There are plenty of hit songs that were intended for one artist, but were then recorded by another for one reason or another. It must be annoying for singers when they reject a song and it goes on to be a huge hit for someone else. It can take months or even years for songs to be released and they can get passed back and forth a lot before someone finally claims it for their own. Check out these 11 songs that were rejected by one singer, then recorded by another.
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‘Telephone’ by Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé
This Gaga-Beyonce collaboration was actually written by Gaga with Britney Spears in mind. Britney even recorded a demo version, which you can find on YouTube, before passing on it. Gaga then decided to record it herself and the song was a huge hit for her and Beyoncé.
2. ‘We Found Love’ by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris (2011)
This club anthem was a huge hit for Rihanna and is to this day one of the biggest songs of her career. It also helped Calvin Harris become an international artist, though ex-Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger was presented with the song and didn’t have time to record it.
3. ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z (2007)
‘Umbrella’ was another song that was a huge hit for Rihanna, but was originally offered to someone else. This song was offered to Britney Spears, who was looking for a huge hit to kick-start her career after a series of public meltdowns.
4. ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears (2003)
‘Toxic’ gave Britney her first Grammy Award, though the song was originally offered to Kylie Minogue, who listened to a snippet of it and decided against recording it.
5. ‘I’m a Slave 4 U’ by Britney Spears (2001)
This song saw Britney head in a more mature direction, though the song itself was first offered to Janet Jackson, who listened to it but decided not to record it for herself. It’s a good thing she did, because this song went on to become one of Britney’s biggest hits and who can forget Britney’s iconic VMAs performance of the song when she performed with a python wrapped around her neck?
6. ‘Halo’ by Beyoncé (2009)
Though this song was ultimately recorded and released by Beyoncé, it was supposedly meant for Leona Lewis. Some sources claim Leona was offered the song first and was too busy to work on the track, while others claim the song was only offered to Leona to make Beyoncé find the time to record it herself.
7. ‘Since U Been Gone’ by Kelly Clarkson (2004)
‘Since U Been Gone’ was one of Kelly’s biggest hits, though it was actually offered to Pink and Hilary Duff before Kelly claimed it for herself.
8. ‘Disturbia’ by Rihanna (2004)
This song was written for the re-release of Chris Brown’s Exclusive album, though Rihanna heard it and wanted to record it herself; Chris agreed because he thought the song would better suit a female singer.
9. ‘Rock Your Body’ by Justin Timberlake (2002)
‘Rock Your Body’ was intended for Michael Jackson’s tenth album Invincible, but was rejected by the late singer and went on to feature on Justin Timberlake’s first album Justified, along with a number of other song rejected by Michael Jackson.
10. ‘S.O.S.’ by Rihanna (2006)
Rihanna has a habit of taking songs rejected by others and turning them into big hits. ‘S.O.S’ was meant for Christina Milian, who passed up the opportunity to record and release the song, which would go on to be a chart-topper.
11. ‘I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’ by Aerosmith (1998)
This power ballad was recorded for the movie Armageddon, though songwriter Diane Warren originally wrote the song with Celine Dion in mind.a
