Britney Spears’ debut hit …Baby One More Time and its iconic video have become synonymous with the record-breaking artist – but the song was almost recorded by two other legendary groups.
The 1998 single, released by the then 16-year-old Spears – who will release the tell-all memoir The Woman In Me on October 24 – and written by Max Martin, shot the star to fame, topping the charts for 32 weeks, in 22 weeks . countries and became one of the best-selling songs in history with over 10 million copies sold.
But the job only fell into then-aspiring pop star Spears’ lap when TLC and The Backstreet Boys failed to bite on the job.
The song – originally called Hit Me Baby One More Time – was initially intended for Martin’s old collaborators BSB, for whom he had already written Quit Playing Games (With My Heart).
However, they rejected the song before TLC had a chance to record the song.
Wow: Britney Spears’ debut hit…Baby One More Time and its iconic video have become synonymous with the record-breaking artist – but the song was almost recorded by two other legendary groups
T-Boz said in 2013 about the decision to reject the song: “I was like, I like the song, but do I think it’s a hit?” Do I think it’s TLC? I don’t say, “Hit me, baby.” No respect for Britney. It’s good for her. But would I say, ‘Hit me again, baby’? No!’
“That’s not even my topic of conversation, so you know, it worked for her, I’m happy for her, I like Britney.
“Every song isn’t right for every artist, and if you’re a true artist, you know what you believe in and what you really want to sing. So I’m clear it was a hit, but I’m also clear it wasn’t for TLC.”
Simon Cowell has also revealed that he wanted his British band 5ive to record the song which calls out Martin and attempts to bribe the hitmaker with a Mercedes-Benz.
He told the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast last year: “The man plays it for me, this song Hit Me Baby One More Time.” I’m like, ‘My God, I have to have this song.’ ‘
‘So I called Max and said, “Max. Please give me this song.” And he said, “No, I promised it to someone else.” And I said, “Well, I’ll send you a Mercedes – literally a Mercedes 500 SL if I can have this number.”
Martin refused to offer the song to Cowell and told Cowell that a brand new artist would record the song, with Cowell sharing: ‘I said, “Who?” And he said, “Britney Spears.” I said, “Max, let me give you some advice. Nobody gets a hit with the name Britney Spears.”
Cowell was forced to eat his words soon after as Spears shot to fame, becoming one of the best-selling artists of all time – even landing a judging position on his show, The X Factor USA, years later.
I (Don’t) Want It That Way: the song – originally called Hit Me Baby One More Time – was initially intended for Backstreet Boys, with whom Martin had collaborated for a long time, but they said no (photo 1999)
No (scrubs): TLC had the opportunity to record the song, but decided it wasn’t right for them as a group (photo 1995)
Not for them: Simon Cowell has also revealed he wanted his British band 5ive to record the song which called out Martin and tried to bribe the hitmaker with a Mercedes-Benz
Lol: Martin refused to offer the song to Cowell, with Cowell recounting, “I said, ‘Who?’ And he said, “Britney Spears.” I said, “Max, let me give you some advice. No one’s going to have a hit with the name Britney Spears.”‘ (seen with Spears in 2012 on The X Factor USA)
The concept for the iconic music video was Spears’ idea. She bought her entire schoolgirl outfit with midriff at K-Mart.
Controlling the camera as she danced through the halls of a high school, capturing her every move with expert precision, Spears captured the hearts of millennial pre-teen girls everywhere.
Her debut album, also called …Baby One More Time, was released in January 1999 and sold 25 million copies, while spawning the hit singles Sometimes, You Drive Me Crazy and Born To Make You Happy. It is the best-selling debut album by any artist.