Song, is not by Captain Jack, but by Bus Stop, although it stylistically resembles "Dream a Dream", CJ's take on "In the Halls of the Mountain King".
• "Kids in America" is not by Blondie, Nena, The Bangles, or The Go-Go's. It's by Kim Wilde.
• "Kill You Now" is not by Amon Tobin. It's by Doctor Mario (no relation), and is actually titled "Beg4life".
• "Kill Your Children" is not by Billy Idol, Clan of Xymox, Dire Straits, Peter Gabriel, The Sisters of Mercy, or Talk Talk. It's by The Cassandra Complex.
• “Killing Me Softly" was not covered by Frank Sinatra. It's by Perry Como.
• "Kissing in the Rain" on the soundtrack for Great Expectations is neither written nor sung by Tori Amos, though she did contribute to other songs in the film. This track is written by Patrick Doyle with vocals by Miriam Stockley.
• "Kiss Me" is not by The Cranberries, The Cardigans, the Corrs, Katie Melua or Avril Lavigne. It's by Sixpence None the Richer, five and four years, respectively, before the latter two artists' debut albums.
  • Though Avril did cover it at one point...
  • The Cranberries never covered "There She Goes" by the La's either. That's still Sixpence None the Richer.
• "Kiss the Rain" is not by Alison Moyet, but by One-Hit Wonder Billie Myers.
• The trance remix of the Vengaboys' "Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine)" is not by DJ Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Gouryella, or Rank 1, but by fellow Dutch trance duo Airscape.
• Donna Summer did not sing "Knock on Wood"; that was One-Hit Wonder Amii Stewart covering up Eddie Floyd.
  • Nor did Donna Summer record "Ring My Bell"; that's fellow One-Hit Wonder Anita Ward.
• "Komodo (Save a Soul)" is not by Enigma or Enya. That's Mauro Picotto featuring an uncredited female singer, and sampling up Deep Forest's "Sweet Lullaby", itself often mistaken for Enigma.
• "Kryptonite", not "Superman" or "If I Go Crazy", is not by Creed. That was 3 Doors Down.
  • 3 Doors Down's "Here Without You" was not by Matchbox 20 or Nickelback, by the way. And still not Creed.
• "Kung Fu Fighting" isn't by the Foo Fighters, Bee Gees, Hot Chocolate, Jimi Hendrix, KC and the Sunshine Band, or Village People. It was by One-Hit Wonder Carl Douglas. While the song sounds nothing like the Foo Fighters (Dave Grohl was only a child when "Kung Fu Fighting" was recorded), the misattribution came from the song title being similar to the band's name. Also, Jimi Hendrix was dead when the song was written.
  • The dance remix is not by Fatboy Slim but by Bus Stop.

L

• Don't believe P2P networks when they tell you that "The Lady in Red" was done by Phil Collins, Chris Isaak or Roy Orbison. It's a Chris de Burgh song. And neither Collins, Isaak nor Orbison covered it. Stevie Wonder never sang it either; you're thinking of "I Just Called to Say I Love You", part of Wonder's soundtrack to the Gene Wilder film The Woman in Red.
• "Ladies Night" is not by KC And The Sunshine Band, but by Kool & the Gang. Same for "Jungle Boogie", whose "Get down, get down" lyric may cause confusion with "Get Down Tonight".
• "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" is not by Daft Punk, but by fellow French duo Modjo.
• The Pointer Sisters never sang "Lady Marmalade", it was by Labelle, the One-Hit Wonder side group of Patti LaBelle (the Moulin Rouge version did not come first).
  • Neither LaBelle nor the Pointers covered Gary Wright's "Love is Alive"; that was either Chaka Khan, 3rd Party, or Anastacia, the latter two covers being recorded long after the former two bands' heyday.
• "La Isla Bonita" (not "Spanish Lullaby") is not by Gloria Estefan. It's by Madonna. Yes, even she can be on the other side of this trope.
