In the realm of music, covers are widespread yet sometimes mocked. You could hear commentators mock them by saying, “Couldn’t come up with anything yourself them.” Nevertheless, covers are and have always been a crucial component of the development of music; lest we forget that The Beatles and The Rolling Stones relied on blues covers as a crutch during their formative years before developing the confidence and free time to create their own discographies.

Cover songs are frequently used to draw attention to undiscovered artists and encourage experimentation. For instance, Johnny Cash contributed his own acoustic gravitas to Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” and Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” in the early 2000s. We never would have thought to give these tunes such a whole new lease of life. In the meanwhile, learning more about Cash’s taste in modern music was fascinating.

Today, we’re going over the 10 songs that have been covered the most. Naturally, The Beatles took first place both musically and with their number-one song, “Yesterday.” The 1965 song, which was enormously successful, was published as a single in the US and quickly reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

One of the band’s and, by extension, the world’s most well-known songs today, “Yesterday,” almost never came to be. The sorrowful ballad’s whole melody and song structure are said to have been created by McCartney in a dream when he was resting at the Wimpole Street residence of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher and her family. He raced to the piano as soon as he woke up to play the tune and hum some of the early lines to keep the memory alive.

Paul McCartney was hesitant to record the song because he believed that the condition known as “cryptomnesia” proved that he must have unintentionally stolen someone else’s ideas. In his autobiography, Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, McCartney recounted. “For about a month, I went round to people in the music business and asked them whether they had ever heard it before. Eventually, it became like handing something in to the police – I thought if no one claimed it after a few weeks, then I could have it.”

He added, “So first of all, I checked this melody out, and people said to me, ‘No, it’s lovely, and I’m sure it’s all yours.’ It took me a little while to allow myself to claim it, but then like a prospector, I finally staked my claim, stuck a little sign on it and said, ‘Okay, it’s mine!’ It had no words. I used to call it ‘Scrambled Eggs’.”

According to Guinness World Records, there have been more than 1,600 recorded versions of “Yesterday” over the years. According to Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), the song was played more than seven million times alone in the 20th century.

Below is the whole top 10 list.

The 10 most covered songs in history:

The Beatles – ‘Yesterday’
The Rolling Stones – ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’
Elvis Presley – ‘Love Me Tender’
Michael Jackson – ‘Billie Jean”
The Beatles – ‘Eleanor Rigby’
Frank Sinatra – ‘My Way’
Simon and Garfunkel – ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’
Bill Withers – ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’
Leonard Cohen – ‘Hallelujah’
The Beatles – ‘And I Love Her’

There are probably tens of thousands of pages worth of material regarding the rock star’s personal life, early career as an artist, and intimate knowledge of his family when one types the name Robert Plant into any search engine. It won’t be long before you find he has just a sister named Allison and no brothers after reading a few notes about the Plant family.

You’ll also realize in a few seconds that our title is not about Robert Plant’s biological sibling but rather a respected colleague in the music industry. The ‘brother’ the singer referred to is neither Jimmy Page nor any of his Led Zeppelin comrades, as is revealed very early in the piece, but rather potentially someone you won’t predict if you were to place a wager.

It was clear that Led Zeppelin had a strong sense of brotherhood when they dispersed into oblivion after deciding that they did not want to continue without John Bonham. The band was at the pinnacle of its fame when the drummer passed away, so it may have been financially advantageous to continue playing even if Plant and the rest of the band chose to honorably decline.

Without nothing to do when his Zeppelin brothers split up, Robert made the decision to enter the studio and succeed at what any musician would do: begin a solo career.

He began doing that, and as it turned out, he was rather talented at it, so his songs went on to become mainstream hits and even timeless masterpieces.

r was releasing songs under the guise of being a “solo artist,” but he was aware that he couldn’t have done it entirely alone, particularly when it came to touring. So, in 1985, while talking about his solo career and live performances, he had to give credit to his live band. As one member stood out the most, the rock legend referred to him as his “younger, richer, and bolder” brother.

