According to OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, Timbaland’s vote of confidence in OneRepublic is both profitable and problematic.
In a recent interview, OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder shared the surprising story behind their smash hit “Apologize” and how producer Timbaland discovered the song on Myspace and helped propel the band to stardom – despite There was some confusion in the early days about their true identity. Ted recalled that Timbaland contacted him about collaborating on a remix after seeing the song take off online.
“Tim [Timbaland] Seeing the song trending on MySpace and reaching out to me was like, ‘Hey, I’d love to do a deal with you,'” Tedder said.
Although Tedder was initially hesitant to release the remix as their first single, fearing it would confuse fans about the band’s identity, the collaboration with Timbaland was eventually released and quickly became a global hit. The chaos Ted had feared became a reality almost immediately. Ted recalled his time at the radio station after the song was released, explaining how even people in the industry didn’t recognize the true nature of OneRepublic.
“I went to the radio station and the lady asked, ‘Who are you?’ We are a republic. She said, ‘Oh wait, what? ‘I thought you were either a black boy band or just a black solo artist. ”
Ted went on to recount the incident, noting that Timbaland’s immense star power led people to mistake “Apology” for just his song.
“My guitarist said, ‘I’m sorry to disappoint you,'” he said.
Despite some chaos at the beginning, Timbaland’s involvement put OneRepublic on the path to financial success. Ted shared that when the publishing split for “The Apology” was discussed, he prepared for the worst, anticipating that Timbaland would get most of the rights.
“I was prepared that I was going to take a hit on this,” he admitted. But to his surprise, Timbaland made an extremely generous gesture.
“The manager said, ‘Tim doesn’t want any publishing, man. He won’t touch it. It’s your song.
Ted continued, emphasizing that Timbaland could have taken a significant share but chose not to.
“It changed my life,” he added. “That’s how I bought my house.”
@danielswall
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♬ Original Sound – Daniel Wall
OneRepublic’s “Apologize” has taken the world by storm since its release in 2007, bringing the band to international fame. The Timbaland remix of the song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for 25 weeks, making it one of the longest-running songs on the chart at the time. The song appears on Timbaland’s Shock Value album and OneRepublic’s debut album Dreaming Out Loud, which was certified platinum by the RIAA. “Apology” itself went 5x platinum in the United States, selling over 5 million copies. The single also topped the charts in several countries, including Canada and Australia, and became one of the best-selling singles of the 2000s.
