When you’re Britney Spears, you have your pick of songs. All the best writers want you to make their dreams come true. Get a song on your record, and they’re made in the shade.
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Britney is the quintessential pop queen. She’s the gold standard in many ways—even still. But in the mid-’90s and early 2000s? Fuhgedaboutit!
So, it’s no wonder that she’d get a lot of offerings and pass on some. But sometimes the wrong decision is made. Sometimes some of the songs that are waved off become hits. Here are three songs Britney Spears rejected that became hits for other artists.
1. “Umbrella,” Rihanna
In 2007, Spears was looking for songs for her album, Blackout, and this one came across her desk. But her management (Spears was then still under her controversial conservatorship) passed on it. The song was also passed on by Mary J Blige, but then it went to Rihanna, who was working on an album at the time (Blige wasn’t). Siri has since turned it into a multi-billion streamed track. It basically put her on the map in a real mainstream way. Rihanna released the song on her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad. But could Spears have done the same? The world will never know. She never got a chance to hear the song, though, thanks to her managers.
2. “Milkshake,” Kelis
Another iconic song that Spears could have recorded. While it ended up in the right hands with Kelis, it was originally meant for Spears and her album In The Zone. Kelis released it on her album Tasty in 2003. The song was written by the Neptunes. It eventually hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Kelis a Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2004.
3. “Telephone,” Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé
Written by Lady Gaga, herself, the song had been intended for Spears for her sixth studio album, Circus, in 2008. But Spears rejected the song after recording a demo of it. Undeterred, Gaga and Beyoncé recorded the track together and made it an international hit. It was released on Gaga’s third EP, The Fame Monster, in 2009. The song is all about finding time to have fun, even in a life full of work and responsibilities.
Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images
