ONTD: Songs I Thought Were Sung By Other People
Earlier this year I made a post about celebrities I once thought were the same person. Apparently I not only have bad eyesight but I may also have a potential hearing problem. Anyway, times are really tough right now and the only thing I want to do during this quarantine is find things that make me laugh before I go crazy. I hope this brings a smile to your face and we can make each other laugh. Enjoy!
1. "You Say" - Lauren Daigle
[Who I Thought Sang It]
This song is the main reason behind this post because I was convinced this was Adele until recently. I figured she, like many other celebrities, decided to join Hillsong or some other cult, and then decided to go the church music route. I kept wondering why Adele's gospel comeback wasn't being featured on ONTD. All the posts about her kept saying new Adele music was rumored to be released soon, or in late 2019, or in 2020, etc., and I was like, "she's here. She's religious now." Turns out, it is not Adele.
2. "Habits (Stay High)" - Tove Lo
[Who I Thought Sang It]
This song blew up around the time Miley Cyrus was in the midst of her Bangerz era. Miley has a very distinct nasally twang when she sings, and somehow I thought I heard bits and pieces of it throughout the song. The first time I heard this song, I thought Miley was capitalizing on her party girl image while simultaneously milking her breakup with Thor's brother. I knew she released "Wrecking Ball" but I remember thinking, "wow, is she actually tackling such a serious subject?" Then I saw the music video and realized it ain't Miley.
3. "Say So" - Doja Cat
[Who I Thought Sang It]
I cannot be the only person that thought of Kylie Minogue and Nicki Minaj when hearing the song. It's just so... Kylie. It's very reminiscent of her early '00s songs. I figured Kylie decided to quit being a country singer and was going back to her pop girl roots, and she decided to do what every pop girl likes to do by featuring a rapper on the bridge of their song. When I first heard "Say So", I thought Kylie and Nicki were both making their mainstream comebacks on U.S. pop radio.
4. "Incomplete" - Backstreet Boys
[Who I Thought Sang It]
I will admit that I was very ignorant of pop culture and the media growing up. But the sad thing is, I knew who the Backstreet Boys were and I liked their music (I even preferred them to NSYNC)! But as far as I knew or cared to know about, they broke up. Justin Timberlake was big around that time so I guess I just assumed that he sung every major dramatic white boy pop song from 2002-2008? I remember thinking Justin could not stop talking about Britney so I guess I figured this was another one of his songs about her? idk guys.
5. "Sit Still, Look Pretty" - Daya
[Who I Thought Sang It]
There was a time when it seemed like all the new (semi-new? idc) pop girls were trying to emulate Rihanna. I mistook several other songs for being Rihanna as well but this one was probably the most confusing and irritating one for me since the song was inescapable on the radio. There were parts in the song where I was sure it was her but I kept reasoning that 2015/2016 Rihanna would not be releasing her own version of "Pretty Hurts".
6. "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" - Panic! at the Disco
[Who I Thought Sang It]
Okay, so this song came out around the time I generally started to pay attention to pop culture and the media. That being said, I just figured it was Fall Out Boy the first time I heard the song because they were big at the time and the song's title reminded me of their ridiculous song titles. I'm giving myself a pass on this one though since both bands seemed like they were capitalizing on their similarities during that time. I also confused several of their other songs over the course of their peak years but this was the most prominent example.
7. "I've Been Waiting" - Lil Peep & iLoveMakonnen feat. Fall Out Boy
[Who I Thought Sang It]
Okay, hearing this song on the radio was the most confusing experience for me. Everything about the song brought me back to my middle and high school MySpace days when I first heard it. The way it's sung just reminded me of the MySpace era of music. I assumed the main singers were some underground MySpace musicians, the featured artist was Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie, and that the song had resurfaced after like 14 years for some reason. Like I mentioned above, I often confused Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy, and when I heard "I've Been Waiting", I knew Patrick Stump's part sounded familiar but I just assumed it was Brendon singing because I thought Fall Out Boy went on hiatus again. I about had an existential crisis on my way to work trying to figure out what was happening.
8. "Same Old Love" - Selena Gomez
[Who I Thought Sang It]
I wasn't paying attention when the song was initially released. When the song was on, my brain seemed to only wake up when I heard the chorus, therefore, I figured it was a Charli XCX song. When I began actually listening to the whole thing I realized the verses reminded me of Selena Gomez. So then I thought "Same Old Love" was like "Fancy" where Charli just sang the chorus for another musician. Anyway, I found out through ONTD and Wikipedia that this was a common misconception. Charli actually helped write the song and she also provided background vocals. She should've kept the song for herself.
