Johnny Cash’s version of Nine Inch Nails track Hurt has been named one of the best-ever covers of all time.
It gained more votes in a BBC poll than covers by the Stranglers, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Buckley, Joe Cocker and Muse – although the Pet Shop Boys’ version of Always On My Mind was voted number one.
Cash recorded Hurt for 2002 album American IV: The Man Comes Around, produced by Rick Rubin. NIN mainman Trent Reznor admitted in 2008 that he’d had reservations over allowing his “most personal song” to be remade.
He said: “I’d known where I was when I wrote it. I know what I was thinking about. I know how I felt. Hearing it was like someone kissing your girlfriend. It felt invasive.”
But when he saw the video, “it really, really made sense – I thought, ‘What a powerful piece of art.’ I never got to meet Johnny but I’m happy I contributed the way I did. It felt like a warm hug.”
BBC’s covers poll results
Pet Shop Boys: Always On My Mind (original by Brenda Lee, Gwen McCrae)
Johnny Cash: Hurt (Nine Inch Nails)
The Stranglers: Walk On By (Dionne Warwick)
Jimi Hendrix: All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan)
Jeff Buckley: Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
Soft Cell: Tainted Love (Gloria Jones)
Joe Cocker: With A Little Help From My Friends (Beatles)
Sinead O’Connor: Nothing Compares 2 U (Prince)
Muse: Feeling Good (Nina Simone)
Whitney Houston: I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton)
