5 hit songs that were originally written for different artists

There’s so much that goes behind a hit song. Before the song is performed by an artist, the song is worked on by producers and songwriters. If the performer is the one that wrote the song, the process may differ. But in many situations, songs were written for someone else. Here are just a few.

5 hit songs that were originally written for different artists

Kelly Rowland recently revealed in an interview with MNEK on Apple Radio that Ciara’s 2006 hit song “Like A Boy” was written for her.

She said during the interview:

"“Yeah. And funny enough, she is honestly one of the closest things to me. We bonded over motherhood. I wonder if she knows that [the song was written for Kelly]. I’ll make sure to call her after this. But yeah, it was so funny. I found that out later and I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ The writers and producers told me and they were like, ‘Yeah, we wrote that in your session.’ I was like, ‘No, you didn’t.’ I was so mad. But now I’m happy for my girl.”"

Another pop single that was originally written for a different pop star was “We Found Love” by Rihanna. The 2011 electro-pop track was written for Nicole Scherzinger. She revealed to Notion Magazine that she was unable to record it due to being busy at the time of being sent the demo track.

A notable song that had a similar situation was “Pretty Hurts” by Beyonce. In this situation, the song was written by Sia, who is also a performer. She revealed in an interview that she initially wrote the track to Katy Perry and offered it to Rihanna, but both turned it down. Thus, the song went to Beyonce.

Beyonce was also able to get another hit single when she recorded “Irreplaceable”. The song, similar to “Pretty Hurts”, was also written by a different pop artist. This time it was Ne-Yo. However, he revealed that his initial production of the song was with Shania Twain and Faith Hill in mind. It was also envisioned for R&B artist Chrisette Michele. When Beyonce finally heard the song, however, she assisted in changing the vocal arrangement and made it her song.

Fellow pop artist Taylor Swift also assisted in writing a hit single for a different artist. The song “Better Man” by Little Big Town was written by Swift for her 2012 album Red. When she didn’t find it to be a good fit, she sent it along to the country group.

Have you heard these songs? Are you a fan? Sound off below! We would love to hear from you.