Papa Don't Preach - Cover Versions

Cover Versions

"Papa Don't Preach" has been covered by numerous artists. In 2002, British singer Kelly Osbourne recorded together with Incubus' members Mike Einziger (guitar), and José Pasillas (drums), a hard rock cover of the song that was produced by her brother Jack Osbourne. It was included as a bonus track on her debut album Shut Up and on the soundtrack of MTV's reality television program The Osbournes. The song was released in the United Kingdom on September 2002, peaking at number three. In the rest of Europe, the song peaked inside the top ten in Ireland and Finland, and the top twenty in Sweden. In Australia the song debuted at number three, and received a platinum certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). This version was panned by music critics, who thought that the cover "makes precisely zero sense", and that it "reeks of opportunism", also criticizing Incubus' collaboration, describing it as "unimaginative", and that "their presence makes the whole mess barely distinguishable".

French group Mad'House made an Eurodance cover of the song, that was included on their 2002 album Absolutely Mad. Covers of the song on tribute albums include Brook Barros on The Music of Madonna, released in 2005, and a jazz version on Bo. Da's Plays Madonna in Jazz, released in 2007. The song has been sampled at the beginning of Mario Winans' 2004 single "Never Really Was", and a slowed-down version by Keshia Chanté sample the song in the 2006 single "Fallen". In 2001, Picturehouse released a quiet acoustic cover on the first Even Better Than the Real Thing covers album. The television show Glee released an acoustic cover version performed by Dianna Agron as her character Quinn Fabray, a pregnant teenager, in 2010.