{"id":758,"date":"2026-02-24T15:53:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=758"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:53:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:53:36","slug":"3-pop-songs-from-the-1990s-that-were-originally-written-for-other-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/3-pop-songs-from-the-1990s-that-were-originally-written-for-other-artists\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Pop Songs From the 1990s That Were Originally Written for Other Artists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The &#8217;90s were a great time for pop music\u2013boy bands and pop superstars emerged and dominated the charts, defining the decade and their careers. But some of the biggest, most iconic songs of the decade could&#8217;ve sounded drastically different, as they were written <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/category\/songs-that-were-written-for-other-artists\">with completely different artists in mind<\/a>, and in some cases, a completely different sound, too. Some songs seem like they could&#8217;ve been a good fit for the artist they were originally intended for, but with others, it&#8217;s nearly impossible to imagine anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;\u2026Baby One More Time&#8221; by Britney Spears<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C-u5WLJ9Yk4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Britney Spears debuted in 1999 with &#8220;\u2026Baby One More Time&#8221;. The single launched her career and set records in the process. With over 10 million copies sold, it&#8217;s one of the best-selling singles of all time. But it was never actually intended for Spears. Its writer, Max Martin, originally envisioned it as an R&amp;B track and offered it to TLC, who turned it down. Boy band Backstreet Boys and Swedish pop singer Robyn also passed on it, but Spears loved it. &#8220;I knew from the start it was one of those songs you want to hear again and again,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/britney-spears-baby-one-more-time-anniversary-15-little-known-5740657\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">she said<\/a>. &#8220;It just felt really right.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Hero&#8221; by Mariah Carey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mariah Carey - Hero (Official HD Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0IA3ZvCkRkQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For her hit &#8220;Hero,&#8221; from the album <em>Music Box<\/em>, Mariah Carey worked with producer and songwriter Walter Afanasieff. But Carey initially didn&#8217;t connect to the song and intended to pass it along to singer Gloria Estefan for the soundtrack to the film <em>Hero<\/em>. Tommy Mottola, Carey&#8217;s husband and head of her record label at the time, loved the song and insisted she keep it for herself. She did just that but with some changes to make it more personal, including changing the lyrics and key. Estefan reportedly never knew the song was originally intended for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-songfacts-fact\"><div class=\"songfacts-card songfacts-card-horizontal\"><div class=\"songfacts-content-container\"><div class=\"songfacts-header\"><h3 class=\"songfacts-card-title\"><span>Songfacts: <\/span><span class=\"songfacts-title-part\">Hero<\/span><span class=\"songfacts-separator\"> | <\/span><span class=\"songfacts-artist-part\">Mariah Carey<\/span><\/h3><\/div><div class=\"songfacts-meta\">Album:<span class=\"songfacts-album\">Music Box <\/span><span class=\"songfacts-releasedate\"> [1993]<\/span><\/div><div class=\"songfacts-body\"><p class=\"songfacts-card-text\">Carey didn&#8217;t like this song at first, feeling it was too sappy. After receiving letters from fans claiming it touched their lives, she came to realize it was a very powerful song and appreciate it for the feelings it brings out in people.\r\rCarey later said it was one of her favorite songs to perform. She explained on Bravo&#8217;s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen: &#8220;It&#8217;s usually the last song I do if I do it, and everybody&#8217;s holding up their lighters or their phones and I get a little bit emotional.&#8221;\r\r&#8220;I&#8217;m like, &#8216;How many times have I done this song?'&#8221; Carey continued. &#8220;But there&#8217;s always a specific person out there that has a specific memory associated with the song and I wrote it, so it makes me proud.&#8221;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"songfacts-footer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/facts\/mariah-carey\/hero\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"songfacts-button\"><span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SongFacts-icon.png\" alt=\"Songfacts\" style=\"width:20px;height:20px;vertical-align:middle;margin-right:5px\" \/><\/span>Read the full Songfacts<svg><title>angle-double-right<\/title><\/svg><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Smooth&#8221; by Santana ft. Rob Thomas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Santana - Smooth (Official Video) ft. Rob Thomas\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6Whgn_iE5uc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1999, Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas and Santana collaborated on the hit Latin-infused song &#8220;Smooth&#8221;. It gave the band their first hit in nearly 20 years. But Thomas, who co-wrote the song with Itaal Shur, never intended to sing on the track. &#8220;This was going to be my first time writing a song that I didn\u2019t perform on, setting me up as a writer,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/billboard.com\/music\/features\/rob-thomas-george-michael-smooth-santana-7647476\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">he told <em>Billboard<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While there was some discussion about who would sing the song, Thomas always had George Michael in mind, but Santana wanted Thomas himself. It was the right choice. &#8220;Smooth&#8221; is the second-biggest song of all time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The &#8217;90s were a great time for pop music\u2013boy bands and pop superstars emerged and dominated the charts, defining the decade and their careers. But some of the biggest, most iconic songs of the decade could&#8217;ve sounded drastically different, as they were written with completely different artists in mind, and in some cases, a completely [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":547050,"featured_media":767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":19,"post_id":80}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"news","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"Photo by Paul Natkin\/Getty Images","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[152,36],"byline":[19],"class_list":["post-758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lists","tag-1990s","tag-pop-music"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Lists","term_id":14,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/lists\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"1990s","term_id":152,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/1990s\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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