Although Black Music Month is coming to a close soon, we’ll be sure to celebrate every last day of it in order to properly honor the many hitmakers of our culture.
We started out the month also celebrating the heavenly birthday of someone who many consider to be one of the greatest Black entertainers of all time: Prince. As fans across the world reflected on what would’ve been his 65th birthday (June 7), a lot of interesting and fun facts were revealed about the late music icon that came as a surprise to even the biggest Prince philosophers. For instance, did you know that his signature hit, the 1984 magnum opus “Purple Rain,” was originally intended to be a country duet with Fleetwood Mac star Stevie Nicks?
Take a look at this quick clip that breaks it all down below, via Rare Media:
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Understandably, it got us also thinking about all the other musicians out there with major hit records that were originally intended for someone else. The recent advancements of AI technology have already shown us how intrigued people are by the thought of one pop star singing another’s biggest record. However, what if that dream collaboration or alternate take actually had a possibility of happening at one point, or better yet a demo actually existing?
We took a look around the web and came across some interesting music facts relating to timeless songs by Black artists that almost got recorded by peers from another genre, gender or even race. Some passed up willingly, others had a bit more drama behind the scenes, but all made an ultimate decision that proved to be another’s treasure in the best way possible.
Keep scrolling — a few of these may truly shock you!
Check out 10 bangers by Black musicians that almost ended up on the album of another, and let us know if you could see the alternative artist doing it better than the version we all officially heard:
