Top 10 Hit Songs That Were Almost Never Released

When he started composing "Billie Jean," Jackson knew he had a hit on his hands. However, Quincy Jones thought otherwise, as he felt that the song was "too weak" for the album. He wanted to change the title as he feared it would make people think it was an ode to Billie Jean King, a tennis player, and he also hated the demo, especially the bass line. Eventually, Jones relented, and the King of Pop got his way.

While the track did make it onto the album, its problems didn't end there. MTV initially refused to air the video, as its policy at the time was that Black performers were not "rock" enough. To pressure MTV into airing the video, Walter Yetnikoff, president of CBS Records, threatened to pull all CBS artists from MTV if "Billie Jean" wasn't put in rotation. The threat paid off, not only for Jackson and his Black contemporaries but also for MTV. The shift from the channel's original "rock 'n' roll-only" format helped save the network from being shut down.

When bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl first heard the now-iconic opening riff for "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Novoselic thought it was "so ridiculous," and Grohl didn't like it at all. The band experimented with the riff to make it something everyone liked, but Grohl remained unconvinced. After weeks of working on the song, Nirvana recorded it and released it as the lead-off track of Nevermind in late 1991. It became an instant hit.

In the middle of the night during The Rolling Stones' 1965 U.S. tour, Keith Richards woke up with a riff in his head. He got up, recorded the riff on his tape recorder, mumbled the phrase "I can't get no satisfaction," and then fell back asleep. The next day, he and Mick Jagger fleshed out the song, but Richards was completely unhappy with the result. He thought it sounded too "folksy," and he was concerned that the riff sounded too similar to "Dancing In The Street" by Martha & the Vandellas. He even considered the recording an unfinished demo and didn't want to release it. Keith just wasn't satisfied.

Fortunately, all the other members of The Rolling Stones, as well as their manager and the sound engineer, felt the song was a hit and wanted to release it as a single. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" went on to spend two weeks at #1 and became one of The Rolling Stones' most recognizable anthems.

Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" was initially not intended to be released. Lead singer and guitarist James Hetfield wrote it in the early '90s for his then-girlfriend, and while he was away on tour, he would play the song for her over the phone. It wasn't meant for anyone else but her. However, after drummer Lars Ulrich overheard the song, he wanted to release it for their next album, thinking it was strong enough to be included. Thus, the band decided to record it.

Long before they became an international hit machine, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart were two struggling musicians in a pretty desperate spot. They had been dropped by their label after their first album was hitless and lackluster, and their management prospects weren't looking any better, either. In addition, they were reduced to recording in an improvised "home studio."

Their arguments became more severe, and after a particularly bitter one, Stewart began absently messing around with his synthesizer, accidentally reversing a synthesized bass line as a result. Right then, Lennox began to improvise chords and lyrics in one take, and thus, the new wave classic "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" was made.

When Marvin Gaye presented the final product of "What's Going On" to Berry Gordy, Gordy dismissed it as "the worst thing I ever heard in my life" and said that the jazzy feel didn't fit the Motown sound. He didn't want to release it, so Gaye threatened to never record another song for Motown unless they did. Eventually, the song was released under the subsidiary Tamla Records and went on to become a hit in the U.S.

CBS chief Walter Yetnikoff was unimpressed with the whole album. The label wouldn't put it out, as they didn't think it was good enough. "What is this?" Yetnikoff said. "This isn't pop music. We're not releasing it. This is a disaster." Eventually, the record was released on an indie label, but "Hallelujah," which Cohen took five years to write, was not put out as a single.

It wasn't until John Cale recorded his version of the song in 1991 that "Hallelujah" became the success it is today. The song has been covered by many artists, including Bon Jovi and Bob Dylan, and is said to have around 300 recorded versions.

Dio almost destroyed the tapes because he thought it was too poppy.

While penning the lyrics, Gotye felt that the song wasn't interesting enough. "I wrote the first verse, the second verse, and I'd got to the end of the first chorus, and for the first time ever, I thought, 'There's no interesting way to add to this guy's story,'" he told the Herald Sun. "It felt weak."

Later on, he decided to add a female counterpoint but struggled to find the right vocalist. At first, he booked a "high profile" female vocalist, but she canceled at the last minute. He even tried to make the song a duet with his girlfriend, Tash Parker, but it didn't work out because their happiness ruined the breakup vibe of the track. Finally, Gotye picked up the phone and ultimately gave the part to Kimbra. Even then, however, he almost didn't include the final product on his CD, fearing it sounded too much like his previous material.

The band had a difficult time getting this tune down on record. They labored for weeks to get just a single take. Those hours started to weigh heavily on producer Brian Eno, who became so frustrated with the tedious mixing process that he decided to stage an "accident" that would erase the tapes and start the whole thing over. He wasn't successful, as a fellow engineer physically stopped him before he could tape over the classic.

Initially, the song "Kiss" by Prince was meant to be for the funk band Mazarati, but Prince was so impressed by the band's version that he decided to take it back. He wiped their vocals off the track, recorded his own, added a guitar solo, and created a new Prince single. However, Prince's record label felt the song was too minimal for release. Prince insisted that it would be a hit, and ultimately, he got his way.

It was actually Michael Jackson who encouraged the band and Bowie to release the track.

Hot Space isn't great for disco, but without this song, the album would be terrible.

Wait really? This is such a great song.

His record company considered it too long for release and shelved it. However, a coordinator at Columbia, Shaun Considine, showed the song to a club in New York, and the DJs broadcasted it to the world.

Recorded in 1992, it wasn't released as a single until 2012.

EMI almost never released it because Ray Foster thought it was too long. He believed it would never be a song teenagers would bop their heads to in their cars, especially with unusual operatic words like Bismillah, Scaramouch, and Galileo. Ray Foster was wrong, though. Bohemian Rhapsody became a hit despite its length and unconventional style. Mike Myers and Dana Carvey even bopped their heads to it in Wayne's World, proving that even if they weren't teenagers, the song resonated widely. I bet a lot of teenagers did bop their heads to Bohemian Rhapsody in their cars.

Richie Sambora had to push for Bon Jovi's trademark song to be included on Slippery When Wet. (The same could be said about Never Say Goodbye.)