While it’s no surprise that some of your favorite pop songs weren’t written by the artist who sings them, it’s always a bit shocking when a big-name artist like Taylor Swift has writing credit for a song sung by Rihanna. Here’s a look at five songs you may not have known were written by other artists.
- “This Is What You Came For” by Calvin Harris and Rihanna
-
With over 1.3 billion streams on Spotify, “This Is What You Came For” is one of Calvin Harris’ most popular songs. Like mentioned above, with Rihanna as the vocalist of the track, it surprised some fans when they realized Taylor Swift co-wrote the song with Harris. Swift and Harris were dating when the song came out and have since broken up, but Swift has performed her own rendition of the song in the past. While rumors circulated that Swift would perform at Superbowl LVII, it has since been confirmed that Rihanna will have the halftime slot, but fans are hoping Swift will join her as a special guest and perform a duet of the 2016 hit.
- “Just a Little Bit of Your Heart” by Ariana Grande
-
Released in 2014, Ariana Grande’s “Just a Little Bit of Your Heart” was co-written by One Direction’s Harry Styles and was the rockstar’s second songwriting credit unrelated to One Direction’s discography. While the ballad isn’t one of the most popular songs on Grande’s Grammy-nominated album “My Everything,” compared to hits like “Bang Bang” and “One Last Time,” Rolling Stone has called it one of her “most heart-stopping tracks.” While Grande is an amazing artist, some fans wish Styles would’ve released his own version on the emotional song. However, live performances at his first tour will have to suffice unless he ever decides to release Harry’s Version
- “Hold Up” by Beyoncé
-
Although it may be surprising, one of Beyoncé’s most whimsical-sounding songs started out as a tweet in 2011. Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig is credited as one of the many songwriters on “Hold Up,” along with all three band members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as the song features Koenig’s interpolation of their song “Maps.” Nine days after the song’s release in 2016, Koenig tweeted the short story of how the song came to be and expressed that Beyoncé made what was originally supposed to be a Vampire Weekend song her own. Along with Koenig and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, other artists including Diplo and Soulja Boy are credited for the song, which goes to show that not every masterpiece is the result of solo work.
- “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber
-
While Justin Bieber is credited for one of his biggest hits, “Love Yourself” released in 2015, the song was written and given to him by Ed Sheeran. Although it has almost 2 billion streams on Spotify, Sheeran has no regrets for giving Bieber his song. In an interview with Jack Antonoff, Sheeran stated that he didn’t think the song would’ve been as popular had he released it himself, especially since Bieber released it during the peak of his comeback. Still, Sheeran loves to perform the song and believes it’s one of the biggest in the world, which I think we can all agree with.
- “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus
-
Despite Miley Cyrus’ most popular hit to date being about a “Party in the U.S.A.”, the song was written by British pop singer Jessie J, also known as songwriter Jessica Cornish. On The Meredith Vieira Show, Jessie J admitted that the original lyrics depicted her journey coming to the United States from the United Kingdom. Although she didn’t keep the song for herself, she believes Cyrus took it farther than she ever could have and put her name on the map as a songwriter. While she may be from out of the country, Jessie J sure knows how to steal Americans’ hearts with her catchy lyrics!
While these singers are all multitalented and are credited with a lot of their own songs, it’s still interesting to know all the other household artists they’ve collaborated with.