Camila Cabello, Demi Lovato, Daya, Tove Lo & More Recorded 'The Middle'

There's never a lack of behind the scenes business when it comes to pop music and the latest revelation about Maren Morris, Zedd and Grey's smash collab, "The Middle," goes to show just how often things can change. 

On Tuesday (April 24), Variety revealed that no fewer than 12 female acts recorded vocals for the dance hit and the list is quite impressive. Among the females that were up for consideration on "The Middle" included Camila Cabello, Demi Lovato, Lauren Jauregui, Bebe Rexha, Carly Rae Jepsen, Bishop Briggs, Daya, Tove Lo, Elle King and Anne-Marie. In the report, production quintent Monsters & Strangerz, who worked on the cut, revealed that the track was written over a year ago, but they were waiting for the right vocalist. "We never lost the feeling for that song," Jordan Johnson said. "Even a year later, I, as a creator hadn’t gotten tired of it. It was special."

For more than a year, the song bounced between various camps. While Demi "sounded awesome" on it, she thought the song was "too pop" for her latest era. Cabello came into play at one point, but she didn't want anything to overshadow "Havana." Anne-Marie was also worked into the mix, but she was disqualified from the running because she had her Marshmello collab, "Friends," coming out.

"Some of them just sang it well. Some of them are incredible singers, but it almost felt like they’ve never heard the song before, they’re just reading it off a piece of paper, but they’re singing it really well," Zedd explained told Billboard in February. "And then when Maren sings… really, to me personally, the song is a constant build-up. It just gets more and more exciting. And the bridge, which is oftentimes a kind of boring moment in a song, is my personal favorite moment. It’s where she’s so vulnerable. Just her and a small guitar, and you really hear every breath, and you hear every squeak and everything. I just think that she carried it the best."

Photo: Getty Images


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