Kesha does backing vocals on Paris Hilton's "Nothing in This World". There's a wild story about this in the court documents, which says Kesha was brought in because "Paris can't sing for shit" and they needed Kesha's voice to bulk out the sound.
A lot of Britney songs have quite heavy backing vocals that take precedence over Britney's leads at times (i.e. Keri Hilson on "Break the Ice", Lady Gaga on "Quicksand", Cathy Dennis on "Toxic", Robyn on "Piece of Me", Ina Wroldsen on "He About to Lose Me", Sia on "Perfume").
Robyn's version of Piece of Me and Keri's version of Break the Ice are so so good. Love to hear which bits and pieces of their demos stand out on the final version
> There's a wild story about this in the court documents, which says Kesha was brought in because "Paris can't sing for shit" and they needed Kesha's voice to bulk out the sound.
this legal drag omg i can’t 😭
The features on All of the Lights is a testament to Kanye's artistry. He got Drake, Rihanna, John Legend, Fergie to name a few and managed to mix their voices well enough that the resulting song actually sounded amazing.
I can always hear Fergie and Alicia Keys voices in the “whoa whoaaaaa” section (besides Rihanna who is featured), now I’ll have to listen for John Legend!
That whole album leaves me weak. It's sick to say this but I wish he'd retired or gone to space or suddenly disappeared in 2020 or so. Late enough we knew his story wasn't heading anywhere good, but early enough we were saved all this current bullshit. UGH.
He also played piano on Sick Love by RHCP. They thought the song sounded too much like Benny and the Jets so they just invited him to the studio and gave him a writing credit
Avicii - Wake Me Up
Aloe Blacc's vocals are one of the most iconic and memorable parts of the song. He didn't even get a "featuring Aloe Blacc" credit. Most people I tell this about assumed that Avicii was the singer!
The version of this I’ve had on my phone since release always had ft. Aloe Blacc — I always assumed that was known and never even realized the versions on streaming didn’t include that!
Avicii basically never gave a (feat.) credit to any of the vocalists on his tracks, including close/longstanding collaborators. Idk if it was a business decision or something about the aesthetics of the tracklist or what
Wow you're not wrong, [I found this article](https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/avicii-collaborations-artists-songs-listen-8383354/) and maybe half of the people involved are properly credited? If it's a business decision, it's a selfish one.
Ah, you know what, I actually got so used to his songs not having the feat. in the official title that I never noticed that the ones from Avicī (01) onward have it (such as What Would I Change It To and You Be Love). I did a quick Google and found [this thread](https://old.reddit.com/r/avicii/comments/gsqrsm/why_avicii_never_mention_any_of_the_feature/) which lays the blame on his longtime manager, who's generally seen as evil incarnate in among Avicii fans (of whom I am one). Looks like he switched the practice after finally dropping that manager.
Yeah, obviously you can't actually know a public figure from their public persona but I'm inclined to believe that Avicii was not that kind of person... but the ex-manager very much was, so it all tracks to me. Still stinks that Aloe Blacc didn't get his recognition for Wake Me Up. He did collaborate with Avicii a few more times over the years, although I think the only officially released song is this haunting [posthumously released and presumably partially-finished one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8tdT5pAE34) where he once again absolutely nails the vocals.
Most songwriters aren't given a "feat. (name)" credit in a song. But lead vocalists usually are. I'm talking about credit for his vocals, not his songwriting.
Even weirder, it's literal. The song is about literal vegetables and eating healthy, so when Paul visited the studio Brian Wilson had him chew celery and recorded it for the song.
And then in 2001 Super Furry Animals [definitely got him to do that](https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/song/receptacle-for-the-respectable/) for their song Receptacle for the Respectable in tribute
Ed Sheeran is all over Liam Payne’s Strip That Down, you can hear him very distinctly in the chorus and the pitched down “strip that down, girl, love when you hit the ground, girl” is actually him. Same with Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself.
Chris Martin also does uncredited backing vocals throughout Jin’s The Astronaut. They stayed in close contact after the My Universe collab, and Chris gave him the song as a parting gift to his fans and bandmates before his enlistment. They’ve done a live performance of it together on tour, and Coldplay later covered the song on SNL.
