‘We Can’t Stop’ and 4 Other Songs Rihanna Almost Sang Instead of Other Artists
Rihanna has made a lot of incredible music, but there are several hit songs the Barbadian singer almost recorded instead of other artists, such as “We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus. Here are a few of the biggest tracks that Rihanna was considered for but didn’t record.
Rihanna almost recorded one of Miley Cyrus’ biggest songs, ‘We Can’t Stop’
“We Can’t Stop” was one of the biggest songs of 2013, and it marked a turning point in Miley Cyrus’ career. The Hannah Montana star shed her image as a Disney kid by singing about strip clubs and doing drugs in the bathroom.
But Cyrus wasn’t the first choice for the hit track. The song’s producer, Mike WiLL Made-It, originally intended it for Rihanna.
“When I originally worked on ‘We Can’t Stop,’ we had did it for Rihanna. The idea was more towards Rihanna,” Mike WiLL Made-It told MTV News (via Billboard). But Rihanna missed out on the track because she chose to record “Pour It Up” instead. “Rihanna, she heard ‘Pour It Up’ right away, and she didn’t even hear ‘We Can’t Stop.’”
Chris Brown caused Rihanna to miss out on singing ‘Battlefield’
Jordin Sparks won season 6 of American Idol at 17 years old, making her the youngest winner in the competition show’s history. Her 2009 hit song “Battlefield” depicted a tumultuous relationship.
But several other artists wanted to record the track. According to StyleCaster, several other artists, including Christina Aguilera, Leona Lewis, and the Backstreet Boys, competed for the song.
The writers were told “Battlefield” was going to be recorded as a duet between Rihanna and Chris Brown. Immediately after, news broke that Brown had assaulted Rihanna. So, the producers decided the song wasn’t appropriate for the couple and gave it to Sparks instead.
Ed Sheeran couldn’t imagine Rihanna singing ‘Shape of You’ lyrics
Singer Ed Sheeran originally wrote his hit song “Shape of You” with Rihanna in mind. But he never offered her the track because he just couldn’t imagine her singing the lyrics.
“I was like, ‘This would really work for Rihanna,’” Sheeran told BBC Radio 1’s Breakfast Show (via Glamour). “And then I started singing lyrics like ‘putting Van the Man on the jukebox,’ and I was like, ‘Well, she’s not really going to sing that, is she?’ And then we sort of decided halfway through that we were just going to make it for me.”
Sheeran revealed that “Shape of You” was one of the last tracks added to his 2017 album ÷ (Divide).
Rihanna missed out on ‘Pretty Hurts’ but ended up getting ‘Diamonds’ instead
Sia first offered “Pretty Hurts” not to Rihanna or Beyoncé, but to Katy Perry. “I wrote it on the sofa three years ago for Katy Perry, sent it to Katy Perry, she never heard it,” Sia told Nightline (via ABC News). “Then I sent to Beyoncé’s people and Rihanna’s people and Rihanna heard it, and she had it on hold for eight months, and her management forgot to secure it by paying for the track, and Beyoncé just slid into home base and threw the money down and it was a really awkward situation.”
But Sia ended up offering a different song to Rihanna that became one of her biggest hits. “Rihanna’s engineer said, ‘Why don’t you play her ‘Diamonds’ because I think it’s a better song for her and maybe that will make her less bummed,’” Sia explained. “Rihanna was like ‘I love this song. ‘Diamonds,’ it’s mine,’ and so that’s what we did.”
‘Cheap Thrills’ was one of 2016’s biggest songs, but Rihanna passed on it
After the success of “Diamonds,” Sia offered another one of her songs to Rihanna: “Cheap Thrills.” But Rihanna passed on the track.
“I realized just as soon as I was cutting it that it sounded a little bit too Brit-pop for her,” Sia told Rolling Stone. “We did actually send it to her, but they passed on it, and then I just couldn’t stop listening to it in the car. For some reason, I really liked listening to it, which makes me feel masturbatory, but I wouldn’t normally be just jamming out to my own tunes.”
Sia decided to release the song herself in 2016. “There’s something really uplifting about it that put me in a good mood, and I would just pretend it wasn’t me singing,” she said. “It felt very summer and fun, and I was like, ‘I’ll put that on there.’”
