Hoobastank rejected a featured guest spot from the singer Rihanna for a song on the band’s third major label album, 2006’s Every Man for Himself. At the time, Rihanna wasn’t the huge star she is today.
“Fun Fact: [Rihanna] was featured on a Hoobastank song on their 3rd Album,” the rock group shared with fans this week after the now-massive pop star played Feb. 12’s Super Bowl LVII halftime show.
However, “After hearing it, they decided to use the version WITHOUT Rihanna on it because……. well……..because……. they made a mistake,” the band quipped in the Feb. 14 social media post.
In a statement to Consequence, Hoobastank singer Doug Robb elaborated, “Back when we were recording our third album, Every Man for Himself, we were approached by someone at our label, Island Def Jam, about potentially featuring a ‘new artist.'”
He explained, “This kind of stuff happens all the time. We said, ‘Sure. Who do you have in mind?’ It was Rihanna. I had never heard of her. I don’t think anyone else in the band had, either, at the time.”
Robb continued, “We gave her camp a song called ‘Inside of You.’ … We heard it and didn’t really love it so we passed on using it. It’s really just that simple. … I think if we had done a proper collaboration with her, writing the song knowing there was gonna be another artist on it and making space for it, we probably would have felt differently and used it.”
Every Man for Himself is Hoobastank’s fourth album if you include 1998’s independent They Sure Don’t Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To…, when the band still spelled their name, “Hoobustank.”
Last year, Hoobastank did a docuseries about their 2001 self-titled album. Below, listen to “Inside of You,” which indeed emerged as a single from Every Man for Himself in 2006 without Rihanna’s contribution.
Hoobastank Remember Turning Down Rihanna for Album Feature – Feb. 14, 2023
Hoobastank, “Inside of You” (Music Video)
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20 years have gone so fast.