Producer Dan Nigro was working with and a huge fan of Chappell when they first attempted to record Rise and Fall in 2020 when she got dropped by her label for underperforming singles (including the incredible Pink Pony Club). The next artist he worked with was Olivia, and both she and Nigro blew up when she dropped Drivers License and then SOUR (which Nigro also followed with Polachek’s So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings!).
Nigro’s always loved and had a ton of faith in Chappell, so he leveraged his new industry clout to create his own imprint Amusement Records under Island Records just so he could sign Roan, who remains the only artist signed to the imprint. He worked with Olivia on GUTS and Chappell for RaFoaMP at the same time, introducing the two to each other and calling Chappell in to provide backing vocals as needed since she was often already in or close to his studio. This introduction (and Chappell’s undeniable talent) led to her opening for Olivia on the GUTS tour once they’d both finished their albums, giving Chappell the boost she needed to finally find mainstream success.
Fun fact for people who read this far: Troye Sivan is a hardcore Chappell fan who’s been following her career for a solid decade, even back before she’d become Chappell when she was just an indie pop girlie no-one had heard of, before she’d adopted the stage name and drag persona. Collab when?
This is incredible, as I have put Soak Up the Sun right next to Liz Phair's discography in my Spotify Favourites playlist (before knowing that Liz was on it).
I had no idea they were connected, but the two artists have a similar sound.
Slash appearing on what now?
MJ singing the chorus for Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me"
Mary J. Blige singing the hook for Father MC's - "I'll Do 4 U"
Alicia Keys playing piano on Madonna’s “Living for Love”.
Prince playing the distorted guitar on “Like a Prayer”.
Adele playing the drums on “Hello”, her own song.
>Adele playing drums
I have learnt so much pop on this thread! Mainly that there's only like 7 popstars in the world, everything else is just combinations ha
Christina Milian's Dip It Low having Teedra Moses (who also wrote the hit) singing the hook background but you still can hear it clearly. It's very funny because few years before that, she was known for singing hook on JLo's Play, and her voice was kept there in final mix.
Jazmine Sullivan sang background vocals for Fantasia's Free Yourself along Missy Elliott.
Michael McDonald did the background vocals for 'Peg' by Steely Dan
Patti Labelle (and Labelle) did a bunch of background singing for Laura Nyro. Patti is very apparent in a lot of her songs
Ashanti wrote and sang 'Aint it Funny' but Ja Rule took the song and gave it to JLo. Ashanti's background vocals and the entire chorus are still on the JLo track.
She's on both! If you listen to Aint It Funny, Ashanti clearly sings the chorus and background vocals. Either way, Ja/Murda Inc did Ashanti dirty to prioritize JLo
I recall a few other of Jlos songs not actually being her own vocals, she needs to be despised more than she is for her track record of bullshit. And she can’t sing
Donna Summer - State of Independence
>Summer's version is notable for its all-star choir which included Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Michael Jackson, Brenda Russell, Christopher Cross, Dyan Cannon, James Ingram, Kenny Loggins, Peggy Lipton, Patti Austin, Michael McDonald, and Stevie Wonder.
Some of my favorites are:
• Marcus Mumford’s backing vocals on “Cowboy Like Me” by Taylor Swift
• Lorde on “Don’t Take the Money” by Bleachers
• Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus are on “Graceland Too” by Phoebe Bridgers
• both Dan Smith from Bastille and Charlie Barnes (indie artist and touring member of Bastille) do backing vocals on “Cyn City 2000” by Joywave
• Dan Smith’s backing vocals on “Will and Testament” by Charlie Barnes
• a lot of the group vocals on “Pompeii” by Bastille (most notably the “eh eh oh eh oh” bits) are a mix of members of Bastille and the band To Kill a King
• Dan Smith’s backing vocals on “Better Love” by Foxes are so obviously him, but it’s not a feature
Kelli-Leigh, probably the only person to provide uncredited lead vocals on two different UK #1 singles (I Got U by Duke Dumont ft. Jax Jones and I Wanna Feel by Second City)
Taylor Swift's background vocals in Calvin Harris and Rihanna's This is What You Came For.
