10 Musicians Who Turned Down Iconic Songs

It was a sad day for many a teenage girl when NSYNC announced that they were calling it a day. The boy band can't remain boys forever, and it was only a matter of time before Justin Timberlake emerged as a solo star in his own right, outside of the confines of his friends. There was a lot of questioning as to whether or not the former Mickey Mouse Club star could have even fit into mainstream pop music, but we didn't have to worry about a thing the minute that Rock Your Body came out.

Compared to the pure pop sounds of NSYNC, Rock Your Body has more tinges of R&B sprinkled throughout, bringing in different electronic soundscapes in the mix and letting JT do his thing with his amazing falsetto. During the writing stages though, Justin almost missed out on this song were it not for the King of Pop. When Rock Your Body was being shopped around, Michael Jackson had originally considered using it, only for him to go in a different direction because of his new image.

Which is a shame because you can hear the MJ influence all over this song, from the different ad libs that Justin is doing in between the verses to the kind of higher register that Jacko was able to hit without a breaking a sweat in his prime. MJ didn't want to be confined into the same sound forever though, and instead the world got a new contender for Pop's crown after JT grew up.