It was merely another rock legend, much like Robert, who had assisted the previous leader of Led Zeppelin in adding some boosting drumming to his songs. Phil Collins, who Plant later referred to as one of his closest friends in the industry while admiring his brilliance, was Plant’s honorary and musical brother. According to the musician, Phil was his brother.

He said, “Well, Phil Collins has this sort of yen to be a drummer as well as to be a member of Marillion, so he played [on the] first two albums with me, and he toured America with me in the beginning on that first American tour. A great leveling factor, a great sense of humor, and real honest guy.

I think he is probably my best friend in the whole business; he’s like my younger, richer, bolder brother. I love him very much; his influence and his sort of stabilizing on the tour was very good… [And] important at the beginning of a solo career.”

Collins regarded Plant as his brother and greatest friend in the entire music industry, suggesting that Robert Plant, he went beyond being a basic collaborator. If you’re curious about how Robert spoke so highly of Phil that it almost mirrored Patrick Bateman’s infatuation with Collins in “American Psycho,” click here to learn everything about what an ultimate sigma guy listens to.

As you can see from the moment when Jimmy Page disparaged Phil for the entirety of an entire piece, you can see why the guitar legend loathed the drummer so much. However, not all rockers shared Robert or Patrick’s admiration for Collins.

The guitarist and vocalist Eric Clapton, who was born in Ripley, Surrey, England in 1945, began his musical career in 1962 and first rose to recognition as a member of The Yardbirds. He then joined John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, where he really embraced his passion for Blues music. However, he made his mark on rock history by joining forces with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker to form the power trio Cream.

The musician maintained a lucrative solo career throughout the ensuing decades while working with several other outstanding performers. He got the opportunity to interact with and observe several accomplished guitarists. He named three guitarists in an interview for the memorial to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1991, describing them as “the players” to him.

Guitarists Eric Clapton said he liked in the 90s

Stevie Ray Vaughan

With his popular albums “Texas Flood” (1983) and “Couldn’t Stand The Weather” (1984), Stevie Ray Vaughan was one of the musicians that contributed to the revival of the Blues in the 1980s. When Eric Clapton was driving, he heard him perform for the first time on the radio. In an interview for the book Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the musician recalls having the need to pull over and then identify the guitar player.

Eric said, “I was driving, and ‘Let’s Dance’ (David Bowie) came on the radio. I stopped my car and said, ‘I have to know who this guitar player is today. Not tomorrow, but today.’ That has only happened to me three or four times ever. Probably not for anyone in between Duane Allman and Stevie.”

In the 1980s, Clapton frequently had the opportunity to play with and interact with Stevie. even at his final performance, which took place in 1990 at Alpine Valley. Following the performance, the 35-year-old musician boarded a helicopter, which sadly crashed a short while later. He was clean for the first time in years, at the height of his profession, and receiving accolades from everyone.

Eric Clapton lauded Stevie Ray Vaughan’s distinct approach and technique in an interview for the movie “A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan.” He said, “I remember being fascinated by the fact that he never ever seemed to be lost in any way. It wasn’t ever that he took a breather or paused to think where he was going to go next. So it just flowed out of him.”

He also added, “Always seemed to flow out of him. Actually even that doesn’t come just with virtuosity, practice or any of those. It’s not a question of doing it over and over again. Or anything like that. It’s just that he seemed to be an open channel. He just flowed throught him. He never ever seemed to kind of dry up.”

Jimmie Vaughan

Jimmie Vaughan, the elder brother of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, began his career a few years earlier than his younger sibling and went on to become one of the most significant blues musicians of his age. Jimmie frequently travels with Clapton as his opening act because of their long-standing relationship.

In a 2021 interview with Goldmine magazine, Vaughan disclosed that Clapton had been a crucial support system for him following the awful loss of his brother. He revealed, “Eric was very nice and wonderful and supportive through the whole thing. Then he called me up and said, ‘Why don’t you come play with me over here in England and get away from over there? Just come play guitar.”