She also co-wrote the song under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. Calvin explained that the reason for the secrecy was because Taylor didn't want their relationship to overshadow the song. Her invovlement was only revealed after the song was released and even performed the song live as a surprise at the Eras Tour.
Surprisingly, people still didn't know she was on the song. When she performed the song, people were all like "omg why is she performing the song???"... I even saw someone unironically say that Taylor wishes she could write a song like This Is What You Came For...
I think one of the funniest moments was when someone posted a video of You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home (from the Hannah Montana soundtrack) on Twitter and it went viral and then the OP (who hates Taylor) deleted it because people were pointing out that Taylor wrote the song 😭
Ed Sheeran on Jessie Ware’s “Say You Love Me”
Lily Allen has backing vocals on two album tracks on the album “Rudebox” by Robbie Williams (“Bongo Bong and Je Ne T’Aime Plus”, “Keep On”)
Paris by the Chainsmokers is a good example. Emily Warren sang some of the lyrics yet wasn’t credited.
So many Avicii songs are like this too. Aloe Blacc not being credited on Wake Me Up is the most famous example.
Ed Sheeran’s backing vocals on Zara Larsson’s “Don’t Let Me Be Yours”, they can be heard during the “without no makeup…” lines and during “you know everybody makes mistakes” too.
Well Slash is on Paulina Rubio’s Nada Puede Cambiarme. That was the weirdest flex in Latin music before everybody and their grandmas started doing collabs.
On Garbage’s #1 Crush, it starts with moans that I always thought were Shirley Manson’s. But they were Madonna’s.
I think jlo initially rejected waiting for tonight (someone else had already recorded it) but then changed her mind, but their background vocals are still on the track
Nuno Bettencourt on 'Kiss It Better' (as well as being Rihanna's touring guitarist). For those not in the know, Nuno is the lead guitar player for Extreme. He's a beast.
Hayley Williams swears that Nate Ruess (from fun) co-wrote 'Stay the Night' under the pseudonym "Benjamin Eli Hanna". He was in there with the studio with her and none of the other writers were. So, she thinks Nate was "Benjamin".
In 'The Monster' by Eminem ft. Rihanna, the "woo-hoo-woo-hoo" in the chorus was Bebe Rexha. Bebe Rexha wrote the chorus of the song and gave it to Eminem.
The woman's voice you can hear in 'Club Can't Handle Me' by Flo Rida & David Guetta is Nicole Scherzinger (from The Pussycat Dolls).
Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor from Queen did backing vocals on Billy Squier's 'Emotions in Motion'. Freddie also noticeably did featured vocals on 'Love Is the Hero', there's an extended version where Freddie does a piano intro as well. 'Lady with a Tenor Sax' was co-written by Freddie Mercury and Billy Squier and there is a demo out there with Freddie giving a rough draft of the song. Brian May recommended producer, Reinhold Mack, to Billy Squier after they finished *The Game* with him, this was due to Brian being unable to produce Billy's album at the time. Billy and Queen were really good friends.
Also, *If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power* has Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac on the song 'Darling' playing guitar and Dave Grohl on drums for 'Honey'.
Stay the Night just *sounds* like it was written by Nate Ruess. Once I found out he wrote the chorus to Kesha's Die Young I've never been able to unhear his style!
Also, Hayley and Nate both toured together when fun. were touring their debut album, they are both in the same circle of friends since 2009, and they were label mates from 2010-2015 at least.
If Hayley says it was Nate, I believe her.
she also co-wrote it with Kellie as they had been on tour together opening for Brad Paisley. Kellie and Taylor are in Brad's Online music video which uses some concert footage from that tour
Prince playing the lead synth hook on Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back”
Phil Collins playing drums on Frida’s “I Know There’s Something Going On” (her solo debut after ABBA)
Bebe Rexha on The Monster (just saw this was mentioned already) She was also originally uncredited for Hey Mama, but they’ve since given her credit
Beyoncé on Hymn for the Weekend
Ed Sheeran in Love Yourself
I always think the history of Diplo in iconic pop songs is really interesting. Especially songs like Run the World (Girls) despite him having a certain reputation about how he treats women.
