Beyoncé Passing On A Song Helped Ariana Grande's Career In A Massive Way

Ariana Grande is a world-renowned music artist and has had many chart-topping hits, such as “God Is A Woman,” “Focus,” and “Problem.” Ariana has also collaborated with many other well-known artists.

However, like all music artists, Ariana had to start somewhere and have at least one breakout hit that would help her stay on the charts for years to come. One of these songs comes from her first album Yours Truly, with the song itself called “Baby I.”

Despite “Baby I” now being firmly cemented as Ariana’s song, it was almost an entirely different story. This was because Beyoncé was initially offered the song, and had she accepted it, Ariana’s career could have looked entirely different.

“Baby I” Was Meant For Beyoncé

What some people might not realize about the music industry is that songwriters will pitch their songs to artists and the artist can either decide to take the song on themselves or they will pass it on and the song might be pitched to another artist until someone decides to take it up.

This is what happened with Ariana’s song “Baby I.” The song had been created by music producer and songwriter Babyface, and Ariana’s song was originally meant for Beyoncé.

According to Babyface, he had a meeting with Queen Bey herself and while he has said that he doesn’t fully remember how far along in the process they got before she decided to pass the song on, he did say that he remembers playing the song to her.

He said he doesn’t remember if they went as far as actually demoing the song or not, but clearly, Beyoncé decided that the song wasn’t quite right for her so passed it on.

While the song is quite a firm favorite with fans, it didn’t quite cut the mark charts-wise as “Baby I” just missed out on that top 20 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

Babyface didn’t say exactly what drew Ariana to the song, however, he did mention that he had told her that he had written it with Beyoncé in mind but that she had rejected it.

It could have been the fact that it had potentially been a Beyoncé song alone which was why she decided to accept it.

Ariana Grande First Rose To Fame On ‘Victorious’

While most people will know Ariana for her singing skills, what some people might not realize is that she first started out in acting.

She initially rose to fame in the Nickelodeon TV show Victorious and later went on to star in its spin-off show Sam & Cat.

ariana grande victorious

In the show, Ariana played the role of Cat Valentine, a role that Ariana was forced to dye her hair red for and ended up completely ruining as she was dyeing it quite regularly.

This was why she developed her signature ponytail, as Ariana herself has said that keeping her hair down would show just how damaged it was.

Whilst she had a main role on Victorious, she was bumped up to a title character when appearing in its spin-off series Sam & Cat, alongside former iCarly star Jeanette McCurdy. Since then, she has had other acting roles, and Ariana is set to star in the film version of Wicked.

Related: Ariana Grande’s Divorce Settlement Bans The Release Of Images From Her Marriage To Dalton Gomez For This Reason

When Did Ariana Grande Release “Baby I”?

Ariana first released “Baby I” in 2013 as part of her debut album Yours Truly. It was the second single released from this album, following on from her success with “The Way” that was the first single she released and had ended up in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, so did a little better than “Baby I,” which peaked at number 21.

However, in 2023 as a way of celebrating the ten-year release of the album, Ariana decided to do a re-recording of six of her most popular songs from the album, which included “Baby I.”

These were all re-recorded live in London alongside a live band and the songs were included in the tenth-anniversary album alongside all the original versions of the songs.

This re-record comes after Ariana’s split from former manager Scooter Braun, with whom she had been signed when she released her first album. He is famously the former manager of Taylor Swift with whom she had her rift, resulting in Taylor re-recording her first six albums.

“Baby I” Is A Platinum Certified Song

Despite the song not quite making it into the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, ever since the song was released in 2013, “Baby I” became a platinum-certified song in 2018.

This was certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), but the US isn’t the only country the song became certified in.

The song also became gold-certified in Australia by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), as well as in Japan by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).

Source: Thethings.com