“Just leave that behind you. Come play.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I can do that.’ So he really helped me come back out. It’s been 31 years. Can you believe that?”

Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy, one of the greatest Blues guitarists of all time, began his career in 1953, more than ten years before Clapton. The guitarist has since collaborated with a huge number of Blues and Rock & Roll musicians and has received eight Grammy Awards.

In the late 1960s, Clapton and Buddy already had the opportunity to meet. When the British guitarist asked Buddy to take part in “24 nights” in 1990, it further encouraged Buddy’s career to take off. At London’s Royal Albert Hall, that effort assembled an all-star blues guitar lineup.

Even in 2005, Buddy Guy was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by B.B. King and Clapton. The singer remarked, “It’s a great honor and a privilege to induct this distinguish gentleman into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

“A man that mean so much to me personally and that as a musician has given so much to us all. It also provides me with the perfect opportunity to say ‘Thank you for all the inspiration he’s given me over the years.”

“He started playing and singing, his love and concern for the welfare of the Blues has been a great example for me and countless others who had the good fortune to share this road. My first experience of Buddy’s power was when I bought a record called ‘Folk Festival of The Blues.’”

Eric went on, “A little album, a live album recorded in Chicago in the 60s. In the company of such great artists such as Otis Spann, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy did far more than to just hold his own. With the greatest respect to all those fabulous masters, in my humble opinion he stoled the show. Coming from the back of the field like a throughbred racehorse, he’s shown through that genius ensemble. Taking no prisioners, letting everyone know that he was the new dangerous kid on the block.”

Rock & Roll music has developed and diversified since it first appeared in the 1950s. Heavy Metal and Punk Rock were two of the most popular subgenres in the 1970s, and Motörhead was the only band that enjoyed support from both groups. Led by the late, iconic Lemmy Kilmister on bass and vocals, the band developed a cult following and had a significant effect on many later-arriving rock stars from bands like Guns N’ Roses and Metallica.

Lemmy had the opportunity to experience the scene’s growth and discover several new bands over his career. The musician was well-known for being a very truthful guy as well as for his musical abilities, therefore he constantly provided his honest evaluation of other bands. include Radiohead and Coldplay, two well-known British bands.

What is Lemmy Kilmister’s opinion on Coldplay and Radiohead?

Motörhead had already been on the road for 18 years and had recorded 12 studio albums by the time Radiohead’s debut album “Pablo Honey” was released in 1993. Radiohead had only released 9 albums at that point. The band has sold more than 30 million records worldwide and won several Grammy Awards over the years with a style that combines Alternative Rock with electronic music and other genres. But the late Lemmy Kilmister wasn’t satisfied with it.

The same is true of the British band Coldplay, who over the past 20 years have played to sold-out crowds in stadiums all around the world. When Motörhead was celebrating 25 years on the road and promoting their 17th studio album, the band released their first album in 2000, and their sound changed, earning them the distinction of a Pop Rock band.

In a 2010 interview with Stay Thirsty Media, Lemmy was questioned about whether or not Rock & Roll was starting to turn around. Although the singer claimed that the music genre couldn’t be destroyed, he acknowledged that certain bands were receiving the title “Rock.” But they weren’t actually Rock & Roll bands.

He listed Radiohead and Coldplay as two of them.

He said, “Rock n’ roll always comes back, you know. There’s no fighting it. And these people think they can kill rock n’ roll they might as well try and stop the flood, you know. There’s no way. It always comes back because there’s always people who want to hear loud, raucous music, you know.”

Lemmy also added, “It’s exciting, you know. And all the shit that these magazines like is not exciting. Like, Jesus, Radiohead, you know. F**** me, you know. Coldplay. Jesus. These are not rock bands. These are sub-emo, you know.”

“I mean, they did some good stuff. Fair enough. But it’s not rock n’ roll. I know f****** rock n’ roll when I hear it. I’ve been listening to it since I was 12, you know? So f*** off!.”

