1. Britney Spears' "Toxic" was originally offered to Kylie Minogue.
The song was originally written for Minogue to use on her 2003 album Body Language, but she turned it down. It was then offered to Spears who not only scored a top 20 hit with it, but also made an ICONIC music video.
In 2012, on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live, Minogue admitted it was a mistake to turn it down, but that "Britney did a fantastic job. Maybe it wouldn’t have been the same with me."
2. NSYNC's "Gone" was originally offered to Michael Jackson.
Justin Timberlake wrote the song with Jackson in mind, but his camp turned it down. Timberlake then presented the song to NSYNC, who recorded it for their final album, Celebrity.
Timberlake said writing "Gone" inspired him to go solo — so I guess blame Jackson for the breakup of NYSNC. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
3. The Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha" was originally offered to Paris Hilton.
Remember Hilton's short-lived flirtation with trying to be a pop star/ still trying to be? No. Well she really could have used the '00s classic "Don't Cha," instead of the pretty forgettable “Stars Are Blind” to launch her singing career and cement her place in music history, but she turned it down.
So not hot, Paris. So not hot.
4. Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" was originally offered to Hilary Duff.
It's hard to imagine anyone other than Clarkson singing this Dr. Luke-and Max Martin-written track. It could've been Duff, who actually turned the song down after Pink reportedly turned it down.
OK, so Pink we can imagine singing this song.
6. The Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" was originally offered to The Pussycat Dolls.
Will.i.am originally wrote the song for the Pussycat Dolls' debut album, but let's be honest, he really should have had the foresight to write it for Alanis Morissette.
7. Rihanna's "Umbrella" was originally offered to Britney Spears.
There is no way Spears could have matched Rihanna's vocals on this track, but to be fair, she probably could have made this song her own. She never got the chance, though, since her label turned down the song (reportedly due to her having too much material for her album at the time).
8. Justin Timberlake's "Rock Your Body" was originally offered to Michael Jackson.
The Neptunes wrote the song for Jackson to include on his 2001 album Invincible, but after he turned it down it was offered to Timberlake, who included it on his solo debut album Justified.
According to Pharrell, all the Neptunes-produced tracks from Justified, with the exception of “Like I Love You,” were songs they originally wrote for Jackson.
10. Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head" was originally offered to S Club 7.
The infectious Cathy Dennis–written track was turned down by S Club 7 before it was offered to Minogue, who made her big U.S. comeback with the song. "Can't Get You Out of My Head" was Minogue's first top 10 U.S. single since "The Loco-Motion," which had peaked at No. 3 13 years earlier, in 1988.
11. Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U" was originally offered to Janet Jackson.
The Neptunes wrote the hypnotic club banger for Jackson's 2001 album All for You. After she turned it down the track the was given to Spears, who was working with the Neptunes at the time on her album Britney.
In an alternate universe it could have been Jackson who gave us this iconic VMA performance.
12. Jennifer Lopez's "Get Right" was originally an Usher song.
Usher co-wrote a song titled "Ride" for his blockbuster-album Confessions. However, he felt the song was not right and cut it from the album. Rich Harrison, who produced "Ride," then reworked the track for Lopez who released it as "Get Right."
13. Kanye West originally wrote “Gold Digger” for Shawnna.
West never meant for "Gold Digger" to be a track for himself; he originally produced the song for rapper Shawnna’s debut album Worth Tha Weight, but she passed on it. Of course her loss was his gain: The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.