1. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
Though the group’s record company were initially reluctant to issue “Bohemian Rhapsody” as a single, Queen were united in insisting that it was the right choice, despite the song being nearly six minutes long. When the band wanted to release ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in 1975, music executives told Queen that at 5 minutes and 55 seconds long, the song would never be played on the radio and would not be a hit. EMI executives were terrified of the unconventional structure. The band almost released “The Prophet’s Song” as the lead single for A Night at the Opera instead.
Queen put up a fight, with Freddie Mercury leading discussions with management and EMI. Mercury also leveled up the fight by involving a close friend, Kenny Everett, who runs a popular radio show called Capital in the UK. The band leaked a copy of “Bohemian Rhapsody” to the radio host, who promised never to play the song without the band’s permission, but played snippets of it, teasing his listeners by saying that Queen gave him the biggest song of the year. Queen’s record company EMI were reluctant to release it as a single but events turned after the band slipped a copy to DJ Kenny Everett – who played it on London’s Capital Radio 14 times over the following weekend, persuading EMI, the BBC and other sceptics that the listening public could handle it.
The gamble paid off spectacularly. The song became the 1975 UK Christmas number one, holding the top position for nine weeks, and as of September 2025, it is the most-streamed song from the 20th century, with more than 2.8 billion plays on Spotify alone.
2. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
Kurt Cobain himself almost rejected the song that would define a generation. Kurt Cobain, Nirvana’s guitarist, lead singer and primary songwriter, had to be talked into even including “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on Nevermind by his bandmates bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl. He was self-conscious about a song he’d written as a conscious rip-off of the Pixies’ hard-and-loud, then soft-and-quiet style. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine now that Cobain thought the riff was too derivative.
The song Nirvana’s label and management hoped would be a hit off the band’s forthcoming album, Nevermind, was “Come as You Are”. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was released quietly and without significant promotion in the hopes that it would begin building awareness of the new album among listeners to college and alternative radio. Nirvana’s management didn’t identify with the song’s rallying cries, and therefore weren’t invested fully in its release as a single until it was delivered to college radio in August of 1991. Their expectations were soon to be confounded; “Smells Like Teen Spirit” went into heavy rotation, and then things got even bigger.
The song became a cultural earthquake. According to Nielsen Music’s year-end report for 2019, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was the most-played song of the decade on mainstream rock radio with 145,000 spins.
3. Hey Jude by The Beatles
Even The Beatles faced skepticism about song length. There was some initial concern about the song’s unaverage length preventing airplay, but as Lennon astutely noted when producer George Martin questioned whether radio would play a track that clocked in at more than seven minutes: “They will if it’s us”. At over seven minutes, the track shattered conventions for what a single could be. Lennon wanted “Revolution” to be the A-side of the Beatles single, but his bandmates opted for “Hey Jude.” In his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, he said “Hey Jude” was worthy of an A-side, “but we could have had both”.
The song’s origin story is equally touching. Paul McCartney writing a song for John Lennon’s five-year-old son, Julian, to comfort the only child of Lennon and first wife Cynthia after John left them for a new life with Yoko Ono. It sold five million copies in the first six months of its release and became the number one song in 12 countries. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on Sept. 14 then reached No. 1 just two weeks later, and stayed there for nine weeks.
4. Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift
Let’s be real, sometimes timing is everything. This song comes from her seventh studio album, “Lover,” that was released in 2019. The synth-pop track became a fan favorite, despite not being released as a single at first. Following its inclusion in Swift’s 2023 Eras Tour setlist, the song went viral on social media, prompting Republic Records to release it as a single in the middle of 2023. The track sat dormant for roughly four years before exploding.
The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped charts in multiple countries. Rolling Stone revised its 2024 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and included Swift’s track. St. Vincent spoke to People and expressed her amazement, “They took a song that was, what? Almost four records ago now, that was not a single off a record”. The transformation from album track to chart-topper proves that great songs find their moment, even if it takes years.
5. Lose Control by Teddy Swims
Here’s a song that redefined patience in the streaming era. Lose Control” by Teddy Swims, the sixth-biggest song of 2025, came out in June 2023, meaning it took nearly two years to reach its peak. Swims’ “Lose Control” even broke the record set by Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” when it passed 92 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 back in June. That’s commitment to a slow burn if I’ve ever seen one.