9. "Adore You" - Harry Styles
[Who I Thought Sang It]
I tend to listen to my own curated playlists rather than the radio now so I know I'm definitely reverting back to my general music ignorance. When I first heard "Adore You", I figured it was either Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber because I didn't listen to Harry's solo debut stuff and I guess I assumed he went a more rock route rather than pop? I went with Ed because "Adore You" sounded more like something he'd come up with than Justin. Anyway, I should've known it wasn't Ed singing because I actually don't mind the song. Usually I have a full body cringe of revulsion or embarrassment whenever I hear his stuff. Funny thing is, I used to be a casual fan of One Direction back in the day (well, okay, I liked their first album) so it's kinda hilariously sad I couldn't tell it was Harry right away.
10. "My Life Would Suck Without You" - Kelly Clarkson
[Who I Thought Sang It]
There was a time in my life where I would hear a Kelly Clarkson song and second guess whether it was Kelly or P!nk singing. Typically I'd figure out it was Kelly singing once I got to the chorus. Ironically, I never had the reverse problem when hearing P!nk songs. Anyway, this problem was particularly bad during Kelly's All I Ever Wanted era. I listened to the CD a little bit during like 2009-2010 and there were moments during the album that I could've sworn I heard P!nk's voice. And this happened a lot, which is silly since I knew it was a Kelly album playing.
11. "I Need to Know" - Marc Anthony
[Who I Thought Sang It]
My abuelita used to listen to Spanish music when she was alive and I feel like she was excited when it went more mainstream in the '90s/early '00s during my adolescence (I'm sure she would be equally excited about the 2010's mainstream resurgence too). Kid!me really loved "Livin' la Vida Loca", "Bailamos", and Christina Aguilera and J.Lo's early stuff (ngl so does adult!me) so she would play their albums when we'd clean and do chores together.
Apparently my little brain at the time figured any song that had any sort of Latin influence and featured a male singer was either Ricky Martin or Enrique Iglesias despite not sounding like either of them. For this one, I don't think I actually committed to which guy I thought it was; my answer probably depended on who was my favorite of the day when the song came on the radio. That being said, this is one of those bizarre examples of me knowing who Marc Anthony was (or, at least, knowing the name since my abuelita had one or two of his older albums) and not realizing he sung the song until she got the Marc Anthony album and we listened to it in full on the car ride home. Oops lmao.
12. "Move Ya Body" - Nina Sky
[Who I Thought Sang It]
As you may have noticed by now, when I was growing up I knew of certain celebrities and just assumed those few celebrities did everything. I didn't know or care about the concepts of one-hit wonders, non-mainstream artists, or anything like that. I knew of Beyoncé, though, and her solo career was blowing up around the time of this song's release. "Move Ya Body" reminded me of "Baby Boy" and that's basically all I needed to assume it was a Beyoncé song. I still maintain that it does vaguely sound a bit like old school Bey. Or maybe I'm projecting.
13. "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" - Belinda Carlisle
[Who I Thought Sang It]
I grew up in a CD family rather than a radio family, and if we listened to the radio, it was only the '80s station. My mom (who spent most of her 20s in the '80s) and my sister (who was a child of the '80s) loved Madonna and played The Immaculate Collection all the time. I was a kid of the '90s and early '00s who preferred Latin music and bubblegum pop, and so my knowledge on '80s pop girls was limited to my sister's CD collection: Madonna, Janet Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, and Pat Benatar. I guess even as a kid I realized Madonna's voice was the one that changed the most out of the four (I feel like their voices are more distinctive while Madonna's was more... chameleon? idk) so whenever we listened to the radio I assumed any song that had a woman/women singing who wasn't Janet/Cyndi/Pat was her. Other examples: "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama, "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany, "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul, etc.
14. "Frozen" - Madonna
[Who I Thought Sang It]
When I first heard "Frozen" I just assumed it was '90s power ballad queen Celine Dion even though it sounds nothing like her. I was a kid when it was released so I was going by my very limited knowledge on literally anything. I didn't pay attention to the media during the Ray of Light era, and as I mentioned above, I only really knew of Madonna's '80s hits so I was not familiar with her '90s stuff at the time (I do remember "Secret" and "Take a Bow" but I thought those were by some other artist since, again, I was only used to Madonna's super '80s sound).
TLDR: I didn't realize Madonna's voice could sound like that, and I apparently assumed Celine was the only woman ever to sing a popular '90s ballad. Anyway, "Frozen" is Madonna's most beautiful song and single, and that's that on that.
