Adele once tried to get her hands on a One Direction song that had already been promised to the boy band.
The surprise revelation comes from songwriter duo Jamie Scott and Mozella, who worked extensively with One Direction on their 2014 album Four.
Recalling the creation of fan favourite Fool’s Gold in Jason Lipshutz’s new book, A Whole Lotta History, Mozella explained that she and Jamie wrote the track during a hugely productive studio session that also yielded another song the same day.
The pair immediately felt they had created something special.
Mozella said: “We thought it was special – just this real, honest, raw song.”
After the song was completed, Jamie played it to Harry Styles, who quickly became a fan of the track.
However, Harry was not the only superstar impressed by the ballad.
According to Jamie, Adele contacted him after hearing the song and made it clear she loved it.
He recalled: “I remember getting a call from Adele, saying, ‘I just heard this song that you wrote for One Direction!'”
Adele likely got to hear the track when working with Jamie or producer Ryan Tedder.
Unfortunately for the Hello singer, they couldn’t break their promise to 1D.
Mozella said: “Basically, [Adele] heard it and was like, ‘I love this!’ But he had already promised it to the boys, so we couldn’t take it back.”
The decision meant Fool’s Gold stayed with One Direction and ultimately appeared on Four, the group’s fourth studio album.
Released in 2014, the record proved another huge success for Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik, reaching number one in both the UK and US.
Fool’s Gold later became one of the album’s best-loved tracks among fans.
It was recently revealed that Adele recorded a rap on an unreleased version of Tinie Tempah’s Labrinth collaboration Earthquake.
The Pass Out rapper – who just returned with his first album in nine years, The Night’s Not Dead – spilled that she recorded a surprise rap for the 2011 hit, in the vein of Nicki Minaj, but it ultimately got shelved.
Tinie told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “She [Adele] was actually in the studio when I made Earthquake with Labrinth. We were having a little muck around on the mic.
“At the time, she really liked Nicki Minaj and had Nicki Minaj-type raps and stuff like that.”
Asked if the Adele version could see the light of day, he casted serious doubt, replying: “Oh my goodness, let’s see if she clears it. Let’s see.”