Until his death, Lemmy Kilmister had the same viewpoint towards Radiohead.
When he spoke with Consequence at the end of his life in 2015, his opinion remained unchanged. The Motörhead frontman was questioned about the reason the group’s music remained constant since its formation in 1975 just a few months before he passed away at the age of 70.

Radiohead was cited by the interviewer as an example of a band that altered its sound with each album it released. Lemmy recently addressed that statement by saying, “And they’re not very good.”

He responded “no” when asked if he liked them at that point.

Throughout their 40-year career, Motörhead put out 23 studio albums. Even though the band only sold 15 million albums globally, they traveled constantly, developed a cult following, and have devoted followers who still listen to their music today.

One of the largest bands in the world today, Coldplay performs every year in front of millions of fans. similar to Radiohead, who have a large fan base despite not constantly being on the road.

Pete Townshend, co-founder of The Who, guitarist, occasional singer, and principal composer, is renowned for having a very honest personality. Over the years, he consistently expressed his genuine opinions about other bands and their music.

One of them is The Rolling Stones, a band that was established just two years before The Who and was a part of the so-called “British Invasion,” during which British bands gained international recognition.

The two bands had the opportunity to encounter each other early on since they began their careers virtually simultaneously, barely a few years apart, and attained recognition around the same time. In the 1960s, The Who frequently opened for The Rolling Stones, and the members of the two bands grew close. Pete Townshend has frequently stated that the band greatly influenced him in his formative years, particularly as a result of their live performances.

In 1989, he had the good fortune to preside over their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and expressed his unbridled admiration for the group in his address.

He said, “Keith Richards once told me that I think too much. The truth is that I think that generally I talk to much. But I don’t think first. Faced with injecting the Rolling Stones this evening I realized that thinking is not going to help me very much.”

“I can’t analyze what I feel about the Stones because I am a really absolute Stones fan, always have. They early shows were just shocking. Absolutely riveting, stunning, moving and they changed my life completely. The Beatles were fun, no doubt about that. I’m talking about they’re live shows. I’m demeaning them in any way.”

Pete Townshend continued, “The Stones were really what made me wake up. On the Beatles shows there were a lot of screaming girls and at The Stones were the first to have a screaming boy. The sheer force of the Stones on stage and that perfectly balanced audience: 1000 girls and me (laughs). It kind of singled them out.”

“They are the only group that I’ve ever really been unashamed about idolizing. So much of what I am I got from you, The Stones and I had no idea most of it was already secondhand (Laughs). No more gags, the Stones are the greatest for me. They epitomize British Rock for me. Even though they are now my friends, I’m still a fan.”

He has also talked about him seeing the Stones play live for the first time. When Phillip Norman’s history of the Rolling Stones was published in 1984, Pete Townshend did an interview on the band and the book. He remembered the first time he had ever seen them perform live.

“When Phillip Norman’s history of the Rolling Stones was published in 1984, Pete Townshend did an interview on the band and the book. He remembered the first time he had ever seen them perform live.”

“I had fairly long hair and I had seen a lot of things and I thought I was pretty cool. (Then) I saw these (guys) that looked to me like absolute animals in a bunch, going together to get a train at Ealing Broadway Station.”

He added, “I said to my friend: ‘Look at those geezers, look at their hair…’ I was actually quite repulsed and he said ‘That’s The Stones’. Then I knew that they were going to be enormous. They were that much rougher and nastier looking than The Beatles. I first saw them Saat Saint Mary’s Ballroom in Putney.”

“I arrived and we were going to warm up, we were still called The Detours, I think and Keith Moon wasn’t in the band. We were just a small group that used to copy Beatles hits and stuff like that. Jagger came out an he was just gross looking and he was doing the twist. There were two girls looking at him.”

“When they went out to play, Keith Richards immediately did this (The windmill movement), which I immediately copied and have used all my life. That was it, they were the band for me, they always have been and always have been my favorite band.”