• "Land of the Living" is not by Taylor Dayne, Nicki French, or Bonnie Tyler, but by Kristine W. Conversely, Kristine W. never covered Dayne's "Tell It to My Heart", that was Kelly Llorenna of N-Trance.
• "Last Saskatchewan Pirate" is not by Captain Tractor. He just did a cover. A cover that's more popular than the original. The original's by The Arrogant Worms, by the way.
• "Lately" is not by Brandy and/or Monica. It's by the One-Hit Wonder girl group Divine (not to be confused with the late drag queen who regularly collaborated with John Waters).
• "Lay Lady Lay" isn't by Mac Davis. It's by Bob Dylan.
• "Lean on Me" isn't by Al Green, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye or James Taylor; it's by Bill Withers or Club Nouveau. The Village People didn't cover it either.
• "Leave You Far Behind" (of The Matrix and Spider-Man fame; and not "I Wanna Take You on a Roller Coaster") is not by Pitch Shifter or The Prodigy. It's by Lunatic Calm.
• "Le Disko" (not "Supersonic Overdrive") is not by No Doubt. It's by Shiny Toy Guns.
• "Lemon Tree" isn't by The Police, Oasis, The Beatles or Blind Melon. It's by Fool's Garden. This is especially problematic because the lead singer's voice doesn't sound anything like Liam Gallagher's signature Perishing Alt-Rock Voice, and that John Lennon was long dead by the time it came out.
• "L'Esperanza", the 1999 trance single, is not by Paul van Dyk, but by Airscape. Sven Väth's 1993 song "L'Esperanza", which PvD remixed shortly after the Airscape song came out, is completely different. Adding to the confusion, the co-founder of Airscape is named Sven(son) Maes.
• The Beatles are no strangers to having other artists' songs being misattributed to them, but you'd think they'd avoid this problem the other way around, right? Not exactly. Take "Let It Be" for example. Some people think that it's a John Lennon solo song - even though it's sung by Paul McCartney. Lennon didn't even have a hand in writing it, although he got a co-writer credit for contractual reasons.
• "Let it Whip" (not to be confused with Devo's "Whip It") is not by The Gap Band, but by The Dazz Band.
• "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" is not by N-Trance; it's by Baby D. It does sound alot like * N-Trance's "Set You Free", released the same year (1992), and the groups had similar-sounding vocalists, plus Ashley Jade covered both songs in 2005.
• "Let Me Let Go" is not by Michael Jackson. It's by an obscure white guy named Jason Malachi, who happens to sound exactly like him.
• "Let's Go Smoke Some Pot" has been miscredited to dozens of artists, including 311, Widespread Panic (who are both mentioned in the lyrics), Adam Sandler, NOFX, Weezer, the Dead Milkmen, George Thorogood, MxPx, Pennywise, blink-182 and Reel Big Fish. It was by Dash Rip Rock.
• "Let the Music Play" is not by Lisa Stansfield, Gloria Estefan, or Madonna. It's by '80s One-Hit Wonder Shannon. And no, Jordin Sparks didn't do it first.
• "Let's Fall In Love" (the 1989 synth-rock song) is not by Bryan Adams, INXS, or Tears for Fears, but by Real Life.
• "Lies" was not by the Beatles. It was by One-Hit Wonder group The Knickerbockers. Perhaps one of the earliest mistaken songs.
  • Although to be fair, "Lies" was deliberately a Beatles soundalike. The Knickerbockers lead singer imitated John Lennon's voice while singing, right down to using a slight Liverpool accent to sing with, even though they were Americans. Their earlier songs were very derivative of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
• Also from the original Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era LP, "A Public Execution" by Mouse & The Traps sounds like a less eloquent imitation of "Like a Rolling Stone".
• "Life in the Fast Lane" is by The Eagles, not ZZ Top.
