3 Rock Anthems That Were Originally Written for Completely Different Artists (And I’m Glad They Never Got Their Hands on Them)

Some of the greatest rock anthems of all time were actually written with totally different artists in mind. That was the case for the following three legendary songs. And while I’m sure those originally-intended musicians would have done a fine job, these songs were really made better by going to their final recorded artists in the end.

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“Call Me” by Blondie (1980)

This dance-rock new wave classic might just be Blondie’s most famous song. At least from their stretch of success in the 1980s, that is. Written by Giorgio Moroder (with later contributions from Debbie Harry), “Call Me” was composed as the theme for the film American Gigolo. And, originally, Moroder originally wanted Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks to perform the song. 

She was unable to because of contract obligations, so Moroder passed the song to Harry, who wrote the lyrics. “Call Me” would later top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, among others. Nicks would have nailed this song, but something about it just wouldn’t hit the same without Blondie’s edge.

“I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith (1998)

I always find this particular story funny, considering how wildly different “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” would sound if it went to its intended artist. “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” was written by Diane Warren, and she envisioned that the song would go to Celine Dion “or somebody like that.” It ended up going to hard rock outfit Aerosmith instead and became a No. 1 hit across the board internationally. The song was used as the theme song to the film Armageddon.

Celine Dion has a voice that would make any song sound amazing, but this track was spiritually meant for Aerosmith.

“The Long And Winding Road” by The Beatles (1970)

Here’s a song written by a band that would later record it but originally wanted to pass it off to someone else. “The Long And Winding Road” was written by Paul McCartney specifically for none other than singer Tom Jones. This entry on our list of rock anthems written for different artists was handed as a demo to Jones under the condition that he release it as his next single. Jones said that he had to turn it down because his label wanted to release “Without Love” as his next single instead. Eventually, The Beatles decided to record it for their final album.

Tom Jones would have done a fine job with the song. But I can’t imagine anyone other than The Beatles performing it.

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