Pete Townshend has previously acknowledged how much he loves the Rolling Stones, but Keith Richards cannot make the same claim about The Who. Over the years, the artist has frequently stated that he never really liked the band. He described them as a wild band and referred to Roger Daltrey, the group’s frontman, as “all flash” in an interview he gave to Rolling Stone in 2015.

“I always thought (Roger) Daltrey was all flash. And I love Pete Townshend, but I always thought the Who were a crazy band, anyway. You would say to (Keith) Moon, if you were in a session with him, ‘Just give me a swing,” and he (couldn’t). He was an incredible drummer, but only with Pete Townshend. He could play to Pete like nobody else in the world. But if somebody threw him into a session with somebody else, it was a disaster. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes you’ve got that one paintbrush, and you rock it.”

Keith added, “I just was never really interested in that many English rock & roll bands actually, at all. I mean, I usually like guys like Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, and that was before I was even recording. But there was something (about) the Yeses and the Journeys and all them that just left me a bit cold.”

However, the vocalist of the Rolling Stones absolutely loves Pete Townshend.

Pete Townshend is a favorite of the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger, who previously described him as an explosive performance in a 1995 Rolling Stone interview. Mick said, “I always loved Pete. He’s very bright, always thinking. He had this insane, rebellious, self-destructive streak. The first time we traveled with him, we were on the same plane going somewhere like Belgium. He got on the plane and got completely drunk in an hour – drunk and crazy. We just watched. But I love Pete. He was an exciting performer in the heyday of the Who.”

The Doors, one of history’s most important bands, were founded in 1965 by Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore in Los Angeles, California.

After releasing two albums without their renowned frontman Jim Morrison, who passed away in 1971 at the age of 27, their career ended in 1973 when they made the decision to disband the group.

Many well-known musicians have complimented the American throughout the years, including the late David Bowie, who disclosed which song by The Doors was one of his favorites when he named his favorites in a radio interview made public by Raised On Radio.

David Bowie said, “It’s a big gray out today but I’ve got some water and I’ve got a bunch of records. So I think if I was walking outside at the moment I would like to be walking on this street.

It’s ‘Love Street’ by The Doors. A commanding performer (Jim Morrison), I remember seeing him once at I think it was the Roundhouse when they came to London the first time.”

The Doors, one of history’s most important bands, were founded in 1965 by Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore in Los Angeles, California.

After releasing two albums without their renowned frontman Jim Morrison, who passed away in 1971 at the age of 27, their career ended in 1973 when they made the decision to disband the group.

Many well-known musicians have complimented the American throughout the years, including the late David Bowie, who identified one of his favorite The Doors songs in a radio interview made public by Raised On Radio.

Ray Manzarek, the late co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors, was a fan of David Bowie, and in a 1995 Rolling Stone special, he discussed how amazing the music videos created by the British singer were.

Manzarek commented before showing the Bowie music video for “Fashion”, “One of my favorite David Bowie music videos.

Back in the 70s, it was a real treat the next David Bowie video. You never knew what he was going to do or was it in the mid-80s. I don’t know, somewhere in there, who knows. By the time you get to be my age those decades begin blur together.”

“Whether it was the late 70s or early 80s, I’m not exactly sure, but there were a series of videos that were coming out by David Bowie and each of them were more inventive than the one before.

I would say that he was like the reigning king of video. One after the another, they were all excellently put together.”

Manzarek also said, “‘China Girl’ obviously is one of those and ‘Fashion’ is one in which David Bowie has the great line which I never understood: ‘They can’t do it here, so they do it over there. Beep, beep, fashion’ and that great bass line that is sort of funky. I love that kind of bass line. So I think this is David Bowie at the peak of his form.”

