Muni Long wrote a Rihanna ballad that almost went to Kelly Clarkson

Muni Long has penned several of your faves top hits, but this Rihanna song almost went to the American Idol herself, Kelly Clarkson.

In an interview with Complex, the R&B star dished about creating timeless R&B, her viral hit “Made for Me,” and the mistreatment of songwriters. For those that don’t know, Muni has been a songwriter for years, cranking out hits in R&B, pop, and country for artists like Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Mariah Carey, Demi Lovato, Florida Georgia Line, and Rihanna under her given name, Priscilla Renea Hamilton. The Rihanna Navy knows how LOUD‘s “California King Bed” makes them feel and Muni’s pen is to thank for that.

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But what happened if Rih never got the song? Well, in an alternate universe, it would’ve been sung by Clarkson. In the interview, Muni talked about she wrote the song in 10 minutes after spending time looking for furniture, hence the title “California King Bed,” as she was prepping for a move to Los Angeles. She mentioned that the publisher planned to give the song to the “Because of You” singer first, but a change of heart helped put Muni’s songwriting in the hands of Rihanna.

“Originally, they were trying to pitch it to Kelly Clarkson,” Muni said in the interview. “Then I came back two months later, and my publisher Ryan Press said that they were going to cut it for Rihanna. I was super excited. She was on tour at the time, but she cut the song, and the rest is history. You wouldn’t think that she would do something like that. What that did for the trajectory of my career as a creative was massive. After that, I did work with her in the studio many times, but that was my first entry point into my journey with Rih.”

While the song did wonders for Muni’s career, it also highlighted the inequities that many songwriters, like Muni, faced.

“Songwriters get beat up a lot. Like, they take a lot of L’s in order to deliver this incredible product, which is really the genesis of all the other things that come,” Muni explained. “For example, ‘California King Bed,’ through that song, Rih was able to get an endorsement with Nivea—a very lucrative one—to where she could go on tour and have all these things. I don’t know the intricacies of her business, so let’s not misconstrue that, but a very small portion of that actually makes it to the songwriter.” 

Still, that hasn’t stopped Muni, or other famous songwriters-turned-singers like Victoria Monét and SZA. Since then, Muni has scored number one hit on the R&B songs chart with the viral song “Hrs and Hrs” and snagged a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance for the song as well. And while “California King Bed” went to Rihanna, Muni penned “Love So Soft,” which also garnered Clarkson a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance.

Maybe there’s a “Kellyoke” rendition of “California King Bed” in the future.

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