7 hit songs you probably didn’t know were originally written for other people

If you were listening to Ed Sheeran’s co-host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show on Friday, you’ll know that Ed thought about giving new single, Shape Of You, to Rihanna. Thankfully he quickly realised that RiRi’s not really a “putting Van The Man on the jukebox” kind of girl and so he kept it for himself.

Ed’s not the only person who had a song in mind for one person and ended up recording it elsewhere – in fact, it happens more often than you’d think. Check out these seven smash hits that were actually written for completely different artists than the ones who ended up releasing them.

How different might things have been if Meghan Trainor’s debut number one had been recorded by Adele – or Beyoncé? Co-written by Meghan with producer Kevin Kadish, the pop star admitted in a 2014 interview with The Guardian that she had actually offered All About That Bass to both ladies, before recording it herself.

“Some artists get thousands of songs pitched and they never know, so Beyoncé herself probably never heard it,” said Meghan. “Most of these other artists’ A&R teams said they couldn’t do anything with the song because they didn’t have [the right] artist. That was the problem – 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.”

(Warning: third party content may contain adverts)

When Sia initially wrote Pretty Hurts, it wasn’t Beyoncé she had in mind for the record, rather her good pal Katy Perry. Imagine! However, Katy didn’t see Sia’s email, only hearing the track months later once Beyoncé had already recorded it – and she even text her friend to have a go at her for not offering her the song.

Sia’s response? “Check your email.” In the end, Sia told The New York Times Magazine, Katy realised her mistake and said, “It was meant to be with Beyoncé, of course.”

But, before Beyoncé, Pretty Hurts was also held by Rihanna’s manager for eight whole months. We’ve got three very different versions of the song playing in our head right now, but ultimately we’re glad it landed with Queen Bey.

(Warning: third party content may contain adverts)

Miley Cyrus' We Can’t Stop defined a whole new era in her music, style and stage presence, so imagine if it had been snapped up by Rihanna first? "When I originally worked on We Can't Stop, we had did it for Rihanna. The idea was more towards Rihanna," songwriter and producer Mike Will Made-It told MTV News in 2013.

Thankfully RiRi heard Mike’s other project first, which went on to be her massive club anthem, Pour It Up. We Can’t Stop was then all Miley’s and it topped the UK Singles chart. What sloppy seconds?

(Warning: third party content may contain adverts)

A leaked demo circulated the internet in 2010 of Britney Spears singing Lady Gaga’s Telephone, a track Mother Monster did - according to MTV - write for her, before keeping it for herself when it was rejected. It’s a good job, because otherwise we might never have got to see Beyoncé busting Lady Gaga out of jail, then performing one of the best dance routines of all time in an American diner. Thanks, Britney.

(Warning: third party content may contain adverts)

Speaking on the Howard Stern Show in 2014, Pharrell revealed that another artist had actually recorded his record-breaking smash hit Happy, but had to bow out before release.

“CeeLo [Green]. He did it,” said Pharrell. “The powers that be at the time did not see it fit for him… He wanted to do it, but I think some folks on his team just felt that the priority should have been on his album at the time.” And you know what they say: timing is everything.

(Warning: third party content may contain adverts)

Adam Lambert was nominated for the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Grammy for this song… but it was originally meant for Pink, to appear on her fifth studio album, Funhouse. While Adam had widespread chart success with the track, Pink did then go on to cover the track on the international editions of her Greatest Hits… So Far!!! album. We guess she did co-write it, so it’s kinda still hers, too.

You probably can’t imagine anyone BUT Rihanna singing this massive Calvin Harris-produced track, but according to X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger, it was offered to her first. Speaking to Notion magazine in 2013, Scherzy said, “I got the demo of that song and I was busy at the time. They’d sent me a few dance tracks and I wasn’t able to get to them and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s so much dance and I want to take a break from it.’ That was my fault. I slept on it.”

And she wasn’t the only X Factor family member who missed out on the track. Back in 2012, Leona Lewis told the Daily Star, “I worked with Calvin and we recorded We Found Love. But he went touring with Rihanna and she ended up releasing it.”