“I don’t think that the Thin White Duke has ever equaled this. Although evidently, he is getting ready to go out with Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails. Whether he is going out actually with Nine Inch Nails or with just Trent we don’t know. But it will be interesting to see what David Bowie comes up with this time around now that he is a mature gentleman and he married a woman, which is a good thing to marry, the beautiful model Iman. She is just fantastic, what a great person she is.”

The English rock group The Beatles’ sixth studio album, Rubber Soul, was made available in the UK on December 3, 1965. With a turn toward more contemplative and experimental composition, the band’s sound underwent a considerable transition with the release of this album. The Beatles’ contemporaries were greatly influenced by Rubber Soul, which caused a shift in emphasis away from singles and toward recording albums with a steady stream of excellent music. The album has been acknowledged by music reviewers as an album that expanded pop music’s lyrical and melodic potential.

It symbolized the turning point in the band’s musical development, when they began embracing a variety of musical styles, including rock, folk, and soul. The album’s distinctive sound was ground-breaking and had an impact on numerous rock music subgenres.

The top five Rubber Soul songs are listed below.

Girl

A hauntingly lovely ballad called “Girl” demonstrates the Beatles’ talent for creating a depressing tune with a straightforward melody. The vocalist of the song expresses his perplexity and aggravation in the song’s lyrics about a broken relationship with a female that left him feeling confused and alone. The gentle acoustic guitar and string arrangement of the song serve as an appropriate counterpoint to the deeply felt lyrics.

Nowhere Man

The Beatles were known for their proclivity for composing reflective and thought-provoking songs, and “Nowhere Man” is a prime illustration of this. The words of the song portray a man who is aimless and lost, unable to discover his place in the world. It is one of the most well-known songs on the album thanks to its distinctive melody and catchy chorus.

The Word

One of the most cheerful and spirited tracks on Rubber Soul, “The Word” serves as the album’s opening tune. The song’s lyrics emphasize the importance of communication and the power of love, exhorting listeners to “say the word and you’ll be free.” One of the outstanding tunes on the album, the song has a catchy chorus and a unique guitar riff.

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

A noteworthy piece on Rubber Soul, “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” combines acoustic guitar with instruments with Indian influences. In the song, the singer sings about a brief affair with a girl who invites him to her flat only for him to find that she has started a fire with his belongings. One of the Beatles’ most enduring songs, the song stands out for its inventive music and emotive lyrics.

In My Life

The lovely ballad “In My Life” has a catchy piano riff and an emotional melody. The lyrics of the song discuss the passage of time as well as the singer’s memories of the people and places that have influenced his or her life. One of the Beatles’ most heartfelt and enduring songs, the song has moving lyrics and gloomy music.

It is nothing new that rock music and its creators, particularly the Prince of Darkness, are linked to the occult. No, Ozzy is not the topic at hand. Call him by any name you’re comfortable with, such as Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Shaitan, or The Devil. Some conservative people dislike rock music because it tends to be loud and aggressive. While this prejudice is unjustified, to say the least, some rock musicians have capitalized on it or are genuinely adept at the dark arts. Here are several musicians who supposedly sold their souls to the devil in return for fame, among backmasked sounds, strange iconography, and occult pop references.

The narrative of Robert Johnson, an American blues guitarist who is said to have traded his soul to the devil in exchange for guitar-playing prowess, is the source of the urban legend that rock artists sell their souls to the devil. This notion has also been fueled by the relationship between rock music and the occult, which some rock artists have exploited or who really practice the dark arts.

Here are some of them.

David Bowie

While some found David Bowie’s identity a bit too much to handle, he developed an interest in the occult, mostly as a result of Aleister Crowley’s influence. Crowley was a prominent member of the occult community and was known as “the wickedest man in the world.” In his song “Quicksand” from 1971, Bowie paid homage to Crowley. In 1976, Bowie told Rolling Stone Magazine, “Rock has always been the Devil’s music…I believe rock’n’roll is dangerous. I feel we’re only heralding something even darker than ourselves.”