• "Life Is a Highway" (as in the original song, not the Rascal Flatts cover) was not recorded by Tom Petty, but rather by Tom Cochrane (another case where the singers sound so dissimilar that no one familiar with both would make the mistake).
• You may have downloaded "Light My Fire by The Doors and Jimmy [sic] Hendrix" from your favorite P2P service in the late 90s. First of all, Robby Krieger's Spanish guitar doesn't sound remotely like Jimi's work. In addition, The Doors and Jimi Hendrix never officially collaborated. (There's a bootleg recording of Jimi jamming with several musicians. Some believe a drunken, belligerent Jim Morrison appears, but evidence is sketchy.)
• "Lights", the 2010 song (not the one by Journey), is not by Lights, the artist, but by Ellie Goulding. It's not just the name; the two artists are actually quite similar.
• Kesha did not sing the chorus in Far East Movement's "Like a G6". Neither did Lady Gaga or Katy Perry. That was Dev (based on her old sound "Booty Bounce").
• "Like a Star" (the 1997 freestyle/house single) is not by Madonna, but by Cynthia. Though the title sounds similar to "Lucky Star", "Like a Virgin" or "Like a Prayer", those songs are completely different. Another EDM single titled "Like a Star" was released by Kim Sozzi in 2008.
• Joy Division never recorded a song titled "Like the Wind" or "Check It In, Check It Out". That's The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet, an apparent pastiche of Joy Division recorded by an unknown European band circa 1983-1984, several years after Ian Curtis's death.
• "Like Wow!" is not by Nelly Furtado, but by Leslie Carter (sister of Nick from the Backstreet Boys and Aaron Carter) who tragically passed away in 2012. The title does echo that of her debut album Whoa, Nelly!, though.
• "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (not "In the Jungle") is not by The Beach Boys or Paul Simon, but by The Tokens. No, it wasn't written for The Lion King.
• "Lips of an Angel" is not by Nickelback or Avenged Sevenfold, but by Hinder. People who remember that "Far Away" was a hit for Nickelback at the exact same time that "Lips of an Angel" was popular tend to avoid making that mistake. If you're scratching your head as to how anyone could confuse it with Avenged Sevenfold, it should be noted that Austin Winkler and M. Shadows sound similar.
• Cascada did not cover "Listen to Your Heart" by Roxette. DHT did. This was actually before anyone knew who Cascada even were.
• "A Little Bit of Ecstasy" is not by Planet Soul, K5, or Amber. It's by Jocelyn Enriquez. Amber, despite her similar voice, had a very different music style than Jocelyn; the former was Europop, while the latter was Freestyle.
• "Little Bitty Pretty One", i.e. the song that Matilda practices her telekinesis to, is not by Little Richard, but by Thurston Harris.
• "Little Fluffy Clouds" is by The Orb, not Orbital. And The Prodigy did not remix Orbital's "Halcyon"; that is actually the original mix, as opposed to the "& On & On" album version.
• The hit version of "Little Honda" wasn't by The Beach Boys, but by The Hondells.
  • This one's a little tricky, because The Beach Boys did record their own version of the song (which was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love) on the All Summer Long album.
• George Strait is not the singer of "A Little More Country Than That", That's Easton Corbin, and it came out long after Strait's heyday.
• "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" wasn't by The Beach Boys. That was Jan and Dean.
  • The Beach Boys did do a cover of "Little Old Lady" on one of their live albums (although the Jan and Dean version is the one you're more likely to hear on the radio).
• "Little Red Corvette" is not by Michael Jackson, but by Prince.
• Paul McCartney was a Beatle, but "Live and Let Die" is him with Wings. As are "Band on the Run", "Jet", and every other song McCartney sang with Wings.
  • And depending on the version, "Coming Up" may or may not be Wings; the studio version was McCartney going solo, though an early live version was recorded with Wings, and became a big hit in the US. Either way, it's definitely not the Beatles.
• "Live Tonight" is not by Sheryl Crow, but by Cheryl Cole.
• The 1974 cover of "The Loco-Motion" (originally sung by Little Eva) is not by the Beach Boys. That would be Grand Funk Railroad.
• Led Zeppelin did not sing "Lonely Is the Night". That was Billy Squier. It does sound a lot like "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "Good Times, Bad Times".
• "Lonely No More" is not by Matchbox Twenty; it's from Rob Thomas's solo album, again (not the same album, though).
• The Hollies' "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" sometimes gets mistaken for a Creedence Clearwater Revival song. Which is pretty understandable because it sounds nothing like the kind of material The Hollies are known for, and was deliberately written as a CCR homage.
  • It's also been misattributed to Mitch Ryder, due to Ryder's similarly-titled "Devil with a Blue Dress On".
  • The Hollies seem particularly susceptible to this trope:
    • That's not The Beatles doing "Dear Eloise".
    • That's not Air Supply doing "The Air That I Breathe".
    • That's not The Seekers doing "Carrie Ann".
    • That's not The Byrds doing "Sandy".
    • That's not a pre-prog Yes doing "On a Carousel".
• "Loser" (not "I'm a Loser Baby, So Why Don't You Kill Me") is not by Weezer. It's by Beck.
  • There's a Big Beat-style remix of "Loser" that's been credited to Fatboy Slim — it isn't his work, though no evidence of who actually did do it has turned up.
• "Losing My Mind" is not a Pet Shop Boys original, they just produced Liza Minnelli's hit version. It's actually by Stephen Sondheim, from Follies.
• "Lost on You" is not by Gwen Stefani, No Doubt, or Christina Aguilera. It's by LP, AKA Laura Pergolizzi.
• Nightwish do not have a song called "Lothlórien". That's by Enya.
• "Lovefool" not "Say That You Love Me" is not by No Doubt. It's by The Cardigans. It peaked on the charts shortly after "Don't Speak".
• The hit version of "Love Hurts" was not done by Aerosmith. It's by Nazareth. ^note Manny Charlton does sound a lot like Steven Tyler, though; only somewhat higher.
  • "Hair of the Dog" (not "Son of a Bitch") isn't performed by Bob Seger, AC/DC, John Fogerty or ZZ Top (and it's still not Aerosmith). It's also by Nazareth.
• "Love in America" is not by Hot Chelle Rae, but by JTX.
• "Love in the First Degree" (not to be confused with the Alabama song of that title) is not by Kylie Minogue but British girl group Bananarama. It sounds like a Kylie Minogue track as it was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, who also produced many of Minogue's early songs.
• "Love is a Shield" is not by Depeche Mode (hard as that may be to believe). Also by Camouflage.
• Neither CHVRCHES nor Dana Jean Phoenix have recorded a song titled "Love is Blind" (in the case of the former, you may be thinking of the album Love is Dead). That was NINA; however, it was co-produced by Till Wild (no relation to Kim and Ricky Wilde), who also collaborated with Phoenix on several songs.
• "Love Is Like Oxygen" is not an Electric Light Orchestra song. It's by The Sweet.
• "Love Missile F1-11", a.k.a "the song from the opening of Ferris Bueller's Day Off", and not called "Shoot It Up", is not by Billy Idol; it's by One-Hit Wonder band Sigue Sigue Sputnik, whose founder, Tony James, was the bassist of Idol's former band, Generation X.
• "Love Song", not "Write You A Love Song", is not by Taylor Swift; it's by Sara Bareilles. Swift did have a hit called "Love Story" that same year. Also not to be confused with "Love You Like A Love Song" by Selena Gomez and the Scene.
• "Love Spy" is not by Trans-X, although it does sound similar to "Living on Video". It's by German Eurodisco artist Mike Mareen.
• Tom Petty doesn't have a song called "Low" (or "Like Being Stoned" for that matter), that was Cracker. The confusion presumably stems from the song having sort of a similar rhythm to "Mary Jane's Last Dance". The confusion has apparently become a big pet peeve of Cracker vocalist David Lowery.
