20 hits passed on by great artists

In the 2000s, almost every pop song was written for Britney Spears. “Telephone” was first offered to Spears, but she turned it down, so Lady Gaga, who wrote the song, kept it for herself and sang it as a duet with Beyoncé. Spears’ version does exist somewhere on the Internet, though.

In the 90s, however, the songs were not originally written for Britney Spears. She still had to prove herself. “…Baby One More Time” was first offered to TLC, but they turned it down because it didn’t quite fit the group’s vibe. The song was then offered to Robyn before it ended up with Spears.

All fan theories about which of Justin Bieber’s ex-girlfriends “Love Yourself” was written about are false because Bieber didn’t even write the song. Ed Sheeran wrote it and considered putting it on his album Splitbut it didn’t fit, so he gave it to Bieber.

It should come as no surprise that Jennifer Lopez recorded a song that was first offered to someone else. It’s probably happened several times. What is surprising, however, is that “Let’s Get Loud” was originally intended for Gloria Estefan. Estefan co-wrote the song, but felt that it sounded too close to her other hits.

See? This has happened to Jennifer Lopez several times. Her hit “Get Right” was originally recorded by Usher. To Lopez’s credit, she reworked the song a bit and had the good sense to record it even though she knew it would be a hit.

Pop music fans know “Umbrella” as one of the best songs of 2007 and a hit that made Rihanna the star she is today. But the song was originally offered to Britney Spears. She turned down “Umbrella” because she already had enough work for her album.

Rihanna knows how to pick hits. She was a huge success in the mid-2000s thanks to hits like “SOS,” which she wrote for Christina Milian. Milian didn’t want the song, so Rihanna took it. She took it straight to the top of the charts, where it stayed for a few weeks.

The 2000s were basically just a decade where Rihanna proved she should be the first to be offered songs. “Disturbia” was originally written for Chris Brown, but he gave it to Rihanna instead. In Brown’s defense, he passed on “Disturbia” in favor of “Forever,” which was also a huge hit.

Beyoncé reminded everyone in the 2000s that she was the winner with her hit “Irreplaceable,” but there’s a world where she didn’t record the song. Ne-Yo wrote it and considered releasing it himself, but he gave it away and the rest is history.

Sia wrote the song “Pretty Hurts” and offered it to Katy Perry. After the offer, the pop star didn’t say a word, so the Australian sent it to Rihanna and Beyoncé. The fate of the song was left to the payment, which was ultimately paid by Beyoncé’s camp.

Beyoncé also shares songs. “All About That Bass” was sent to her and Adele before Meghan Trainor decided to record the song, which she had written herself. The track remains Trainor’s most successful song to date.

“Happy” was omnipresent in 2014 as the theme song for Despicable MePharrell Williams recorded the song, but it was originally supposed to go to CeeLo Green. After the Oscar nomination, Green probably regretted not taking the chance to sing the song.

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Kelly Clarkson (or the cast of Pitch perfect ) sang “Since U Been Gone,” but Pink and Hilary Duff were offered the song first. Pink didn’t want it and the song was outside Duff’s vocal range, so it ended up in the capable hands of Clarkson, who turned it into a real hit.

Avril Lavigne wrote “Breakaway” at the height of her career, but she gave it to Kelly Clarkson instead. Apparently she meant it that way, because it helped Clarkson go from American Idol winner to bona fide pop star.

Justin Timberlake got the King of Pop’s leftovers. After Michael Jackson turned down “Rock Your Body,” the song went to Timberlake. Jackson’s leftovers are better than most artists’ main course.

Justin Timberlake has been lucky more than once with passed on songs. “Bye Bye Bye” was first offered to the British band Five. The group didn’t like the song, so it went to Timberlake and Company, also known as NSYNC. It became one of the legendary boy band’s most famous hits.

Kanye West originally waived his own song. Before Ye became famous as a recording artist, he wrote and produced for others. He wrote “Gold Digger” for a female artist and offered it to rapper Shawnna. She didn’t want it, so Ye reworked the track to use for his own and made it a number one hit.

This sort of thing happens quite often in electronic dance music. DJs like The Chainsmokers produce something and have several artists record the vocals before deciding which one to use. In the case of “Closer,” Camila Cabello was their first choice, but she declined since she was still part of Fifth Harmony. The Chainsmokers chose Halsey instead.

The Pūssycat Dolls didn’t have many hits, but “Don’t Cha” was undoubtedly one of them. The song was offered to Paris Hilton, but she heard a preliminary version and turned it down. No offense to Hilton, but the song probably wouldn’t have been as successful if she had recorded it.

Before Charli XCX recorded songs herself, she wrote for other people. Charli offered Hilary Duff her song “Boom Clap,” but her team turned her down and the Brit sang it instead. The song became a huge hit and is partly responsible for Charli’s success as a recording artist.