Toxic

Toxic (Britney Spears, 2004): the song more than one act reportedly turned down before it became her signature record.

Cathy Dennis and Bloodshy & Avant built it for someone else's voice first — Britney's camp heard the demo and fought to land it. That serpentine string riff, the poison-as-desire hook, the Grammy that followed: none of it was guaranteed.

Would you have passed on this demo too?