10 Songs Written For One Artist, Ultimately Recorded By Another

There's an old Yiddish expression, beshert, which translates as "meant to be." What the Ashkenazi Jews of the 9th century failed to identify is a term for when it's not meant to be. Such is the case for these 10 hit tracks and the artists for whom they were originally penned, yet, for whatever reason, ended up being recorded by someone else.

The stories behind why are often simple. Singer/songwriter Bonnie McKee gave us a prime example: “I was supposed to be writing a song for Rihanna with my friend Kelly Sheehan called 'How We Do.' They said it sounded too much like Katy [Perry], so it ended up in the hands of Rita Ora. So, Rita cut it, and it ended up being a number-one song.”

Sometimes it’s that cut and dry; other times it’s much more complicated — and often with accompanying fan folklore. After all, McKee notes, “It's fun to imagine a different voice on a song that we know and love." Here are 10 familiar songs that turned out to be beshert for someone else.