  • "Low" isn't by the Screaming Trees or Stone Temple Pilots either.
• The booty bass hip-hop song "Low" is not by Lil' Jon or Lil Wayne; it's by Flo Rida & T-Pain, and is completely different from Lil Jon's "Get Low".
• BT had nothing to do with "Love Will Come"; that was Tomski featuring Jan Johnston, the latter of whom often collaborated with BT. The title may also be confused with the Tiësto/BT collaboration "Love Comes Again".
• The female cover of Ready for the World's "Love You Down" was not by Brandy, 702, or Mya, but by INOJ.
• "Love You More" is not by Opus III or Kirsty Hawkshaw. It's by Sunscreem. And the trance cover is not by Ayla, but Rollergirl.
• "Low Rider" is not performed by ZZ Top. That was War, an act that couldn't be any more different.
  • Although if you listened to "La Grange" (you might be mistaken on the title) by ZZ Top, there are a few similarities, especially with both artists' signature deep voices.
• Post Malone does not have a song called "I Still See Your Shadows in My Room". That song is "Lucid Dreams" by the late Juice Wrld. It's not a collaboration between the two rappers either.
• Lene Lovich was a kooky dark-haired singer with an impressive vocal range and off-the-wall repertoire. Her biggest hit "Lucky Number" has been mistaken for a work by Kate Bush.

M

• Shakira did not sing "Machine", that was Mister Wives, likely imitating her signature style.
• The Donnie Darko cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" both plays this trope straight (as it's sometimes credited to R.E.M. but was actually done by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules, the latter of whom's voice bears an uncanny resemblance to that of Michael Stipe) and downplays it (as Jules usually gets sole credit despite only performing the vocals).
• "Made in the USA" is not a Miley Cyrus song, despite the similarities with "Party in the USA". It's by Demi Lovato.
• "Magic", the one featured in Happy Gilmore, is not by Queen or Freddie Mercury. It's by Pilot.
  • Some people also think "Come on Eileen" is by Queen, but it's actually Dexys Midnight Runners.
• Fatboy Slim never remixed Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride", although he did remix a completely unrelated song of the same title by Mighty Dub Katz (which was an earlier band featuring him). And Crystal Method didn't remix Steppenwolf either. That remix is by Philip Steir.
  • The original song had also been mislabeled multiple times as being by 70s bands like Jefferson Airplane and Led Zeppelin.
• "Magic Melody", a Speedy Techno Remake of "Come Little Children", is not by E-Rotic or Missing Heart, but by a not-yet-famous DHT, back when they were known as Danger Hardcore Team.
• "Magic O(rgasm)" is not by DJ Keoki(you're thinking of "Majick") or Benny Benassi(despite the similarity to "Satisfaction"), but by One-Book Author group House Heroes.
• "Major Tom (Coming Home)" is not by Devo or The Kinks. It's by One-Hit Wonder Peter Schilling. As for the 2009 cover featured in a Lincoln commercial, that was not Ladytron, but Shiny Toy Guns.
• "Man on the Moon" isn't Soul Asylum. It's REM.
• "Maniac" from 'Flashdance'' is not by Hall and Oates, but by Michael Sembello, who never had another hit.
• Pink Floyd, Marilyn Manson, Alice Cooper and Megadeth have nothing to do with Master of Puppets! Believe me, you're thinking of Metallica!
  • Not sure if Iron Maiden actually covered it; it may be a misattributted cover.
• "Maracaibo" is not by Raffaella Carrà; it's by Lou Colombo. It doesn't help that their voices are similar and that the song style could be easily attributed to Raffaella's repertoire.
• Frédéric Chopin did not compose "Mariage d'amour", which also isn't titled "Spring Waltz". It was composed by French composer Paul de Senneville 130 years after Chopin's death.
• "Mary's Got a Baby" is not by Shaggy. It's by Maxi Priest featuring Beenie Man.