I assume we're counting credited as in ft. in the title, since Wake Me Up is being heavily upvoted despite Aloe Blacc being in the song credits on streaming services.
Kesha does backing vocals on Paris Hilton's "Nothing in This World". There's a wild story about this in the court documents, which says Kesha was brought in because "Paris can't sing for shit" and they needed Kesha's voice to bulk out the sound. A lot of Britney songs have quite heavy backing vocals that take precedence over Britney's leads at times (i.e. Keri Hilson on "Break the Ice", Lady Gaga on "Quicksand", Cathy Dennis on "Toxic", Robyn on "Piece of Me", Ina Wroldsen on "He About to Lose Me", Sia on "Perfume").
Robyn's version of Piece of Me and Keri's version of Break the Ice are so so good. Love to hear which bits and pieces of their demos stand out on the final version
> There's a wild story about this in the court documents, which says Kesha was brought in because "Paris can't sing for shit" and they needed Kesha's voice to bulk out the sound. this legal drag omg i can’t 😭
lmao this is so fucked. This is the same thing JLo was exposed for.
my first thought was Kesha on “right round” but damn this is a crazy story 😂
Charli XCX’s vocals in Same Old Love from Selena
Yes 🙌 good example
Yessss
Elton John is playing the piano on Kanye’s “All of the Lights” iirc
The features on All of the Lights is a testament to Kanye's artistry. He got Drake, Rihanna, John Legend, Fergie to name a few and managed to mix their voices well enough that the resulting song actually sounded amazing.
I can always hear Fergie and Alicia Keys voices in the “whoa whoaaaaa” section (besides Rihanna who is featured), now I’ll have to listen for John Legend!
I want him to release the vocal stems separately. Let’s compare lol
Kinda surprising that Rihanna doesn’t even have a feature credit on the album track.
He (among several other popstars) is also singing on the outro.
I’m 100% done with Kanye at this point, but All of The Lights is, in my opinion, his masterpiece.
He may be washed now but can’t deny how legendary he/his music was
That whole album leaves me weak. It's sick to say this but I wish he'd retired or gone to space or suddenly disappeared in 2020 or so. Late enough we knew his story wasn't heading anywhere good, but early enough we were saved all this current bullshit. UGH.
Nah 2017 Kanye was the end. Send that Kanye to space.
100%
He also played piano on Sick Love by RHCP. They thought the song sounded too much like Benny and the Jets so they just invited him to the studio and gave him a writing credit
He also appears to sing a bit.
He's "I tried to tell you but all I could say was"
Avicii - Wake Me Up Aloe Blacc's vocals are one of the most iconic and memorable parts of the song. He didn't even get a "featuring Aloe Blacc" credit. Most people I tell this about assumed that Avicii was the singer!
The list of crimes from house DJs just keep on getting longer and longer
He’s great on that song
omg the most egregious one. Aloe Blacc's one of my faves and he's so solid on that song!
it's sad to think about how much bigger his career would be if he'd gotten the boost in name recognition he deserved from that song. :(
The version of this I’ve had on my phone since release always had ft. Aloe Blacc — I always assumed that was known and never even realized the versions on streaming didn’t include that!
He wrote the lyrics too!
Avicii basically never gave a (feat.) credit to any of the vocalists on his tracks, including close/longstanding collaborators. Idk if it was a business decision or something about the aesthetics of the tracklist or what
Wow you're not wrong, [I found this article](https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/avicii-collaborations-artists-songs-listen-8383354/) and maybe half of the people involved are properly credited? If it's a business decision, it's a selfish one.
Ah, you know what, I actually got so used to his songs not having the feat. in the official title that I never noticed that the ones from Avicī (01) onward have it (such as What Would I Change It To and You Be Love). I did a quick Google and found [this thread](https://old.reddit.com/r/avicii/comments/gsqrsm/why_avicii_never_mention_any_of_the_feature/) which lays the blame on his longtime manager, who's generally seen as evil incarnate in among Avicii fans (of whom I am one). Looks like he switched the practice after finally dropping that manager.
i'm relieved to hear it was a managerial decision and not Avicii's!
