Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/10-iconic-songs-that-were-rejected-by-multiple-artists/
Every chart-topping song feels inevitable once it’s a hit, as if no other version could have possibly worked. Yet plenty of the tracks people consider untouchable classics almost ended up in someone else’s hands, or in a trash bin of discarded demos. The paper trail behind these songs tells a different story, one full of passed-over opportunities, nervous label executives, and singers who simply couldn’t hear what a song would become.
What follows are ten well documented cases where a song made the rounds, sometimes for years, before finding the performer who would turn it into something unforgettable.
Torn – Natalie Imbruglia
Before Natalie Imbruglia ever touched this song, it had already lived several lives. In 1991, the songwriters Anne Preven and Scott Cutler wrote this song with Phil Thornalley, and it was first recorded by the Danish singer Lis Sørensen as “Braendt,” before Preven and Cutler’s own band Ednaswap released an English version in 1995, followed by Norwegian singer Trine Rein’s version in 1996. None of those recordings made much of an international splash.
Even Imbruglia herself needed convincing. Co-writer Phil Thornalley eventually offered the song to Imbruglia, whose album he produced, though she initially declined recording it, stating she didn’t want to do a cover. She changed her mind, and the song became her signature hit and a genuine surprise, given how many artists had…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-08-28 06:44:00
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