• "Me and Mrs. Jones" was not done by Otis Redding, Barry White, Teddy Pendergrass, or Marvin Gaye; that's the only hit song of Billy Paul.
• Caramell did not perform "Me and My Lover", that was Special D. And the Nightcore version isn't the original.
• Giorgio Moroder didn't produce "Megatron Man" (which predates Transformers by three years); that was Patrick Cowley.
• Skinny Puppy's Ogre did not collaborate with KMFDM on "Mercy" from Symbols. He did, however, contribute to the following album track "Torture".
• Google "Merry Freaking Christmas" and approximately 70% of the hits will credit the song to Relient K. Relient K did not cover the rather "blue" Christmas tune, which includes, among other things, the singer getting in the bathroom with his sister-in-law to have sex, and the sound of her orgasm. Considering they are a Christian punk band, this would be very unlike them. The band in question is called "FRICKIN' A".
• The Black Keys never had a song called "Mess Around". That song is by Cage the Elephant. However, the album it is on was produced by Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach.
• "The Middle" is not by blink-182, it's by Jimmy Eat World.
• "Midnight Sun" is not by a-ha, despite the connotations with Norway and the stylistic similarity to "Hunting High and Low". It's by the aforementioned German artist Hubert Kah.
• "Misery" (not "Put Me Out of my Misery") is not by P!nk, but by Gwen Stefani.
• "Missing" is not by Des'ree or Sade, nor is it called "And I Miss You". It's by Everything but the Girl. And the trance remix was not by Paul Oakenfold, but by either Todd Terry (which got the most airplay) or Chris & James.
• "Missing You" is not Bryan Adams. That was One-Hit Wonder John Waite.
  • "When I See You Smile" is also not by Bryan Adams. That was Bad English, a group fronted by John Waite.
  • On the subject of Bryan Adams and in the case of Misattributed album, Waking Up the Neighbours is not a Def Leppard album with Bryan Adams fronting. The similarities come from the fact Robert John "Mutt" Lange (who was Leppard's producer during the 1980s) co-produced, co-wrote and sang backing vocals on the album. Further confusion also comes from how similar the voices of Adams and Leppard's singer Joe Elliott sound.
• Moby never remixed the Mission: Impossible theme. The arrangement for the 1996 film was by Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen Jr. of U2, with a techno remix by Junior Vasquez, while another Speedy Techno Remake produced the same year was by Axel Force.
• The website Tunefind lists the theme song to Modern Family as "Big and Bad" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and even though it sounds very similar to the show's theme music, the actual theme music is an original composition by TV composer Gabriel Mann.
• "Moon Machine" is not a Kraftwerk song, but an obscure B-Side by Jean-Michel Jarre that sounds radically different from his signature style of the era. Not to mention the title's similarity to The Man-Machine.
• The Real McCoy did not produce "More and More", that was Captain Hollywood Project. And "Mr. Vain"? That was Culture Beat.
• "More Than a Feeling" isn't by Foreigner. It's by Boston.
• Fleetwood Mac never covered Roxy Music's "More Than This"; that was 10,000 Maniacs after Mary Ramsey replaced Natalie Merchant.
• "More Than Words" is not by Eric Clapton but a Black Sheep Hit by funk/hair-metal band Extreme.
• "More Today Than Yesterday" was not an early Chicago hit; it was actually done by the One-Hit Wonder group Spiral Starecase.
• "Morning Train (Nine To Five)" is not a Marie Osmond song. It's sung by Sheena Easton.
• Rihanna did not sing the chorus in Nicki Minaj's "Moment 4 Life."
  • Likewise, Rihanna didn't sing the chorus in Dr. Dre's "I Need a Doctor". That was Skylar Grey, who also appeared in Diddy-Dirty Money's "Coming Home".
  • And "Mr. Saxobeat" isn't by her, that was One-Hit Wonder Alexandra Stan.
