How Leona Lewis’ ‘Bleeding Love’ Was Inspired by Prince

TL;DR:

• Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” was co-written by a rock star and a teen pop star.
• The tune became a No. 1 single in the United States and the United Kingdom.
• It was on Lewis’ biggest album.

Rock star Ryan Tedder wrote a lot of music for other artists, including Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love.” Tedder discussed how Prince inspired “Bleeding Love.” In addition, he discussed what Simon Cowell thought upon hearing the track.

Ryan Tedder wanted Leona Lewis’ ‘Bleeding Love’ to sound like modern Prince

Tedder wrote “Bleeding Love” with Jesse McCartney. Tedder is a member of OneRepublic who has also written hits for Beyoncé, Adele, and Kelly Clarkson. On the other hand, McCartney was a teen pop star (no relation to Paul McCartney).

During a 2012 interview with NPR, Tedder discussed how “Bleeding Love” came together. “I sat down at my piano and turned on, like, an organ patch,” he recalled. “And literally, I said to myself out loud, I was like, what would Prince do? What would Prince do right now in whatever year it was, 2008, 2009?” For context, the tune was released in 2007.

“And I started playing those chords, the opening organ patch of ‘Bleeding Love,’ and then I quickly threw the drums together, and I had the melody walking into the session,” he said.

Ryan Tedder was told ‘Bleeding Love’ would not succeed

Tedder had a lot of faith in “Bleeding Love.” “I thought it was the biggest hit I’d ever written and gave it to the record label, and I — they straight up told me, this is not a hit record,” he remembered.

“And I literally thought, well, then I need to pick a new career because my ears are telling me that this is a really, really important song,” he added. “Long story short, I put the song on a five-song demo CD, handed it to another guy at a British record label that I had been working with for another artist.” Lewis’ A&R guy played “Bleeding Love” for Simon Cowell and he was enamored with the song. From there, it became a huge hit.

Leona Lewis’ song became a huge hit

“Bleeding Love” became a massive hit. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, staying on the chart for 39 weeks. The tune appeared on the album Spirit. Spirit was huge as well, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for one of its 61 weeks on the chart. “Bleeding Love” and Spirit were Lewis’ only No. 1 single and No. 1 album, respectively, in the United States.

According to The Official Charts Company, “Bleeding Love” reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom for seven weeks. It lasted a total of 38 weeks on the chart. On the other hand, Spirit peaked at No. 1 in the U.K. for eight weeks and stayed on the chart for 103 weeks. “Bleeding Love” and Spirit and became Lewis’ longest-running No. 1 single and No. 1 album in the U.K.

“Bleeding Love” was one of the biggest songs of the 2000s and it wouldn’t be the same without Prince.