Leona Lewis Recorded 'We Found Love' First; 'Annoyed' by Song's Success?
Rihanna's "We Found Love" may have been the longest running number one single of 2011, but British singer-songwriter Leona Lewis claims she recorded the Billboard chart topping record before the Barbadian pop star.
The song, written and produced by Scottish disc jockey Calvin Harris originally featured the vocals of 27-year-old Lewis who said she lost out on the record after the producer toured with Rihanna.
"I worked with Calvin and we recorded 'We Found Love'. But he went touring with Rihanna and she ended up releasing it," Lewis told the Daily Star. "I didn't commit to it because I wanted 'Trouble' to be my [next] single so I think that was another reason they went with Rihanna."
Although the Barbadian recording artist's version of the song topped the Billboard Top 100 charts for 10 non-consecutive weeks, Lewis insists that her version is better than Rihanna's.
"It was the same version and production but mine's better," Lewis said. "It was a bit annoying to see how big a hit it was around the world but if I'd released it maybe it wouldn't have done as well."
Despite her claims to have recorded a better version than Rihanna, Lewis insisted that she would never release her recording of the track.
"I'd never leak it," Rihanna told the Daily Star. "That's so unprofessional."
In an interview with MTV News earlier this year, Harris credited Rihanna for making "We Found Love" his biggest hit.
"'We Found Love', is the most successful thing I've done ever," Harris said in an MTV report earlier this year. "It's not strictly a song by me, obviously, it's by Rihanna. She sings it."
