Songfacts®:

• Bebe Rexha recorded this song with the country-pop duo Florida Georgia Line for the closing track of her third extended play All Your Fault: Pt. 2. It was released to American contemporary hit radio on October 24, 2017, as the second single from the EP.
• The piano-driven ballad has a feel-good message of whatever will be, will be. Bebe Rexha wrote the song with FGL's Tyler Hubbard, David Garcia and Josh Miller, inspired by some encouraging words of wisdom from Hubbard's pregnant wife, Hayley.
  
  "It was my second session of the day and their second session of the day, and they were kind of over it and so was I," Rexha recalled to Billboard. "Tyler and I sat down, and he was like, 'You know what my just wife told me? She said, 'If it's meant to be, it'll be that we write a hit or not.' And, I said, 'Well that's the song - let's go!' Then the song just poured out."
• Rexha explained how the track's fatalistic lyrical content helped her through her own troubles. "I've recently been going through heartbreak, and I listen to the song, and it makes me feel better and like there's some type of destiny and if something doesn't work out then, there's something better waiting for you," she said. "I think that's something we need more than ever with all the events going on in the world. People want to feel safe and like everything's going to be OK."
• Both Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line are no strangers to collaborations: The pop songstress has been a guest on tunes by Cash Cash, David Guetta, G-Eazy, Martin Garrix, Louis Tomlinson and more. Meanwhile, the country duo have become renowned with working with artists from a wide cross section of genres including singer/rapper Nelly, pop acts Backstreet Boys and Hailee Steinfeld plus EDM duo Chainsmokers. So when Rexha hooked up with FGL it was well, "Meant to Be."
• The music video directed by Sophie Muller was filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It features Rexha playing a waitress at an old-fashioned diner who has dreams of being a big star in the music business. The Florida Georgia Line duo portray customers eating in one of the booths.
• Speaking to ABC Radio about the way the FGL's collaboration with Bebe Rexha came together, Tyler Hubbard said:
  
  "Man, it was pretty organic. We ended up, last-minute, kinda out of the blue, getting together with her in LA when we were [there] writing, and wrote it kind of on a whim, late-night. The next thing you know, we just kinda hit gold, if you will. A really special song kinda fell out of the sky, as we call it. It doesn't happen like that every time we get in a room to write."
• Bebe Rexha told ABC Radio that Florida Georgia Line offered to fly her to Nashville two days after they wrote the track.
  
  "It was like, 'Why?' They're like, 'To celebrate, 'cause we wrote an amazing song!'" she recalled. "That is incredible, 'cause in the pop world, when you write a great song, it could go #1, and you still won't get flowers or anything! You have to, like, beg for it!"
• This was only the fourth song to debut at #1 on the country chart, following Garth Brooks' "More Than a Memory," Craig Wayne Boyd's "My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face." and the all-star "Forever Country" by Artists of Then, Now & Forever.
• "Meant To Be" achieved the longest reign at #1 on the country chart for a song by a lead female, when it logged its 11th week at the summit. Previously, Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Again" ruled the tally for 10 weeks in 2012-13.
  
  Rexha told Billboard she has always respected the country genre. "Growing up in New York City, I knew of [country] artists that had crossed over to the pop side, like Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks and Taylor Swift," she said. "I never thought a New York girl like me would have a country hit, but I guess it goes to show you that some things are just… meant to be."
  
  "When we wrote the song, Tyler was just doing what he does best with his country roots and I was doing what I knew best with my roots. We were just being true to ourselves," Rexha continued. "The meaning is simple and honest, and that's why I think it's resonating with the world. The beautiful thing about music is that it allows you to break boundaries, and that's what I want to be remembered for: breaking boundaries."
• Bebe Rexha originally thought she would be collaborating with Little Big Town on this song - not Florida Georgia Line. She admitted the country group mixup to CMT's Cody Alan, explaining: "I can't lie, I had met Little Big Town at one of the awards [shows]. When I walked in the studio, I saw Tyler [Hubbard] there, and I said, 'Where are the other band members?' I told Tyler and he started laughing."
• "Meant to Be" was also included on Rexha's debut album, Expectations. Speaking to Billboard at the Academy of Country Music Awards, the singer explained how the single's success led to her making Expectations, "a lot more stripped down."
  
  "There's different sides of me and...I went back to my roots," she said. "I love No Doubt and Alanis Morissette and Lauryn Hill and wrote these more real, honest songs, and there's a lot more guitar."
  
  "I think 'Meant to Be' helped me see that you could have success with a record that's just honest and raw," Rexha added. "It doesn't have to be hidden by 10 million sounds."
• The song set the all-time record for the most weeks at #1 on the Country chart when it logged its 35th week atop the tally on August 4, 2018. It usurped Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road," which led for 34 weeks in 2017. It was finally unseated by Kane Brown's "Lose It" after 50 weeks at the top of the listing.
  
• In 2020, this was certified Diamond for selling over 10 million units in the US. With the certification Floria Georgia Line became the first country act with two Diamond singles, the other being "Cruise."
• BBC Radio 2's Scott Mills, using data from the Official Charts Company, revealed the UK's Top 30 most streamed country songs of all time on his show broadcast on March 10, 2024. Bebe Rexha's "Meant to Be" snagged the top spot, followed by Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" at #2 and John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads" at #3.