Yeah, obviously you can't actually know a public figure from their public persona but I'm inclined to believe that Avicii was not that kind of person... but the ex-manager very much was, so it all tracks to me. Still stinks that Aloe Blacc didn't get his recognition for Wake Me Up. He did collaborate with Avicii a few more times over the years, although I think the only officially released song is this haunting [posthumously released and presumably partially-finished one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8tdT5pAE34) where he once again absolutely nails the vocals.
Credits say written by Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins Iii, Michael Aaron Einzinger, Tim Bergling
> Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins Iii that's Aloe Blacc
Yes, as in it's credited to him as listed in the credits
Most songwriters aren't given a "feat. (name)" credit in a song. But lead vocalists usually are. I'm talking about credit for his vocals, not his songwriting.
Paul McCartney allegedly chewed celery on The Beach Boys' 'Vegetables'
> Paul McCartney allegedly chewed celery weirdest euphemism i've heard today
Even weirder, it's literal. The song is about literal vegetables and eating healthy, so when Paul visited the studio Brian Wilson had him chew celery and recorded it for the song.
whats it a euphemism for?
How is it a euphemism?
And then in 2001 Super Furry Animals [definitely got him to do that](https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/song/receptacle-for-the-respectable/) for their song Receptacle for the Respectable in tribute
Ed Sheeran is all over Liam Payne’s Strip That Down, you can hear him very distinctly in the chorus and the pitched down “strip that down, girl, love when you hit the ground, girl” is actually him. Same with Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself. Chris Martin also does uncredited backing vocals throughout Jin’s The Astronaut. They stayed in close contact after the My Universe collab, and Chris gave him the song as a parting gift to his fans and bandmates before his enlistment. They’ve done a live performance of it together on tour, and Coldplay later covered the song on SNL.
I think Chris Martin has uncredited adlibs/vocals on The Chainsmokers Riptide
Chappell Roan sings background vocals and harmonies on Olivia Rodrigo’s Lacy and Obsessed from GUTS 💜
She also did the vocals on you can't catch me now too for liv
Thank you!! So cool🤩
Your welcome
Wait so they know each other this whole time? I listen to Midwest and thought they had similar beats but thought it was mostly both being theater kids
they have the same producer (dan nigro) and they toured together
He also produces Conan Gray! There’s a cute photo floating around of the four of them before Chappell really took off.
Pls where can I find this pic?? I tried searching for it and couldn’t find it but as a fan of all them I’m so curious!
I’ll DM you
Producer Dan Nigro was working with and a huge fan of Chappell when they first attempted to record Rise and Fall in 2020 when she got dropped by her label for underperforming singles (including the incredible Pink Pony Club). The next artist he worked with was Olivia, and both she and Nigro blew up when she dropped Drivers License and then SOUR (which Nigro also followed with Polachek’s So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings!). Nigro’s always loved and had a ton of faith in Chappell, so he leveraged his new industry clout to create his own imprint Amusement Records under Island Records just so he could sign Roan, who remains the only artist signed to the imprint. He worked with Olivia on GUTS and Chappell for RaFoaMP at the same time, introducing the two to each other and calling Chappell in to provide backing vocals as needed since she was often already in or close to his studio. This introduction (and Chappell’s undeniable talent) led to her opening for Olivia on the GUTS tour once they’d both finished their albums, giving Chappell the boost she needed to finally find mainstream success. Fun fact for people who read this far: Troye Sivan is a hardcore Chappell fan who’s been following her career for a solid decade, even back before she’d become Chappell when she was just an indie pop girlie no-one had heard of, before she’d adopted the stage name and drag persona. Collab when?
[удалено]
ugh… fantastic choice. her vocals EAT for this song!!!
she's also all over Allure's songs adding "vocal enhancements" and you can totally hear her mariah-isms
Damn you. Was about to post this one, haha.
She ate Kenneth up on his own song chile
Sting provides the backgtound vocals throughout Money For Nothing by Dire Straits
Absolutely the first one that came to mind.
Liz Phair in Sheryl Crow's song Soak up the sun.
woooooah no way
https://youtu.be/5uwuRakqSW8?si=nj6PEv_aOH0uBnMP yup!
