Did you know an email mixup caused another pop singer to miss out on recording “Pretty Hurts?” The song was eventually recorded by Beyoncé for her self-titled album, but singer/songwriter Sia originally intended it to go to a different artist.
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The song has a powerful message on the pitfalls of societal expectations of beauty. Beyoncé’s version acted as the third single from her self-titled record and is still one of her most identifiable songs.
How did the song pass from one pop diva to the next? Find out below.
Check Your Email
“Pretty Hurts” went through a journey before Beyoncé picked it up. Sia wrote the song with her friend Katy Perry in mind.
Apparently, the Australian artist sent Perry a demo of the track via email. When Perry never responded, Sia decided to shop “Pretty Hurts” around to other artists.
“I wrote it on the sofa three years ago for Katy Perry, sent it to Katy Perry, she never heard it,” Sia once explained.
Rihanna was next up to record the song after Sia sent a taster of it to her team. The “Work” singer worked with the song for eight months but ultimately lost it when her management failed to pay the fee to secure it.
Beyoncé’s team “slid into home base” and got the song, creating what Sia recalls as an “awkward situation” that left Rihanna “bummed.”
“Rihanna’s engineer said, ‘Why don’t you play her ‘Diamonds’ because I think it’s a better song for her and maybe that will make her less bummed,'” Sia one said. “Rihanna was like ‘I love this song. ‘Diamonds,’ it’s mine’ and so that’s what we did.”
“Diamonds” was one hell of a consolation prize for Rihanna, considering it went No. 1 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Around this time, Perry heard the track from producer Dr. Luke. Disappointed that her friend didn’t send her the song first, she messaged Sia saying, “I’m pretty hurt you never sent me this song.”
Sia very simply responded, “Check your email.”
Music Video
According to Sia, Perry graciously responded. “It was meant to be with Beyoncé, of course.” Though any of those artists would’ve likely done a stunning job with this inspirational tune, Beyoncé went the extra mile with a poignant visual to accompany the song.
Directed by Melina Matsoukas, the visual express the song’s message of toxic beauty standards through the lens of pageant culture. Beyoncé plays a pageant hopeful, Ms. Third Ward, who goes to extreme lengths to meet the judges’ expectations. No matter how hard she tries, she cannot reach “perfection.”
“Well, I think we definitely wanted to speak to as many women as we could and all the pain and struggle that we go through as women to maintain this impossible standard of beauty,” Matsoukas explained to MTV News. “We wanted to give it a darker edge and take it there and not give you the Disney version of that struggle. And Beyoncé was more than willing to go that far with it. And I applaud her for that.”
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood)
