Ronan Keating reveals Boyzone turned down what went on to become a massive hit for U2
This would have been ... interesting.
We love playing 'Alternative History' when it comes to pop songs that could have SO easily ended up completely different.
So many of them seem to revolve around Britney Spears for some reason: she only recorded 'Hit Me Baby (One More Time)' once TLC turned it down, and also managed to nab 'I'm A Slave 4 U' only because the original choice for the song - Janet Jackson - passed on it.
But these things come in waves, as Britney herself turned down 'Umbrella', which then ended up being the single that catapulted Rihanna into super-stardom.
Anyways, we could literally spend the entire day talking about huge hit pop songs that were originally intended for other artists - Rihanna passed on Ed Sheeran's 'Shape Of You' AND Miley Cyrus' 'We Can't Stop' AND Sia's 'Chandelier'! - but this is about one pop song in particular that really could have sent the original choice in a whole new direction.
Speaking to Eoghan McDermott on 2FM on Monday afternoon, Ronan Keating was discussing Boyzone's upcoming album, revealing there are tracks on there written by Ed Sheeran, and other tracks (written by Sam Smith, no less!) have been left off the album.
But when discussing tracks that he didn't want to miss out on, Keating mentioned that back in the day, Boyzone did exactly that:
"We turned down U2 when they gave us 'The Sweetest Thing' back 20 years ago and that was a huge mistake, so if Ed Sheeran gives us a song, we won't be turning that one down."
"I don't know what happened, how it happened. It was offered to us. Sweetest Thing was offered to Boyzone. Wherever it came about, it didn't work for us, or it didn't sound right or whatever happened. And we didn't end up recording or releasing it."
So there you have it.
Can you hear Ronan and the boys singing their version of Bono's apology song to his wife for missing her birthday?
Sure Boyzone ended up appearing in the music-video for U2's version, so all's well that ends well.
Clip via U2VEVO
