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    27 pop songs you didn’t know were inspired by classical pieces

    In 27 cases of chicken and egg, we reveal the popular chart tunes that were inspired by classical pieces…

    1. Lana Del Rey

      1. Lana Del Rey - Old Money / Nino Rota – Romeo & Juliet Theme

      Lana Del Rey has nabbed the tune from Nino Rota's theme to the 1968 film version of Romeo & Juliet for her song 'Old Money', and not for the first time - she also stole it for an unusual a cappella doodle on her debut album, cheerily entitled 'Methamphetamines'.

    2. Little Mix

      2. Little Mix – Little Me / Fauré – Pavane

      X Factor-winners and one of the world's biggest girl bands, Little Mix, are also massive fans of Gabriel Fauré, apparently. Their 2013 single 'Little Me' nabs the tune of his Pavane and turns it into a R&B anthem.

    3. s club 7 in a phonebox

      3. S Club 7 - Natural / Fauré - Pavane

      Remember S Club 7? Rachel Stevens, the one who could do a backflip and… well, never mind. One thing we do remember is their cheeky reworking of Fauré's Pavane in their chart smash 'Natural'.

    4. Elvis Presley

      4. Elvis Presley - I Can't Help Falling In Love With You / Martini - Plaisir D'Amour

      When Berlioz orchestrated Martini's traditional song 'Plaisir D'Amour', he probably didn't think that Elvis, Andy Williams and even UB40 would end up borrowing the tune… but they did.

    5. greg lake from emerson lake palmer

      5. Greg Lake - I Believe in Father Christmas / Prokofiev - Troika

      Festive favourite 'I Believe In Father Christmas' by Greg Lake is notable for its rather dark Christmas message, but it's also got a storming quote of 'Troika' by Prokofiev right in the middle of it.

    6. conor oberst bright eyes

      6. Bright Eyes - Road To Joy / Beethoven - Ode To Joy

      Only the best for indie-folk sensation Conor Oberst, AKA Bright Eyes, who channels The Master (and makes an awful pun) on 'Road To Joy'.

    7. William Orbit

      7. William Orbit - Adagio for Strings / Barber - Adagio for Strings

      William Orbit's radical reworking of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings is literally a pop classic.

    8. queen

      8. Queen - It's A Hard Life / Leoncavallo - 'Vesti La Giubba'

      If anyone in the pop world was going to take on opera, it was Freddie Mercury. Here, he nabs the melody from Leoncavallo's 'Vesti La Giubba' from his opera Pagliacci.

    9. john williams guitarist

      9. Sky - Toccata / Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

      This one's not really a theft, in that Sky (who featured classical guitarist John Williams in their line-up, pictured) freely admit that it's a prog version of Bach's most famous organ piece.

    10. Glastonbury 2010

      10. Muse - Plug in Baby / Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

      While we're on the subject of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, why not take a listen to the nifty guitar riff for Muse's 'Plug In Baby'? Heard it somewhere before?

    11. procul harum

      11. Procul Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale / Bach - Air on a G String

      They may well skip the light fandango and turn cartwheels across the floor, but Procul Harum are also some of the cheekiest pop borrowers we can think of. Have a listen to that organ - anyone else hear Bach's Air On A G-String?

    12. barry manilow

      12. Barry Manilow - Could It Be Magic / Chopin - Prelude in C Minor

      The great Barry Manilow, purveyor of romantic pop hits and producer of his own wine, also spends his time using the chords from Chopin preludes in his songs. 'Could It Be Magic' borrows heavily from his Prelude in C minor.

    13. pet shop boys live

      13. Pet Shop Boys - Go West / Pachelbel - Canon in D

      We could've picked dozens of different pop songs that use the chord structure of Pachelbel's Canon in D, but few make it as fun as the Pet Shop Boys.

    14. Elvis Presley

      14. Elvis Presley - It's Now Or Never / Eduardo di Capua - O Sole Mio

      Elvis takes on the greats of opera with this romantic little ditty, the melody of which is inspired by 'O Sole Mio' by Eduardo di Capua (also known as the Cornetto song).

    15. Lady Gaga

      15. Lady Gaga - Alejandro / Csárdás - Monti

      Csárdás by Vittorio Monti is neatly nabbed by Lady Gaga for the intro of her single 'Alejandro'.

    16. Glastonbury 2011 beyonce

      16. Beyoncé - Schubert - Ave Maria

      When Beyoncé isn't drunk in love, it seems that she chills out with this lovely version of Schubert's Ave Maria.

    17. Starship

      17. Starship - Sara / Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

      This is a subtle one - listen to the end of the chorus of Starship's 'Sara' and you'll just be able to make out a descending motif from Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.

    18. Nas

      18. Nas - I Can / Beethoven - Für Elise

      The world of hip-hop and classical music might not seem like natural bedfellows, but Nas has turned a sample of Beethoven's Für Elise into a rap smash.

    19. BRITs 2008

      19. Mika - Grace Kelly / Rossini - Largo Al Factotum

      Pint-sized pop person Mika has admitted on several occasions that he half-inched the melody for Rossini's 'Largo Al Factotum' from The Barber Of Seville on his hit 'Grace Kelly'.

    20. Radiohead

      20. Radiohead - Exit Music For A Film / Chopin - Prelude No. 4 in E Minor

      Cheery pop upstarts Radiohead took things down a notch or two with this mournful little number from their OK Computer album. Oh, and it subtly weaves in the melody from Chopin's Prelude No. 4 in E Minor.

    21. Lady Gaga

      21. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance / Bach - The Well Tempered Clavier

      That Gaga's at it again - this time stealing a harpsichord intro from Bach's Well Tempered Clavier.

    22. Saturday Night Fever

      22. David Shire - Night On Disco Mountain / Mussorgsky - Night On Bald Mountain

      We apologise - this one is plainly ridiculous. Where could one take a dramatic classical work like Mussorgsky's A Night On Bare Mountain and turn it into a shimmering disco work-out? The soundtrack from Saturday Night Fever, that's where.

    23. Sting lute

      23. Sting - Russians / Prokofiev - Romance from Lieutenant Kijé

      Sting's love of all things classical seemed to have kicked off with this song - it deftly uses the melody from Prokofiev's Romance from Lieutenant Kijé.

    24. ella fitzgerald

      24. Ella Fitzgerald - My Reverie / Debussy - Reverie

      Jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald finds an unlikely inspiration in the king of impressionism, Claude Debussy. Her 'My Reverie' is a delicate version of Debussy's 'Reverie'.

    25. Janelle Monae  live

      25. Janelle Monáe - Say You'll Go / Debussy - Clair de Lune

      Time for another fan of French impressionism in the pop world - Janelle Monae was discovered by Big Boi of OutKast and mentored by P. Diddy, but on 'Say You'll Go' it sounds like her heart belongs to Debussy. She puts a quote of his 'Clair De Lune' at the very end.

    26. The Beach Boys

      26. The Beach Boys - Lady Lynda / Bach - Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring

      The symphonic ambitions of Brian Wilson are well-documented, but here The Beach Boys take it back to baroque with this pop restyling of JS Bach's 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring'.

    27. Take That

      27. Take That - Never Forget / Verdi - Tuba Mirum from Requiem

      Unlikely as it seems, Gary Barlow nabbed a trumpet fanfare from Verdi's Requiem to kick off one of Take That's most popular songs.

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