Benny Blanco Claims Sia Wrote Rihanna’s No.1 Chart-topping Song From 2012 in Under 15 Minutes But It Almost Went to Eminem
Benny Blanco has worked with some of the best musicians over the years. From Rihanna and Lana Del Rey to Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd, he has worked with some of the most famous artists in the industry. He had a humble career beginning as a mentee of music producer and songwriter Dr. Luke. Moves Like Jagger and Stereo Hearts were the first hit songs he made on his own.
Blanco often shares the stories behind the songs he has helped make during interviews and some of them are rather surprising. Recently, in an interview, he shared how Rihanna’s hit song Diamonds was made in a surprisingly short time and almost went to popular rapper Eminem.
Benny Blanco on How Sia Wrote Diamonds On the Go
Songwriting can be game-changing when it comes from someone who has been at it for years. It is always surprising to find out some of the best songs have not even been written by the vocalists. Case in point: Adele’s hit song All I Ask on her third album 25 was written by the singer in collaboration with Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Brody Brown.
Read More: Benny Blanco Net Worth: Is Selena Gomez’s New Boyfriend Actually Richer Than the $800M Singer?
The lead single of Rihanna‘s seventh studio album Unapologetic, Diamonds is also one such song. It is one of her most famous songs to date. However, what many might not know is that Sia wrote it with producers Benny Blanco and Stargate.
Recently, in an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Blanco was shown a clip of the music video and asked why Sia gave the song to the Barbadian singer instead of using it on her album. The music producer answered the question as he praised the Chandelier singer, saying:
“Sia writes a song in under five minutes. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
Then, he recalled how the song was made within fifteen minutes.
“She [Sia] was waiting for a cab — this was before Uber — and they said it’s going to be 15 minutes. And she said, ‘Oh, well just load up another thing.’ Song, melody, lyrics, harmonies, everything all done before the cab comes… And she’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty good.'”
This answer confused Stern who then asked Blanco why Sia wrote the song for Rihanna when she could have had it for herself. The I Found You singer then explained that there are many songwriters, but there is no telling how a song will feel or come to be.
Benny Blanco Revealed Diamonds Almost Went to Eminem
Diamonds was a hit upon release and it is hard to fathom that anyone other than Rihanna could do it better. Blanco weighed in on this in the interview.
“Rihanna is such a special artist that the second her voice touches something it’s like a firework. She has so much tone and personality.”
He also revealed that they were considering giving the song to Kanye West and Eminem at the time. He recalled how Eminem almost did the song.
“And Eminem recorded a song to it but he didn’t say anything ’til like a year late later until it was about to come out. It was crazy. And I just remember in that moment being like, ‘Oh this is cool.'”
However, the song ultimately went to the Lift Me Up singer after she sang it and Blanco realized that it couldn’t possibly be better.