This is incredible, as I have put Soak Up the Sun right next to Liz Phair's discography in my Spotify Favourites playlist (before knowing that Liz was on it). I had no idea they were connected, but the two artists have a similar sound.
I thought of this it sounds really nice in particular with those backing vocals
What the fuck thats one of my favorite songs ever.
Kesha in Right Round? But I wouldn't call that lesser known lol
I only know and honestly care about that song because she’s on it lol
Slash appearing on what now? MJ singing the chorus for Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" Mary J. Blige singing the hook for Father MC's - "I'll Do 4 U"
The second one isn’t lesser known. It’s the only reason people know the song.
Slash is also in Paulina Rubio’s Nada Puede Cambiarme. It’s so weird
Turn the captions on for "I'll Do 4 You" on YouTube and go to the 2nd chorus and you'll see "(Mary J Blige vocalizing)"
Patti labelle walking into the studio when Kanye west and Tony Williams were recording roses and doing an uncredited feature was so eandom
Lenny Kravitz singing back vocals on Madonna’s “Justify My Love”. He also co-wrote and co-produced the song.
Some people are mentioning literal featured artists 😂
Alicia Keys playing piano on Madonna’s “Living for Love”. Prince playing the distorted guitar on “Like a Prayer”. Adele playing the drums on “Hello”, her own song.
>Adele playing drums I have learnt so much pop on this thread! Mainly that there's only like 7 popstars in the world, everything else is just combinations ha
She isn't an icon but Tiffany Villarreal's vocals on Flo Rida's "In the Ayer" is my favorite part of it
Oh hot damn, this is my jam. I love that song.
Drake did background vocals on “Un-Thinkable (I’m Ready)” by Alicia Keys
Which he and 40 co-wrote and I believe 40 also had co-pro credit on
Idk who 40 is but sure.
He’s Drake’s main producer. Been with him since the beginning. He also did “Work” for Rihanna and “Mine” for Beyoncé.
Oh okay
Was he also on the official remix too or am I just imagining that?
I think so. He wasn’t credited on the original tho just the remix. I guess cuz around that time he started blowing up.
Didn't she return the favor and sing on Fireworks for him?
Never heard it but maybe
Christina Milian's Dip It Low having Teedra Moses (who also wrote the hit) singing the hook background but you still can hear it clearly. It's very funny because few years before that, she was known for singing hook on JLo's Play, and her voice was kept there in final mix. Jazmine Sullivan sang background vocals for Fantasia's Free Yourself along Missy Elliott.
dip it low is one of the best songs of all time!
Mick Jagger in the background of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”!
Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo doing background vocals on solar power by Lorde
Bebe Rexha vocals on Monster by Rihanna and Eminen or should I say stolen vocals….
It's crazy that they used her voice in the song and she didn't even know until she heard the released version
The industry really didn't want her to be famous did they
That’s not Slash, it’s Eddie Van Halen. Sting on Arcadia’s The Promise.
Michael McDonald did the background vocals for 'Peg' by Steely Dan Patti Labelle (and Labelle) did a bunch of background singing for Laura Nyro. Patti is very apparent in a lot of her songs Ashanti wrote and sang 'Aint it Funny' but Ja Rule took the song and gave it to JLo. Ashanti's background vocals and the entire chorus are still on the JLo track.
No you're thinking of I'm Real.
She's on both! If you listen to Aint It Funny, Ashanti clearly sings the chorus and background vocals. Either way, Ja/Murda Inc did Ashanti dirty to prioritize JLo
I recall a few other of Jlos songs not actually being her own vocals, she needs to be despised more than she is for her track record of bullshit. And she can’t sing
Beyonce’s harmonies on Hymn for the Weekend and Pink + White
Hymn for the Weekend isn't she an official feature, in the music vid and all?
She is in the video but shes not credited as a feature
My mistake! It was so obvious I thought she was credited.
Michael Jackson sings one line in the chorus in Somebody's Watching Me by Rockell
Donna Summer - State of Independence >Summer's version is notable for its all-star choir which included Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Michael Jackson, Brenda Russell, Christopher Cross, Dyan Cannon, James Ingram, Kenny Loggins, Peggy Lipton, Patti Austin, Michael McDonald, and Stevie Wonder.
ok what!??!?!?!