The artist told Variety, “Lose Control is just the first time I really hit the mark… I used to think that it wasn’t enough to have a good song anymore. Now I disagree with that”. “Lose Control” (which actually came out in 2023), Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things,” Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” – were also in the 2024 top 10. The song’s longevity demonstrates that viral moments matter less than genuine connection with listeners.
6. Happy by Pharrell Williams
This infectious track almost belonged to someone else entirely. Pharrell Williams scored one of the most successful songs of the 2010s with the uptempo Happy, which topped the charts in over twenty countries around the world. The extremely catchy song also won two Grammy awards and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. All of this glory couldve easily slipped from Williams hands had the song been recorded by the intended artist – CeeLo Green. Williams had crafted the number earlier for Green, who recorded his own version but was prevented from releasing it. Apparently, Greens label wanted to focus their energy on his upcoming holiday album, instead.
The label’s decision to prioritize a Christmas album over what would become one of the decade’s biggest hits seems absurd in hindsight. Pharrell kept the song for himself, and it became the soundtrack to 2014. Pharrell Williams recorded the song, but it was originally supposed to go to CeeLo Green. Sometimes the universe just knows where a song belongs.
7. Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson
Everyones favorite breakup song had to pass through not one, but two rejections before it landed in the right hands. Right from the point of inception, Max Martin and Dr. Luke had intended to give Since U Been Gone to Pink. Pink and Hilary Duff were both offered the song first. Pink didn’t want it, and the song was out of Duff’s range, so it landed in the capable hands of Clarkson, who turned it into a veritable hit.
Clarkson made the track her own with an attitude that felt raw and cathartic. The song became a defining moment in her post-American Idol career, proving she was more than just a reality show winner. It’s nearly impossible to imagine anyone else screaming those lyrics with the same intensity. The rejection by other artists turned out to be a blessing, allowing Clarkson to claim what would become one of her signature songs.
8. Umbrella by Rihanna
Originally pitched to Britney Spears, the stormy smash didn’t fit into her Blackout forecast. Rihanna caught it like lightning in a bottle – and the rest is reign. Pop music fans know “Umbrella” as one of the best songs of 2007 and a hit that helped Rihanna become the star she is today. But the track was originally offered to Britney Spears. She passed on “Umbrella” as she already had enough to work with for her album.
The song transformed Rihanna from a promising artist into a global superstar. That distinctive “ella, ella, eh, eh, eh” hook became inescapable, and the collaboration with Jay-Z added credibility. Spears’ loss was undoubtedly Rihanna’s gain, as the track spent seven weeks at number one and earned a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. What do you think about it? Could anyone else have made this song as iconic?
9. Beautiful Things by Benson Boone
The Washington-born singer-songwriter released this hit as the lead single from his debut album, “Fireworks & Rollerblades”. Boone started writing the song in September 2023 after moving to Los Angeles, combining two separate song ideas into one with LaFrantz’s suggestion. The ballad showcases the artist’s emotive vocals and powerful chorus.
He told Billboard, “It was inspired by a relationship that I had just gotten into – for the first time in my life, I felt like I was extremely out of control of the way this relationship would turn out. Meaning like, in the past, I feel like I’ve always known that I could be the one to end a relationship. This one felt very different. It was the first time that I’d really been actually, genuinely terrified to lose something”. Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things,” Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” – were also in the 2024 top 10, showing remarkable staying power for a debut single.
10. End of Beginning by Djo
First released in September 2022, as part of Djo’s second studio album, “Decide” and as a single in March 2024. The song then gained popularity through TikTok and YouTube, which helped it to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 51 and peak at number 11. The track sat quietly for over a year before social media discovered its magic. When asked if the success of the song resonates with him, Djo replied, “It has never even been on my radar, to be honest with you, with the style of music that I’m making. It’s really cool, but I almost feel like I don’t have the perspective to really appreciate what’s going on in a way. I think that in time, it’ll come to me even more”.
The delayed recognition speaks to how streaming platforms have fundamentally changed music discovery. Songs no longer need immediate radio support to become hits. They can percolate through playlists and social media algorithms until they find their audience. Djo’s reluctance to chase mainstream success made the song’s eventual breakthrough even more authentic.
These stories remind us that the music industry doesn’t always know what listeners want. Sometimes executives are wrong. Sometimes timing matters more than anyone realizes. The songs that define our lives often had to fight their way into existence, surviving doubt, rejection, and near obscurity before finally reaching our ears.