Mods, I tried to fix the videos. Hopefully they're correct now? 🤞
SOURCES:
Videos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14
Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17
Gifset: 1
ONTD, have you ever mixed up musicians?
1. "You Say" - Lauren Daigle
Click to view[Who I Thought Sang It]
This song is the main reason behind this post because I was convinced this was Adele until recently. I figured she, like many other celebrities, decided to join Hillsong or some other cult, and then decided to go the church music route. I kept wondering why Adele's gospel comeback wasn't being featured on ONTD. All the posts about her kept saying new Adele music was rumored to be released soon, or in late 2019, or in 2020, etc., and I was like, "she's here. She's religious now." Turns out, it is not Adele.
2. "Habits (Stay High)" - Tove Lo
[Who I Thought Sang It]
This song blew up around the time Miley Cyrus was in the midst of her Bangerz era. Miley has a very distinct nasally twang when she sings, and somehow I thought I heard bits and pieces of it throughout the song. The first time I heard this song, I thought Miley was capitalizing on her party girl image while simultaneously milking her breakup with Thor's brother. I knew she released "Wrecking Ball" but I remember thinking, "wow, is she actually tackling such a serious subject?" Then I saw the music video and realized it ain't Miley.
3. "Say So" - Doja Cat
[Who I Thought Sang It]
I cannot be the only person that thought of Kylie Minogue and Nicki Minaj when hearing the song. It's just so... Kylie. It's very reminiscent of her early '00s songs. I figured Kylie decided to quit being a country singer and was going back to her pop girl roots, and she decided to do what every pop girl likes to do by featuring a rapper on the bridge of their song. When I first heard "Say So", I thought Kylie and Nicki were both making their mainstream comebacks on U.S. pop radio.
4. "Incomplete" - Backstreet Boys
[Who I Thought Sang It]
I will admit that I was very ignorant of pop culture and the media growing up. But the sad thing is, I knew who the Backstreet Boys were and I liked their music (I even preferred them to NSYNC)! But as far as I knew or cared to know about, they broke up. Justin Timberlake was big around that time so I guess I just assumed that he sung every major dramatic white boy pop song from 2002-2008? I remember thinking Justin could not stop talking about Britney so I guess I figured this was another one of his songs about her? idk guys.
5. "Sit Still, Look Pretty" - Daya
[Who I Thought Sang It]
There was a time when it seemed like all the new (semi-new? idc) pop girls were trying to emulate Rihanna. I mistook several other songs for being Rihanna as well but this one was probably the most confusing and irritating one for me since the song was inescapable on the radio. There were parts in the song where I was sure it was her but I kept reasoning that 2015/2016 Rihanna would not be releasing her own version of "Pretty Hurts".
6. "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" - Panic! at the Disco
[Who I Thought Sang It]
Okay, so this song came out around the time I generally started to pay attention to pop culture and the media. That being said, I just figured it was Fall Out Boy the first time I heard the song because they were big at the time and the song's title reminded me of their ridiculous song titles. I'm giving myself a pass on this one though since both bands seemed like they were capitalizing on their similarities during that time. I also confused several of their other songs over the course of their peak years but this was the most prominent example.
7. "I've Been Waiting" - Lil Peep & iLoveMakonnen feat. Fall Out Boy
[Who I Thought Sang It]
Okay, hearing this song on the radio was the most confusing experience for me. Everything about the song brought me back to my middle and high school MySpace days when I first heard it. The way it's sung just reminded me of the MySpace era of music. I assumed the main singers were some underground MySpace musicians, the featured artist was Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie, and that the song had resurfaced after like 14 years for some reason. Like I mentioned above, I often confused Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy, and when I heard "I've Been Waiting", I knew Patrick Stump's part sounded familiar but I just assumed it was Brendon singing because I thought Fall Out Boy went on hiatus again. I about had an existential crisis on my way to work trying to figure out what was happening.
8. "Same Old Love" - Selena Gomez
[Who I Thought Sang It]
I wasn't paying attention when the song was initially released. When the song was on, my brain seemed to only wake up when I heard the chorus, therefore, I figured it was a Charli XCX song. When I began actually listening to the whole thing I realized the verses reminded me of Selena Gomez. So then I thought "Same Old Love" was like "Fancy" where Charli just sang the chorus for another musician. Anyway, I found out through ONTD and Wikipedia that this was a common misconception. Charli actually helped write the song and she also provided background vocals. She should've kept the song for herself.
