Zayn Malik didn’t want to team up with Taylor Swift on “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever?” This is what a new report suggests.
“Zayn loved the song and wanted it for himself; he was desperate to record it as a solo track and thought it would be a real career boost,” a source explained told Radar Online on May 26. “It has all of the high notes he can reach and was perfect, but movie bosses said it had to be a collaboration and wanted him to work with Taylor.”
Although Malik wanted to record the track as a solo artist, he reportedly gave in to the idea of a collaboration since Swift is such a big name — and also one of his girlfriend Gigi Hadid’s best friends.
Still, “It was a surprise to everyone,” said the source. “It’s not as if they’re really great friends and they didn’t even appear in scenes together for the video.”
‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever’ wasn’t a hit with Zayn Malik’s fans
While the track received tons of radio play around the country, the insider claimed it didn’t resonate with Malik or Swift’s fans.
“The song was a hit with movie fans, but it wasn’t massively well received by Taylor or Zayn’s hard-core fan base,” the source explained.
Zayn Malik was reportedly turned down for ‘Saturday Night Live’
According to Radar Online’s source, Malik was recently told he couldn’t perform on the late night series with comedian and host Jimmy Fallon, who selected his former bandmate, Harry Styles, instead.
“His team tried to get him on SNL to perform his latest track but they told him no,” the source said. “They often have to have two songs, and Harry agreed to do ‘Sign of the Times’ and ‘Ever Since New York’. It was disappointing for Zayn, but he just had to move past it.”