• DHT did not cover Mike Oldfield & Maggie Reilly's "Moonlight Shadow", that was either Missing Heart (not E-Rotic either, although MH originally had the same singer) or Groove Coverage.
• Area 11 did not perform "MoonQuest: An Epic Journey". That was a Yogscast original song, although since Sparkles* (their singer) provided the vocals for both this is a bit more understandable.
• 4 Strings didn't produce or remix "Moonshine", that was Project Medusa vs. Exor. This confusion is likely because one of the mixes is credited to Symphony of Strings, which is just an alias of the song's main producer duo, Errol Lafleur & Mark Nieuwenhuijzen, AKA Project Medusa, AKA Donald & Giles, etc.
• The Doors never did "Mother". It was made by Danzig, nearly two decades after Jim Morrison died.
• "Mother Mother" was not by Alanis Morissette, but by Tracy Bonham.
  • Similarly, "Zombie" (not "In Your Head") is by The Cranberries, not Alanis.
• "Motorslug" is not by Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, or Ministry. It's by Wiseblood, the supergroup of J.G. Thirlwell and Roli Mosimann.
• "Move Your Feet" is not by Gorillaz or Michael Jackson. It's by Junior Senior.
• The 1995 Eurodance song "Movin' Up" is not by M People, but by Swedish One-Hit Wonder Dreamworld, and is completely different from M People's "Moving On Up". Neither is "Move Mania", which is by Sash! featuring Shannon (the same one who sang "Let The Music Play" and "Give Me Tonight").
• "Mr. Jones" is not done by Van Morrison, but by Counting Crows. It is often mistaken as so because "sha-la-la-la-la-la" is in both this song and Van Morrison's Signature Song "Brown Eyed Girl."
• "Mr. Roboto" was not by Queen, but by Styx.
• "Mrs. Robinson" is not The Beatles. It's Simon & Garfunkel.
  • And that cover you hear on the radio sometimes is not The Clash, Cake, The Ramones, Weezer or Pennywise, but The Lemonheads.
• "Mushroom Cult" is not a System of a Down song. It is a Dog Fashion Disco song, featuring Serj Tankian of SOAD.
• Daft Punk had nothing to do with Madonna's Music album or single. It was produced by fellow French electronic dance musician Mirwais.
• "Music 3" in the NES version of Tetris is not a Johann Sebastian Bach piece, but an original composition by Hirokazu Tanaka. This misattribution may occur because the Game Boy version had a similar tune that was by Bach.
• "My Boy Lollipop" isn't by Brenda Lee, but rather early reggae singer Millie Small.
• "My Demons" is not by Breaking Benjamin, but rather by Starset. Note that BB were still on their hiatus at the time the song came out.
• "My Enemy" is not by Little Boots, but by CHVRCHES. You're probably thinking of "Remedy".
• "My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me to the Doctor)", whose refrain is "You take my heart and shake it up", is not by Divine, but by Dead or Alive. "Shake It Up" by Divine is a completely different song, though Stock Aitken Waterman produced for both acts.
• "My House" (the song that says, "It's my house and I think it's time to get out" in the chorus) isn't by Paramore. It's by PVRIS.
• "My Sacrifice" and "One Last Breath" are not by Nickelback. They're both by Creed. And they're both not by Pearl Jam, either.
• "My Own Worst Enemy" (not "Please Tell Me Why", "Sleeping With My Clothes On" or "And Your Gone") is not by Green Day, blink-182, or Social Distortion. It's by Lit.
• "My Sharona" is not by The Clash, but by The Knack. Possibly mistaken because "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" sounds vaguely like it (although "My Sharona" is significantly more upbeat), or because the band names are somewhat similar sounding.
  • It isn't by The Kinks, the Ramones, or Poison either.
• "My Way" (not to be confused with the Frank Sinatra or Limp Bizkit hits) is not a new Soulja Boy single. It's by Fetty Wap.

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