9. "Adore You" - Harry Styles
[Who I Thought Sang It]
I tend to listen to my own curated playlists rather than the radio now so I know I'm definitely reverting back to my general music ignorance. When I first heard "Adore You", I figured it was either Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber because I didn't listen to Harry's solo debut stuff and I guess I assumed he went a more rock route rather than pop? I went with Ed because "Adore You" sounded more like something he'd come up with than Justin. Anyway, I should've known it wasn't Ed singing because I actually don't mind the song. Usually I have a full body cringe of revulsion or embarrassment whenever I hear his stuff. Funny thing is, I used to be a casual fan of One Direction back in the day (well, okay, I liked their first album) so it's kinda hilariously sad I couldn't tell it was Harry right away.
10. "My Life Would Suck Without You" - Kelly Clarkson
[Who I Thought Sang It]
There was a time in my life where I would hear a Kelly Clarkson song and second guess whether it was Kelly or P!nk singing. Typically I'd figure out it was Kelly singing once I got to the chorus. Ironically, I never had the reverse problem when hearing P!nk songs. Anyway, this problem was particularly bad during Kelly's All I Ever Wanted era. I listened to the CD a little bit during like 2009-2010 and there were moments during the album that I could've sworn I heard P!nk's voice. And this happened a lot, which is silly since I knew it was a Kelly album playing.
11. "I Need to Know" - Marc Anthony
[Who I Thought Sang It]
My abuelita used to listen to Spanish music when she was alive and I feel like she was excited when it went more mainstream in the '90s/early '00s during my adolescence (I'm sure she would be equally excited about the 2010's mainstream resurgence too). Kid!me really loved "Livin' la Vida Loca", "Bailamos", and Christina Aguilera and J.Lo's early stuff (ngl so does adult!me) so she would play their albums when we'd clean and do chores together.
Apparently my little brain at the time figured any song that had any sort of Latin influence and featured a male singer was either Ricky Martin or Enrique Iglesias despite not sounding like either of them. For this one, I don't think I actually committed to which guy I thought it was; my answer probably depended on who was my favorite of the day when the song came on the radio. That being said, this is one of those bizarre examples of me knowing who Marc Anthony was (or, at least, knowing the name since my abuelita had one or two of his older albums) and not realizing he sung the song until she got the Marc Anthony album and we listened to it in full on the car ride home. Oops lmao.
12. "Move Ya Body" - Nina Sky
[Who I Thought Sang It]
As you may have noticed by now, when I was growing up I knew of certain celebrities and just assumed those few celebrities did everything. I didn't know or care about the concepts of one-hit wonders, non-mainstream artists, or anything like that. I knew of Beyoncé, though, and her solo career was blowing up around the time of this song's release. "Move Ya Body" reminded me of "Baby Boy" and that's basically all I needed to assume it was a Beyoncé song. I still maintain that it does vaguely sound a bit like old school Bey. Or maybe I'm projecting.
13. "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" - Belinda Carlisle
[Who I Thought Sang It]
I grew up in a CD family rather than a radio family, and if we listened to the radio, it was only the '80s station. My mom (who spent most of her 20s in the '80s) and my sister (who was a child of the '80s) loved Madonna and played The Immaculate Collection all the time. I was a kid of the '90s and early '00s who preferred Latin music and bubblegum pop, and so my knowledge on '80s pop girls was limited to my sister's CD collection: Madonna, Janet Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, and Pat Benatar. I guess even as a kid I realized Madonna's voice was the one that changed the most out of the four (I feel like their voices are more distinctive while Madonna's was more... chameleon? idk) so whenever we listened to the radio I assumed any song that had a woman/women singing who wasn't Janet/Cyndi/Pat was her. Other examples: "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama, "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany, "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul, etc.
14. "Frozen" - Madonna
[Who I Thought Sang It]
When I first heard "Frozen" I just assumed it was '90s power ballad queen Celine Dion even though it sounds nothing like her. I was a kid when it was released so I was going by my very limited knowledge on literally anything. I didn't pay attention to the media during the Ray of Light era, and as I mentioned above, I only really knew of Madonna's '80s hits so I was not familiar with her '90s stuff at the time (I do remember "Secret" and "Take a Bow" but I thought those were by some other artist since, again, I was only used to Madonna's super '80s sound).
TLDR: I didn't realize Madonna's voice could sound like that, and I apparently assumed Celine was the only woman ever to sing a popular '90s ballad. Anyway, "Frozen" is Madonna's most beautiful song and single, and that's that on that.
Mods, I tried to fix the videos. Hopefully they're correct now? 🤞
SOURCES:
Videos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14
Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17
Gifset: 1
ONTD, have you ever mixed up musicians?