12 Female Artists Recorded ‘The Middle’ Before Maren Morris
The song got passed around in the pop world to artists like Demi Lovato, Camila Cabello and Julia Michaels before coming to Morris.
When a jam like “The Middle” by Zedd, Grey and Maren Morris bumps on the radio, it’s hard to imagine the country star not appearing on the track with her raspy vocal.
Before Morris signed on to the track, however, it took Zedd and the song’s creators a whopping 12 tries to find the right artist to fill the lyrics with the sound they were looking for. Going through huge pop names from Demi Lovato to Camila Cabello and basically every Top 40 female artist in between, they finally reached out to Morris for a different take on the soon-to-be hit smash.
After a year of searching and agreeing that it was Morris that had to take on the collaboration role, Zedd flew to Nashville to make things official and lay her voice down on the track before its big debut on the 2018 GRAMMY stage. Thankfully, the country singer proved to be the perfect fit and turned the track into what fans love today.
“The lyrics took on a whole new meaning when Maren sang. All of a sudden, you believe it. The taps are running. Dishes are broken. It sounded a little Nashville and felt right. We were pumped,” said Stefan Johnson of the production team, Monsters & Strangerz, in an article with Variety.
Once the entire team, including Morris, heard how massive “The Middle” became during the GRAMMY broadcast, it was undeniable that they were all on to something with the collaboration. For Morris specifically, it allowed her to reach new heights and spread her talent over to a different genre than the one she solidified her name in.
“This song was her ‘I can do this and watch me do it’ moment. Now she has no ceiling,” Johnson claimed.
As Morris takes that boost of confidence and success into the sophomore round of her music, “The Middle” is out everywhere now.