John Lennon

John Lennon, a second “student” of Aleister Crowley, encouraged the other Beatles to be interested in the occultist’s life. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’s classic 1967 album cover displayed the outcome. Lennon made a deal with the devil to become more renowned than the King of Rock n’ Roll, according to Joseph Niezgoda’s book The Lennon Prophecy. Further “clues” are drawn by Niezgoda, suggesting that the agreement was in place for 20 years, up to the day Chapman shot John Lennon to death after hearing a voice in his brain say, “Do it!”

Mick Jagger

One occultist who went further than the ordinary was Mick Jagger, who devoured books like Taoist Secret of The Golden Flower. The song “Sympathy For The Devil” was created with Keith Richards’ assistance and is a made-up account of the Devil showing himself at various moments in history. One could raise an eyebrow at the Stones’ poster child for performing the song while sporting phony demon tattoos and letting the Church of Satan utilize the song’s soundtrack. Jagger offered his opinion, “I thought it was a really odd thing, because it was only one song, after all. It wasn’t like it was a whole album, with lots of occult signs on the back. People seemed to embrace the image so readily, [and] it carried all the way over into heavy metal bands.”

Alice Cooper

Another key player in the rock-occult puzzle was Vincent Furnier, a pioneer of shock rock also known by his stage name, Alice Cooper. Cooper says that he “found out” that he was the reincarnation of a witch with the same name from the 17th century during an Ouija board encounter, which is where he obtained his stage name. Onstage, Cooper would cover himself in makeup, dress in feminine garb, and perform plays that portrayed morbidity such as hanging himself from a rope, beheading babies, and smashing baby dolls while singing songs with similarly macabre titles.

Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin was most likely one of the “true” occultists in the world of rock music. Page was so fascinated with Aleister Crowley, who was always a famous figure among rock artists, that he even went so far as to purchase Crowley’s Boleskine House in Scotland. Page looked for occult items by attending auctions or approaching individual collectors. He even attended seances, which were gatherings where people tried to connect with the dead.

This sparked allegations that Led Zeppelin was a devil’s band, which intensified after Robert Plant’s son Karac and John Bonham both went away. Believers believed that these deaths were divine punishment for the years Page spent working with the devil. Page is thought to be a devout Thelemite, a follower of Crowley’s Thelemaic religion, and a member of Crowley’s Ordo Templi Orientis. In one of his interviews, Page made the statement, “I do not worship the Devil,” as he said in a Rolling Stone interview that year.

This idea was strengthened among fans and the inquisitive with the introduction of hard rock and heavy metal. While other bands like Black Sabbath and AC/DC dispelled rumors about their purported occultism with songs like “Highway To Hell,” Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath appears to have capitalized on the fad with his infamous chord progression that featured a flattened fifth note on the major scale, resulting in dissonance and a very ominous sound. Medieval Europeans strongly avoided using this in their works because they thought it was Diabolus in Musica or the Devil in Music.

Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness, experienced the horrifying progression as well, claiming, “He came to rehearsal one day, and said, ‘Isn’t it funny how people pay money to watch horror films; why don’t we start playing scary music?’ And then he came up with that ‘Black Sabbath’ riff, which was the scariest riff I’ve ever heard in my life.”

The powerhouse song “Whole Lotta Love” served as the opening track for Led Zeppelin’s second album. A few months after its debut, this innovative and ground-breaking song was certified gold and became their first smash single in the US. It’s a song that set the bar for hard rock and was much ahead of its time.

One of the most instantly identifiable rock riffs is the guitar hook at the start of the song. It was invented by Jimmy Page in 1968 while he was living aboard a houseboat on the River Thames in England. However, John Paul Jones allegedly said that Page came up with the concept during an onstage improvisation when the band was performing “Dazed and Confused.”

Page, however, refuted it and stated the following in an interview with Marc Myers that was included in his book “Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B, and Pop”:

“I suppose my early love for big intros by rockabilly guitarists was an inspiration, but as soon as I developed the riff, I knew it was strong enough to drive the entire song, not just open it. When I played the riff for the band in my living room several weeks later during rehearsals for our first album, the excitement was immediate and collective. We felt the riff was addictive, like a forbidden thing.”

