The Ariana Grande Hit That Almost Went to Beyoncé
Could you imagine anyone but Ariana Grande singing “God Is a Woman”? We can’t. The hit is one of Grande’s most iconic songs, but it almost wasn’t hers. One of the songwriters behind the track recently revealed that it almost went to Beyoncé and Jay-Z instead. Here’s what reportedly happened.
Beyoncé could have been the one singing “God Is a Woman”
Songwriter and producer Ilya Salmanzadeh, who works under the name Ilya, appeared on Ross Golan’s And the Writer Is… podcast this week to discuss his songwriting career. It was his revelation about “God Is a Woman,” though, that got fans talking.
Ilya said the song was shopped around a few times before it found its home with Grande. At one point, it was considered for Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who released their joint album, Everything Is Love, under the name The Carters in 2018. It didn’t end up that way, though, and “God Is a Woman” obviously wasn’t part of the album.
To be fair, Beyoncé and Jay-Z weren’t the only artists linked to the song. Over the years, demos recorded by Camila Cabello and Rita Ora have also leaked online. It seems the fit was never quite right.
How Ariana Grande turned “God Is a Woman” into a hit
Grande liked the song so much that she claimed it, but it still took some tweaking to make it her own. At first, the songwriters didn’t envision her carrying the song alone. Ilya said the team initially pictured her singing the chorus, with a rapper handling the verses.
Grande had other ideas. When she heard the track, she shut down the feature and told the team they were writing it for her. Then she got to work. According to Ilya, she wrote all of the verses, the pre-chorus, and the song’s dramatic stacked harmonies, all in a single day.
Despite a few laps around the track, “God Is a Woman” clearly landed exactly where it belonged. The song peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified four times platinum by the RIAA.
It also helped cement Sweetener as a turning point in Grande’s career, a bolder, more experimental era that showcased her as both a vocalist and a songwriter. Ilya says he always had Grande in mind for the song. It just took some time to get there.
Ariana Grande has other connections to Beyoncé
Interestingly, “God Is a Woman” isn’t the only Sweetener track with a Beyoncé backstory. The album’s “R.E.M.” grew out of a Pharrell Williams demo that had previously gone to Beyoncé for her 2013 self-titled album. Before that, Pharrell pitched it to T-Pain in 2011 as “Dream.”
While their careers have been wildly different, both artists have powerful voices, deeply loyal followings, and a sound that tends to straddle genre lines. It’s no big surprise that both stars would be considered for more than a few of the same songs.
