The Balkan turbo-folk artists have been notorious for their fast-paced lifestyle of guns, sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. It doesn’t surprise their musical inspiration comes from unexpected places, including some of rock’s holiest of holies. Brace yourselves

1. Mira Škorić – Sva čuda da se dogode (Led Zeppelin – Kashmir)

You might think this is an odd choice of music to steal for a folk song, but bear in mind that Mrs Skoric, like many other folk singers, started out in rock music with her partner (the guy playing the guitar). It would be interesting to find out if Plant and Page would dig this cover. My guess is they would probably bury it if they could.

2. Ceca – Ljubav fatalna (Queen – Another One Bites The Dust)

Ceca might have stolen just the riff from “Another one bites the dust”, but sometimes that’s all it takes to end up on a list like this. Note the guy playing the guitar but not actually playing it.

3. Dino Merlin – Mjesečina (UB40 – Where Did I Go Wrong)

Dino is a Bosnian hitmaker who sometimes finds his inspiration in other people’s songs. Sometimes he finds all the chords and the entire melody put together in the way that needs no changing, and hopefully no one will notice because obviously it’s not UB40’s most famous song.

4. Indira – Preko, preko (Rammstein – Du Hast)

Indira should be known to the readers of this site by now, thanks to her latest blunder. It’s important to note, however, that this is just her way of doing things – here, she takes a Rammstein song to a whole new level. It’s one of the first, and best examples of turbo folk metal.

5. Dragan Kojić Keba – U crno obojeno (Rolling Stones – Paint It Black)

Dragan Kojic Keba, Serbian folk singer, shows his respect to Rolling Stones by not only taking the music of “Paint it black” but the main lyrics too. He continues to be ridiculed for this cover to this very day, except in special occasions when one hears this song while intoxicated.

6. Džej – Dan bez svetla (Michael Jackson – They Don’t Care About Us)

Dzej is somewhat of a Belgrade legend – born in poverty, rumors say he was involved in various criminal activities, from drugs, over gambling, to pimping. Kind of like Michael Jackson, but not entirely. Hence this cover may sound strange if you don’t understand Serbian, but I assure you it sounds strange even if for us native speakers. To whom is he protesting? Why? And what is the mime ballerina symbol for?

7. Džej – Mrak Mrak (AC/DC – Thuderstruck)

On the other hand, when he covered AC/DC, that sounded maybe, but just maybe, as a more logical thing to do

8.Seka Aleksić – Idi pre jutra (Yngwie Malmstein – Rising Force)

Tacky outfits, cheap lyrics and trashy melodies, not to mention the embarrassing outfits… my guess is that turbo folk star Seka Aleksic found something inspiring in Yngwie Malmstein’s work. And she kept the trashy melody, of course.

9. Marko Perković Thompson – Iza devet sela (ABBA – Super Trooper)

Thompson is a Croatian take on folk music, mixed with nationalistic/military sentiment. What better tune to go with that than ABBA’s “Super Trooper”?

10. Tap011 – Pekara (Ini Kamoze – Here Comes The Hotstepper)

Tap011 are to the nineties in Serbia what LMFAO is today to the world – they take some music from other artists, throw in some nonsense lyrics, and first couple of times you hear the song it’s kind of funny, but every other time you hear it is one time too many. Of course, they managed to make a shitload of money during the 90’s, riding on a dance craze wave that swept Serbia back then and continues to torment this country via various bands to this very day.