10 Musicians Who Turned Down Iconic Songs

When Tom Petty came off the road to work on his next record, he started to realize that he made a terrible mistake. In breaking away from the cycle of album-tour, the Heartbreakers were in shambles trying to finish what they thought would turn into a double album, detailing different parts of the South. With drugs flying everywhere though, Tom became so strung out that he couldn't see the smash hit that was sitting right in front of him.

Though Tom is known for writing the songs, Mike Campbell has always been the second in command in the Heartbreakers, bringing in the music for what would become both Refugee and Here Comes My Girl and having Petty turn them into classics. After spending an afternoon operating different delay effects on his guitar, Mike had something that he thought was usable, only to be turned down when Petty tried to go in another direction. Mike knew he had a good song on his hands though, and that backing track ended up on Don Henley's radar, moving things around and working with Campbell until it turned into The Boys of Summer.

As the sessions for the Heartbreakers album carried on though, Tom talked about feeling mortified when he heard Don's song come on the radio, knowing that it had hit potential but never quite being able to see it when he was out of his mind on cocaine. Songs can be like your musical children a lot of the time, and it's hard to see some of them grow up in the world without you.