Ryan Tedder On Leona's Unhappy Happy

OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder has been responsible for many a hit these days, but for some unknown reason, the single he co-wrote for the stunning Leona Lewis, titled Happy, never broke in America.

And here is his reasoning:

On why Happy didn’t perform better in the States:
“I know exactly why and I actually told the label what was going to happen. In the US, unless you’re Justin Timberlake or Beyonc├â┬⌐, you cannot put out a song and not be in the country when it comes out. Leona was gone for six weeks when ‘Happy’ came out because she was promoting the record in other countries – it wasn’t her fault; she just couldn’t be two places in once. I had radio stations telling me that they thought ‘Happy’ was the single biggest ballad they’d come across in ten years, but that if Leona didn’t come over here and promote it, it was going to fall. On top of that, America’s consumed with Lady GaGa and dance music right now, so it’s not the best time for ballads anyway. When everything on the radio is blasting out at 120 bpm, a song like ‘Happy’ almost sounds out-of-place.”

On whether they should have released the song later:
“Yes. I asked them to do what they did with ‘Bleeding Love’. They should have waited until it became a proper hit in loads of different countries and then put it out in the States. For whatever reason, it had already been decided that the release was going to be simultaneous. From the day ‘Happy’ came out I never felt completely confident. It was very disheartening because I’ve never put so much time into one song.”

On being too late:
“The only way ‘Happy’ will work in the States now is if Leona has another hit first. For example, Kings of Leon put out ‘Sex On Fire’ over here and it did OK, but then they put out ‘Use Somebody’ and it took forever but became massive. Guess what they just put out again? ‘Sex On Fire’. If Leona has a substantial hit with her next US single – and I don’t know what song it’s going to be – ‘Happy’ might have a chance off the back of it.”

You make us Happy, Leona!

[Image via WENN.]