“Don’t put me on the record!”: How Katy Perry’s loss was Sia’s gain in 2011

Courtesy Tomorrowland”Chandelier” made Sia a household name, but the song that really put her on the map for a lot of people was “Titanium,” a collaboration with DJ David Guetta that hit the top 10 in 2011.  But if things had gone a bit different…

By ABC Audio on July 28, 2020

Courtesy Tomorrowland“Chandelier” made Sia a household name, but the song that really put her on the map for a lot of people was “Titanium,” a collaboration with DJ David Guetta that hit the top 10 in 2011.  But if things had gone a bit differently, Katy Perry would have been the one you heard belting, “Fire away, fire away” on that song.

Over the weekend, Katy Perry performed at the Tomorrowland virtual dance music festival — likely her final performance before her baby arrives. During the Zoom press conference promoting the event, she reminded DJ David Guetta, who was also on the call, that he’d offered her the chance to record “Titanium” 10 years ago.

“So you sent me this song, right? And this is when you had Sia…she had demo’ed that record,” Katy told David, referring to the fact that Sia, who co-wrote the song, had recorded a temporary vocal for the track.

“And I remember specifically listening to it on the plane,” Katy continued. “I was like, “Oh, my God, this song is so good. Who is the person on the record? They should stay on the freakin’ record. This is a hit record! Don’t put me on the record!”

Katy told David, “I wrote you back and I just said, ‘You’re crazy. I don’t need to be on this record. Keep Sia on the record.’ And there…is ‘Titanium!'”

“Titanium” ended up becoming a top 10 hit for Sia and David Guetta in the U.S., in Sia’s native Australia and in David’s native France, as well as a number-one single in the U.K.   It’s sold over three million copies, and its video has racked up over a billion views.

By Andrea Dresdale
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