Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/7-pop-stars-who-were-rejected-by-record-labels-before-they-were-famous/
Every pop star’s origin story tends to get smoothed over once the hits start rolling in. What rarely makes the highlight reel is the string of closed doors, canceled contracts, and blunt dismissals that came first. Long before arena tours and chart records, some of the biggest names in music spent years being told, in one way or another, that they simply weren’t good enough.
Katy Perry
Long before “I Kissed a Girl” turned her into a household name, Katy Perry spent the better part of a decade being signed and then dropped. Producer Glen Ballard signed Perry to his Island/Def Jam-distributed label Java in 2004, but once the imprint severed ties with its parent company, Perry and the album were dropped. It was hardly her first setback either, since her earlier gospel album under her birth name had already failed to gain traction and led to the shuttering of that label.
She then moved to Columbia Records, where things looked more promising for a while. Following two unsuccessful contracts with Island Def Jam Records and Columbia Records, Perry was dropped by both before she could finish an album. Only after signing with Capitol Records in 2007 did she finally release “One of the Boys,” the album that made her a star.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga’s brush with rejection came courtesy of one of the most respected executives in the business. Joshua Sarubin, the head of A&R at Def Jam…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-07-14 13:11:00
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