I’ll go out on a limb and say that, for every one of the nine singles to reach #1 by two different artists, the original is superior. Would anybody really pick Club Nouveau over Bill Withers, or Kim Wilde over The Supremes? Bananarama’s pop sheen over the 60s rock of The Shocking Blue?
Perhaps nowhere is the gap between versions more clear than in today’s example, ‘When a Man Loves a Woman.’ Percy Sledge had a #1 hit with his soulful performance in 1966, and 25 years later Michael Bolton registered one of only two #1 hits in his career with his 1991 recording.
Meet Me In Montauk 