Madison Beer doing background vocals in Swalla by Jason Derulo
this is so random LOL
this one always makes me giggle for some reason lol
Some of my favorites are: • Marcus Mumford’s backing vocals on “Cowboy Like Me” by Taylor Swift • Lorde on “Don’t Take the Money” by Bleachers • Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus are on “Graceland Too” by Phoebe Bridgers • both Dan Smith from Bastille and Charlie Barnes (indie artist and touring member of Bastille) do backing vocals on “Cyn City 2000” by Joywave • Dan Smith’s backing vocals on “Will and Testament” by Charlie Barnes • a lot of the group vocals on “Pompeii” by Bastille (most notably the “eh eh oh eh oh” bits) are a mix of members of Bastille and the band To Kill a King • Dan Smith’s backing vocals on “Better Love” by Foxes are so obviously him, but it’s not a feature
I always wondered who did the vocals in “Better Love” Thank you for this
Yesss, the male voice in the background is Dan Smith from Bastille! He also co-wrote the song! 😍
Excuse the now-canceled band, but David Bowie does backvocals on Arcade Fire's "Reflektor"
Kelli-Leigh, probably the only person to provide uncredited lead vocals on two different UK #1 singles (I Got U by Duke Dumont ft. Jax Jones and I Wanna Feel by Second City)
People need to check out her podcast because she shines a light on vocalists who often go uncredited
I will.
Meghan Trainor's looooud back vocals on Ain't Your Mama
Lorde's background vocals on Don't Take The Money by Bleachers are heavenly. It's not uncredited, but it's a hidden feature.
Taylor Swift's background vocals in Calvin Harris and Rihanna's This is What You Came For. She also co-wrote the song under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. Calvin explained that the reason for the secrecy was because Taylor didn't want their relationship to overshadow the song. Her invovlement was only revealed after the song was released and even performed the song live as a surprise at the Eras Tour.
She performed this at the Eras tour date I went to and the crowd went nuts lol
Surprisingly, people still didn't know she was on the song. When she performed the song, people were all like "omg why is she performing the song???"... I even saw someone unironically say that Taylor wishes she could write a song like This Is What You Came For...
She should write for other artists under pseudonyms just to see how unbiased it would be reviewed
Well, who knows, maybe she's already making rounds haha
I think one of the funniest moments was when someone posted a video of You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home (from the Hannah Montana soundtrack) on Twitter and it went viral and then the OP (who hates Taylor) deleted it because people were pointing out that Taylor wrote the song 😭
🤯
Ed Sheeran on Jessie Ware’s “Say You Love Me” Lily Allen has backing vocals on two album tracks on the album “Rudebox” by Robbie Williams (“Bongo Bong and Je Ne T’Aime Plus”, “Keep On”)
Natasha Ramos entirely singing Jenny From The Block 💀
Eddie Van Halen gave MJ the riff for Beat It for free.
EVH didn't write the riff, it was Steve Lukather
Of the band Toto
as heard on the 1982 hit single ‘Africa’ ^(keep it going)
Who also had the hit song Rosanna
Prince's vocals in Madonna's "Love Song"
isn't he featured???
Taylor Swift provides an uncredited vocal on John Mayer's "Half of My Heart". It's quite noticeable but still makes me chuckle.
I remember that
Princess Stéphanie of Monaco featuring on "In the closet" by Michael Jackson.
Chappell Roan does some vocals on Obsessed for Olivia Rodrigo.
Paris by the Chainsmokers is a good example. Emily Warren sang some of the lyrics yet wasn’t credited. So many Avicii songs are like this too. Aloe Blacc not being credited on Wake Me Up is the most famous example.
I feel like EDM in general is like this
Muni Long’s vocals in Cheryl’s Promise This ig
Ed Sheeran’s backing vocals on Zara Larsson’s “Don’t Let Me Be Yours”, they can be heard during the “without no makeup…” lines and during “you know everybody makes mistakes” too.
Well Slash is on Paulina Rubio’s Nada Puede Cambiarme. That was the weirdest flex in Latin music before everybody and their grandmas started doing collabs. On Garbage’s #1 Crush, it starts with moans that I always thought were Shirley Manson’s. But they were Madonna’s.
