TLC declined '...Baby One More Time.'
Getty ImagesSongwriters Max Martin and Rami Yacoub thought their song could be a fit for the '90s girl group, who saw major success with the similarly titled "Baby-Baby-Baby." However, the band felt like it didn't align with their style. "It's good for her. But was I going to say, 'Hit me baby one more time'? Hell no!" T-Boz told MTV News after Spears's version became a massive success. "Every song isn't good for each artist, and when you're a real artist you know what you believe in and what you really want to sing."
Bruce Springsteen wrote 'Hungry Heart' for The Ramones.
Getty Images"I saw the Ramones in Asbury Park," the Boss told Jimmy Fallon, "And we were talking for a while, and I was like, 'Man I've got to write the Ramones a song.' So I went home and I sat at my table and I wrote it in about the time it took me to sing it. I brought it in and we went to make a demo for it or I played it for [Johnny Ramone], and he said, 'Nah, you better keep that one.' He was right about that. It did pretty well."
Ed Sheeran recorded 'Love Yourself' before Justin Bieber.
Getty Images"That was a song I had written for Divide. It just wouldn't have made it," Sheeran explained on 97.1 AMP Radio, according to Billboard. "And then Justin took it and did his thing on it, and released it as a single and made it what it is." The British singer seemingly never lost his love of the song, though, as he covered it the same month his album debuted.
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Britney Spears and Mary J. Blige almost recorded 'Umbrella.'
Getty ImagesRihanna, believe it or not, was the third choice. Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart approached Spears with the song first in 2007. When she declined, they took it to Mary J. Blige's team. Because the rapper was a big name, her label couldn't bid on the song until they got her approval. When they were unable to reach her, though, Island Def Jam snatched it up for their up-and-coming star, Rihanna.
'Since U Been Gone' was offered to Pink—and then Hilary Duff.
Getty ImagesNe-Yo regrets giving up 'Irreplaceable.'
Getty ImagesAfter his demo leaked, the singer admitted he wishes he'd held onto it. "One song that I gave away and didn't want to is Beyoncé's 'Irreplaceable.' I honestly wrote that song for myself. But that song actually taught me a very interesting lesson—men and women don't actually think that much differently on the grand scheme of things," he told Choice FM, according to The Independent. "However, a man singing it comes across a little bit misogynistic, a little bit mean."
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Katy Perry and Rihanna missed out on 'Pretty Hurts.'
Getty ImagesAfter singer-songwriter Sia sent the song to Katy Perry, she never heard back. That's when she decided to pass it along to both Rihanna and Beyoncé instead, sparking a bidding war. RiRi's team had the track on hold for eight months but hadn't sent over the payment yet. Just as they were about to, Bey's team "slid into home base and threw the money down," Sia told ABC News. "It was a really awkward situation."
'Get Right' was originally an Usher track.
Getty ImagesWhen the R&B star scrapped a song called "Ride" from his 2004 album, Confessions, producer Rich Harrison then gave it to Jennifer Lopez. After she kept some of the bridge's lyrics the same, Usher reportedly even asked for publishing credit.
Neil Diamond wrote and recorded 'I'm a Believer' before The Monkees.
Getty Images"The head of my record company freaked," Diamond told Mojo Magazine in 2008, according to People. "He went through the roof because he felt that I had given No. 1 records away to another group. I couldn't have cared less because I had to pay the rent and the Monkees were selling records, and I wasn't being paid for my records."
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The Chainsmokers collaborated with Camila Cabello on 'Closer' first.
Getty ImagesAfter a short clip of the singer's demo leaked, Camila admitted why The Chainsmokers replaced her with Halsey. "I loved the song but I had to turn it down because I was with [Fifth Harmony] at the time and we were about to put an album out. I always tried to do my solo stuff off-cycle," she told Elvis Duran in 2017. "And then it was like the number one song in the world!"
Janet Jackson recorded 'I'm a Slave 4 U' first.
Getty ImagesIt's hard to imagine a world without Britney Spears's iconic snake performance, but her hit song was actually intended for Janet Jackson instead. "The queen, Janet Jackson, our sis, we made 'Slave 4 U,' and she actually recorded it, but she just didn't use it," Pharrell Williams told Revolt's Drink Champs podcast. "And when she didn't use it, we gave it to Britney Spears. So I've been blessed with a lot of that: where artists did not feel like something was for them, but it made sense for someone else."
Ed Sheeran had Rihanna in mind while writing 'Shape of You.'
Getty ImagesAfter finishing the song, though, he realized she was most likely going to turn it down. "I started singing lyrics like 'putting Van the Man on the jukebox,' and I was like, 'Well, she's not really going to sing that, is she?' And then we sort of decided halfway through that we were just going to make it for me," he told BBC Radio 1, according to Bustle.
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Billy Idol passed on 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' by Simple Minds.
Getty ImagesBefore it became a smash hit, thanks to 1985's The Breakfast Club, the track was sent to Billy Idol. The star opted not to record it, though, creating a huge opportunity for Simple Minds. The Scottish rock band almost rejected the song, too, but had a change of heart after meeting the film's director, John Hughes, and music producer Keith Forsey. "Very simply, we liked them, and were like, ‘Why don’t we give this a go? Spend a few hours, see what's what,'" lead singer Jim Kerr told The Morning Call.
'Bye Bye Bye' almost went to a British boy band called Five.
Getty ImagesThe group, assembled by Simon Cowell in the '90s, was offered the smash hit first. They quickly passed on the song, with one of the members reportedly even saying "What a bag of s—" after first hearing it, according to Cowell's biography Sweet Revenge. The choice ended up hurting their career—especially after N*SYNC found worldwide success. "It really was bye bye bye after that. That would have been the record that broke them. I would have broken that band," Cowell told Rolling Stone in 2012.
Meghan Trainor sent 'All About That Bass' to Beyoncé and Adele.
Getty Images"Some artists get thousands of songs pitched and they never know, so Beyoncé herself probably never heard it," the singer told The Guardian. "There weren't any singers at the time [who fit the song]. Adele was the only one, but she wasn't rapping and singing sassy songs with swears in them." It ended up working out, though, since the song catapulted Trainor to stardom.
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Avril Lavigne was behind Kelly Clarkson's 'Breakaway.'
Getty Images'See You Again' was presented to Eminem first.
Getty ImagesThe Fast & Furious Paul Walker tribute was originally set to include Charlie Puth and Eminem, not Wiz Khalifa. The rapper ended up turning it down to work on the soundtrack for Southpaw with 50 Cent instead. "That record ['See You Again'] was a huge success for Wiz Khalifa and them. [Eminem] decided to do Southpaw because he was invested in the project," 50 Cent later told Fuse.
'We Can't Stop' was written for Rihanna.
Getty ImagesShe turned it down, however, and went with another chart-topping song instead. "When I originally worked on 'We Can't Stop,' we had did it for Rihanna. The idea was more towards Rihanna," producer Mike WiLL Made-It told MTV News. "Rihanna, she heard 'Pour It Up' right away, and she didn't even hear 'We Can’t Stop.'" Once the song was presented to Cyrus, she loved it and ran with it.
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Lady Gaga wrote 'Telephone' for Britney Spears.
Getty ImagesParis Hilton passed on 'Don't Cha.'
Getty Images"I think I did hear the song, but not in the format that we all came to know and love," the socialite told reporters in 2006 after the Pussycat Dolls track came out. "If I'd heard that, of course I'd have jumped at the chance."
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