Rihanna original choice for fun.'s Grammy gig

Rihanna was the original choice to perform on fun.'s hit We Are Young, it's been revealed.

The song's producer Jeff Bhasker told MTV that the Diamonds singer was the first name on the band's wish list when looking for a female vocalist.

Fun. scooped up the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for We Are Young at Sunday's ceremony.

"They said, 'who can we get? And I said, 'let's get Rihanna,' " recalled Jeff.

"We were shooting for the stars on everything and she was kind of a muse.

"But everything works out for a reason and Janelle [Monáe] worked out to be the perfect choice.

"She brought the right element of a great soulful flavour that we wanted for the album."

The band at that stage had put out one obscure record.

But they were still aiming high, with pictures of Rihanna hanging all over the studio while they recorded.

And the Barbadian superstar still came close to performing on the song, according to Jeff.

"Someone tried to reach out and I know she heard the song and liked it," he remembered.

"But I think some wires just got crossed."

Jeff also revealed that the beat for We Are Young almost made it onto Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch The Throne album.

But the rappers decided against using it as "it didn't quite fit."