1 Hit Rihanna Song Was Originally Called ‘Murderer’ and Inspired by Evanescence

Although Rihanna‘s songs generally aren’t violent, one of her ballads was once called “Murderer.” Even more surprising than that, the song was inspired by the sound of rock band Evanescence. It’s pretty clear which Evanescence song inspired the “We Found Love” singer.

Rihanna’s song was written by 2 important artists

Stargate is a songwriting duo composed of Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor E. Hermansen. They have produced numerous hit songs for Rihanna. Primarily, they write dance songs (e.g. “Don’t Stop the Music,” “S&M,” and “What’s My Name?”) and ballads (“Take a Bow,” “Diamonds,” and “We Ride”). During a 2010 interview with Sound on Sound, Eriksen recalled the writing of “Unfaithful.”

“Tor and I created the original track, which was dark and moody, taking our inspiration from the rock band Evanescence,” he recalled. “The song was originally called ‘Murderer.’ The first thing that we had was the piano melody and we created the whole structure of the song with just the piano, and then added the percussion and the strings. The long synth and piano intro was also there from the beginning.

“The strings on the finished track are real, they were arranged by Robert Mouncey, based on what we had done,” he added. “In many other cases our sampled string arrangements end up on the final version of songs. I find that how natural it sounds is not so much about how realistic the string sound is, but more about your choice of notes and how you play and program the strings.”

The Evanescence song that obviously inspired ‘Unfaithful’

Evanescene’s signature style is heavy metal. On the other hand, “Unfaithful” is a piano ballad. If any Evanescence song inspired “Unfaithful,” it was likely the piano ballad “My Immortal.” “My Immortal” is one of Evanescence’s most famous tunes and it has some of the same radio-friendly gloom as “Unfaithful.” They’re both the sort of sad pop ballads that were popular in the 2000s but not now.

The main difference between the two songs is their lyrics. “My Immortal” is a song about heartache. It might be the most well-remembered song about heartache from the 2000s. “Unfaithful,” on the other hand, is about someone feeling guilty that they’re cheating on their partner. While “Unfaithful” is unique, “My Immortal” is universal.

How Rihanna’s ‘Unfaithful’ and Evanescence’s ‘My Immortal’ performed

“Unfaithful” was a big hit. It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks. The track appeared on the album A Girl Like Me. That record hit No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 45 weeks.

“My Immortal” was, arguably, more successful than “Unfaithful.” It reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and lasted a total of 32 weeks. “My Immortal” appeared on the record Fallen, which remains the defining record of the band’s career. Fallen hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and spent 116 weeks on the chart altogether. While Evanescence was very popular for a few years, Rihanna would become one of the most successful singers in the history of music.

While Rihanna and Evanescence are extremely distinct artists, the latter still inspired the former.