Rihanna’s Lost Chances: From Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman to Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You, Every Banger Hit That Was First Meant For Rihanna
- Many of today's top pop hits were initially offered to Rihanna.
- Just picture Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You' with Rihanna's vocals—it was a close call.
- Over 15 other tracks by different artists almost became Rihanna's own.
Rihanna is a global pop icon, known for churning out chart-topping hits. The singer has been in the industry since 2003. She has sung and recorded over 120 songs throughout her career—a truly impressive achievement!
But did you know that some of today’s biggest pop anthems were originally offered to her? Imagine if Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You had been sung by Rihanna—almost happened! And that’s just one song, there are total of 17 other songs by different artists that were nearly hers.
Top Hits That Almost Became Rihanna’s Songs
Here are the surprising songs Rihanna passed on or never got to, which became smash hits for other artists.
1. Same Old Love
English singer Charli XCX and the Norwegian production team Stargate wrote Same Old Love. It was first offered to Rihanna (via Teen Vogue), but when she turned it down, it went to Selena Gomez. Sel then recorded it for her second studio album, Revival.
2. Timber
According to KiddNation, Timber was first written for Rihanna, but she had to turn it down because she was working on Shakira’s song Can’t Remember to Forget You. The song then went to Kesha, and it came out as the main single from Pitbull’s EP Meltdown.
3. Lean On
Lean On by Major Lazer and DJ Snake, featuring MØ, was first written for the Diamonds star. Diplo, the song’s producer, told GQ that he offered her a slower reggae version, but she rejected it. The song ended up being a big hit.
4. All Night
Beyoncé’s song All Night from her album Lemonade was originally written for Rihanna. Songwriter Theron Thomas said (via Showbiz Cheat Sheet), “We wrote it for Rihanna and never sent it to her.” Eventually, the song went to Queen Bey and became a standout track on the album.
5. Love Yourself
Ed Sheeran revealed on The Howard Stern Show that he wrote Love Yourself with Rihanna in mind. The original lyrics were “Oh, baby you should go and f*ck yourself,” but the song was never shown to RiRi. Instead, it was given to Justin Bieber, and the lyrics were changed to “Oh baby, you should go and love yourself.”
6. Find Your Love
Producer Jeff Bhasker told Complex that the original demo of Drake’s song Find Your Love was recorded by Rihanna. However, she later dropped it. Released in 2010 as the second single from his debut album, Thank Me Later, it became a huge hit. The song debuted in the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
7. We Can’t Stop
Mike WiLL Made-It told MTV News that he had three songs ready for Rihanna’s album Unapologetic. Chris Brown heard two of them, We Can’t Stop and Pour it Up. He loved Pour it Up right away and told Rihanna about it. She decided to put it on her album without even listening to We Can’t Stop. Later, the song was released by Miley Cyrus as her comeback song.
8. Do It Like a Dude
Singer-songwriter Jessie J, also known as Jessica Ellen Cornish shared with Rap-Up that she wrote Do It Like a Dude for Rihanna. She sent the song to her label, Island Records, who thought it was amazing. Instead of sending it to Rihanna’s management, Island insisted the song should be Cornish’s first single.
9. Don’t Let Me Down
This song was originally for Rihanna but her team rejected it (per Rolling Stone). It was later recorded by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya. Don’t Let Me Down became a massive success, reaching number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
10. Shape of You
Ed Sheeran disclosed that he originally wrote Shape of You with Rihanna in mind. Sheeran thought the song would be a good fit for her, until he started singing the lyrics, “putting Van The Man on the jukebox” and he was like “well she’s not really going to sing that, is she?” (as reported by Celebrity Nine).
11. Cheap Thrills
Originally meant for Caribbean Queen’s album Anti in 2016, Cheap Thrills got turned down. So, Sia took it on herself and made it a huge hit. Sia told Rolling Stone that she thought it had a bit too much Brit-pop vibe for Rihanna’s style.
12. DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love
As per MTV, DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love was first meant for Rihanna’s album Loud in 2010 but her team passed on it. Instead, Usher got hold of the song and recorded it for his EP Versus, which is part of his sixth studio album, Raymond v. Raymond.
13. Pretty Hurts
Sia shared with ABC News in July 2014 that she had sent the song to Rihanna’s and Beyoncé’s teams. The Barbadian singer showed interest and put the song on hold for eight months, but her management forgot to finalize the payment for the track. Beyoncé then swiftly secured Pretty Hurts by completing it.
14. Dangerous Woman
Songwriter Ross Golan told CBS News that Dangerous Woman was originally written with Carrie Underwood in mind, and was also offered to Alicia Keys and Rihanna. However, it was ultimately given to Ariana Grande for her third studio album of the same name.
15. Battlefield
Battlefield was initially pitched to the Backstreet Boys and Christina Aguilera (via Fashion Magazine). Later, writers were told to consider it as a duet for Rihanna and Chris Brown. On that very day, news broke that Brown had assaulted Rihanna.
16. Come & Get It
According to Oprah Magazine, Ester Dean originally wrote Come & Get It for Rihanna’s album Talk That Talk, but she chose not to use it. This opened the door for Selena Gomez to record the song instead.
17. Chandelier
Sia mentioned in a Good Morning America interview that she had tried to pitch Chandelier to Rihanna. She was surprised when the 36-year-old didn’t take it, as Sia thought it was the greatest song in the world at that time.
