Pink‘s smash hit 2001 single “Get The Party Started” was originally intended for a different singer: Madonna.
Linda Perry, the song’s writer and producer, revealed the surprising news in an interview with Rolling Stone.
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“’Get the Party Started’ was just me figuring out what all this stuff does. I came up with that beat, laid it down, found all these weird chords and sounds and put the horns…I picked up a microphone and said, ‘I’m just going to say every clichéd line I can think of.’ And I came up with, ‘Get the party started on a Saturday night’ and wrote a bunch of stuff down. I called up my manager afterwards and said, ‘I just wrote a damn hit.’ It was too easy,” Linda explained of the making of the song.
“I sent it to Madonna and she passed, but a week later, Alecia [a.k.a. Pink] called. She left me this really crazy message how she would come find me if I didn’t call her back. I saw what she looked like — she was a bling-bling girl — and I said, ‘I think you have the wrong Linda Perry.’ She’s like, ‘Is this the Linda Perry who sang ‘Dear Mister President’ in 4 Non Blondes?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ She’s like, ‘Well, I have the right person.’ I had just written ‘Get the Party Started’ and I go, ‘Well, I’ve got something I wrote last week,’ and sent it to her. I guess she sent it to LA Reid and they said, ‘Okay we have our first single.’”
The song went on to peak at No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for Pink, and was certified Gold in the United States.
For more about the making of the song, head to RollingStone.com.