I think jlo initially rejected waiting for tonight (someone else had already recorded it) but then changed her mind, but their background vocals are still on the track
Beyoncé on Pink + White is just perfect
Imogen Heap doing the background vocals in Taylor Swift’s “Clean”
Nuno Bettencourt on 'Kiss It Better' (as well as being Rihanna's touring guitarist). For those not in the know, Nuno is the lead guitar player for Extreme. He's a beast. Hayley Williams swears that Nate Ruess (from fun) co-wrote 'Stay the Night' under the pseudonym "Benjamin Eli Hanna". He was in there with the studio with her and none of the other writers were. So, she thinks Nate was "Benjamin". In 'The Monster' by Eminem ft. Rihanna, the "woo-hoo-woo-hoo" in the chorus was Bebe Rexha. Bebe Rexha wrote the chorus of the song and gave it to Eminem. The woman's voice you can hear in 'Club Can't Handle Me' by Flo Rida & David Guetta is Nicole Scherzinger (from The Pussycat Dolls). Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor from Queen did backing vocals on Billy Squier's 'Emotions in Motion'. Freddie also noticeably did featured vocals on 'Love Is the Hero', there's an extended version where Freddie does a piano intro as well. 'Lady with a Tenor Sax' was co-written by Freddie Mercury and Billy Squier and there is a demo out there with Freddie giving a rough draft of the song. Brian May recommended producer, Reinhold Mack, to Billy Squier after they finished *The Game* with him, this was due to Brian being unable to produce Billy's album at the time. Billy and Queen were really good friends. Also, *If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power* has Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac on the song 'Darling' playing guitar and Dave Grohl on drums for 'Honey'.
Stay the Night just *sounds* like it was written by Nate Ruess. Once I found out he wrote the chorus to Kesha's Die Young I've never been able to unhear his style!
Also, Hayley and Nate both toured together when fun. were touring their debut album, they are both in the same circle of friends since 2009, and they were label mates from 2010-2015 at least. If Hayley says it was Nate, I believe her.
Maren Morris does backing vocals on Last Train Home by John Mayer
I don't know if it's uncredited, but I think Tom Petty sung backing vocals on You've Got It by Roy Orbison.
Brandy does background vocals on nature feels by frank ocean.
Mick Fleetwood-playing guitar on Darling by Halsey.
Close! It was Lindsey Buckingham who played on Darling, not Mick Fleetwood!
Taylor swifts backing vocals featured on john mayer’s “half of my heart” was a weird flex but that could also have been a product of them dating.
he literally reached out on twitter to get her to sing on that song. it's how they met.
Ester Dean’s vocals are left in several Rihanna songs.
Taylor Swift provides backing vocals (and appears in the music video) for Best Days of Your Life by Kellie Pickler.
she also co-wrote it with Kellie as they had been on tour together opening for Brad Paisley. Kellie and Taylor are in Brad's Online music video which uses some concert footage from that tour
MJ- Somebody's watching me
Prince playing the lead synth hook on Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back” Phil Collins playing drums on Frida’s “I Know There’s Something Going On” (her solo debut after ABBA)
jessie ware was originally not credited on the crying game
Prince on No Doubt's 'Waiting Room'
Bebe Rexha on The Monster (just saw this was mentioned already) She was also originally uncredited for Hey Mama, but they’ve since given her credit Beyoncé on Hymn for the Weekend Ed Sheeran in Love Yourself
I always think the history of Diplo in iconic pop songs is really interesting. Especially songs like Run the World (Girls) despite him having a certain reputation about how he treats women. I assume we're counting credited as in ft. in the title, since Wake Me Up is being heavily upvoted despite Aloe Blacc being in the song credits on streaming services.
He actually originally wasn’t credited. I’m not sure when they finally rectify the situation, but it was long after this song was super popular.
Melissa Ferrick's Never Give Up has Tegan Quin's vocals in the background.
Jerry Hall in Bryan Ferry's Lets Stick Together.
Michael Jackson on Somebody’s Watching Me by Rockwell, Beyoncé on Hymn for The Weekend by Coldplay