He added, “I had this avant-garde master plan for “Whole Lotta Love” and could hear the construction coming together in my head. From the start, I didn’t want “Whole Lotta Love” — or any of our songs — to be a single. I had been a session musician since the early 1960s, as had [bassist] John Paul Jones. We had recorded on hundreds of singles and hated the abbreviated, canned format. I also knew that stereo FM radio was emerging in America and playing albums. I wanted to develop our songs emotionally, beyond just lengthy solos.”

Furthermore, Page opposed their record “being chopped up into singles for AM radio.” It was fortunate that he and JPJ were familiar with the recording environment.

He went on, “During the band’s rehearsals in early ’69 for our second album, “Whole Lotta Love” sounded strong enough to open it, so I wanted to record the song first. In April, we went into London’s Olympic Studios and cut “Whole Lotta Love” with engineer George Chkiantz, who had recorded Jimi Hendrix there.”

Because Page was clear about what he desired, their experimentation led to the fresh ground being broken.

He informed Guitar World. “During the mix, with the aid of engineer Eddie Kramer, we did all the panning and added the effects, including using Low Frequency Oscillators on the tape machine to really pull the whole thing down and lift it back up so the sound is moving in rhythm.”

“It was something no one had ever done before in that context, let alone in the middle of a song. That’s how forward thinking we were, that’s how avant-garde it was, and that’s how much fun we were having.”

Everything had to be done perfectly, especially John Bonham’s part. Page stated, “For the song to work as this panoramic audio experience, I needed Bonzo [drummer John Bonham] to really stand out, so that every stick stroke sounded clear and you could really feel them. If the drums were recorded just right, we could lay in everything else.”

“Whole Lotta Love” is still relevant and unmatched after 50 years.

Howard Stern has likely been the most recognized authority on rock music since he emerged as one of the most recognizable voices on the airwaves in the 1980s. Because of his father’s work as a recording engineer, Stern has always loved music in all genres. Over the years, he has seen many performers come and go, and he has never been reluctant to express his honest opinion on some of the most well-known figures in the business.

It doesn’t matter if Stern waxes poetic about legendary rock bands like Black Sabbath or delivers lines like “f*** Elvis,” his commitment to keeping things simple when it comes to music has helped him build a reputation that has attracted millions of viewers to his program for decades.

One of Stern’s most memorable moments on air occurred in January 2022 when he listed what he considered to be the top three albums of all time. It wasn’t really surprising that they were from the classic rock period given their lineage of three legendary performers. These were Are You Experienced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience from 1967, Led Zeppelin II from 1969, and The Beatles’ 1967 psychedelic masterwork Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

After a caller cited Meat Loaf’s 1977 first album Bat Out of Hell as one of the greatest albums ever, Stern made his discoveries. Stern claimed that he was perplexed by this absurd assertion. He said, “The hits were great—not the entire album, You’re saying, what are the … best albums where every song is f****** killer.”

Then Stern firmly listed his choices for the top three albums of all time. He said, “If you were going to pick number one, it would have to be a Beatles album, I’d probably say it’s ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” He added, “The other album that comes to mind, the second Led Zeppelin album [‘Led Zeppelin II’], you know, with ‘Heartbreaker’ into ‘Living Loving Maid’ … if I put that whole album on it’s mesmerising.”

He also chose Jimi Hendrix’s album. He picked, “If I’ve got to pick a third, I’d have to even consider Jimi Hendrix Experience [‘Are You Experienced’] because every song is mind-blowing. People would put Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds on there, but that’s bullshit.”

Stern’s co-host Robin Quivers said, “There are musicians who vow to the Beach Boys, but that’s like a musician thing, not a people listening thing.”

Howard Stern’s three favorite albums:

The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced (1967)
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II (1969)