Unlikely Pop Star Team-Ups: 23 Music Collaborations We NEVER Thought We'd See
We take a look at some of the most amazing and surprising collaborations the pop world has thrown at us in the past!
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1. Drake and Adele
“I’d do anything with Adele - I’d literally go to Adele’s house right now and do laundry for her.” So...it's pretty clear that Drake is up for a collaboration with the '25' songstress...how do we make this happen?! A mix between 'Rolling In The Deep' and 'Hotline Bling' would be utter perfection.
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2. Shawn Mendes and Fifth Harmony's Camila Cabello
They’ve already been facing a LOT of dating rumours, so the fact that Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello from 5H look like they’re putting out a duet together isn’t going to slow the rumour mill down! They’ve put out a teaser called ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’, so watch this space for more on what’s to come from this pair. Picture: Getty
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3. Clean Bandit and Elton John
“I love it when friendship springs from artistic collaboration. Jack Patterson with Clean Bandit and I have just been writing in the studio with Jimmy Napes. Jack is a lovely guy and we had fun catching up over lunch,” Elton wrote on Instagram in October. Oooh, consider us intrigued! Picture: Getty
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4. Kanye West and Taylor Swift
Yep! Despite THAT VMAs moment from 2009 this pair seem to have put aside their differences as Kanye's confirmed he'll be hitting the studio with 'Shake It Off' star Taylor Swift sometime in the near future. Picture: Getty
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5. Jason Derulo and Stevie Wonder
Jason Derulo surprised fans when he announced this collab - with Stevie Wonder and Keith Urban! The trio worked together on 'Broke', which will feature on Jason's new album 'Everything Is 4' - who knew these guys would be pals? Picture: PA
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6. A$AP Rocky and Rod Stewart
Yep, you ready that right! The US rap star's new single features Mark Ronson, Miguel… and Rod Stewart!. The song features a sample of Python Lee Jackson's seventies song 'In A Broken Dream', which features vocals from the iconic British crooner.
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7. Beyonce and Ed Sheeran
While for the moment this was just an on-stage duet at the 2015 post-Grammys Stevie Wonder tribute, could it lead to a studio team-up between Queen Bey and everyone's favourite red-headed pop star? Picture: Getty
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8. Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett
While a lot of her fans probably hadn't even heard of jazz legend Tony Bennett, that didn't stopped Gaga teaming up with him on several occasions, including on their joint album 'Cheek To Cheek'.
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9. Dizzee Rascal and Robbie Williams
The 'Bonkers' rapper tasked Take That legend Robbie to contribute guest vocals to his single 'Goin' Crazy' and even got the 'Candy' singer involved in his hilarious music video for the song, that sees the pair driving around London on pimped out scooters backed by a mob of senior citizens! Genius! Picture: Rex
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10. Lady Gaga and Beyonce
Two of pop's biggest divas teamed up for THE track of 2010 when Lady Gaga and Beyonce got together to record 'Telephone'. What followed was the sort of pop hit fans dream about, and it didn't hurt that the pair's Jonas Akerlund directed music video was one of the biggest and best of the year!
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11. Rihanna and Coldplay
No one could have guessed that for one of their first ever collaborations Coldplay would pick this decade's very own queen of pop... Rihanna! But it totally worked and the sales of 'Princess Of China', as well as Chris Martin and RiRi's incredible performances in the music video, show this is one team-up the pop world needed!
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12. N 'Sync and Nelly
'N Sync's graduation into a more adult style of pop came full circle at the start of the noughties when they got 'Hot In Herre' rapper Nelly to feature on their dance floor smash 'Girlfriend'. This song also arguably started Mr. JT's transformation into a full fledged solo artist with influences of R&B and rap beginning to appear. And let's face it... it's a tune and a half!
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13. Kesha and Iggy Pop
While Kesha teaming up with the Stooges frontman might seem a bit out of the blue, these two artists clearly have a mutual love of the outrageous and crazy! Their collaboration on Kesha's album 'Warrior' has been named as one of her career highlights by the 'Tik Tok' singer, and there are a lot to choose from! Picture: Twitter
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14. Dappy and Brian May
Possibly the unlikeliest team-up on this list comes in the form of N-Dubz rapper Dappy getting rock legend and Queen guitarist Brian May to feature on his 2012 single 'Rockstar'. While no one would ever have put these two together, they were certainly enjoying themselves when Dappy joined the rocker for a "rocking out" session in the music video! N-Dubz for life, eh Brian? Picture: Goff Photos
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15. PSY and Queen's Brian May
PSY and Brian May struck up an unexpected friendship back in 2013 and revealed they were considering recording a song together after discussing it over lunch. Could this be the most unexpected collaboration ever? It's not surfaced yet, but there's still time!
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16. Aerosmith and Run-DMC
One of the unlikeliest team-ups... but one that still has lasting consequences today! You would be hard pushed to find a music fan who hasn't pulled some shapes to rock band Aerosmith's team-up with rap trio Run-DMC on 'Walk This Way'.
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17. Jay Z and Linkin Park
In 2004 Linkin Park were at the height of their fame, but crossover success truly came their way when they got one of the greatest rappers in the game, Jay-Z himself, to feature on a full remix album called 'Collision Course'. Led by the phenomenal mash-up single 'Numb/Encore', this team-up gave BOTH acts a boost and remains just as sharp almost ten years on!
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18. Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber
When Justin announced he was releasing a Christmas album in 2012 his Beliebers were soon crying out for a cover of 'All I Want For Christmas' to be included on the tracklisting. Well... they got their wish when Mariah herself ended up featuring on the track!! Justin couldn't believe his luck!
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19. Will.i.am and Mick Jagger
Will.i.am proved one of his MANY talents is making the impossible happen when he managed to get both Jennifer Lopez and Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger to feature on his 2012 hit 'T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)'. When Mick arrives for the final third of Will's mega hit, the song reaches a whole new level and showed Mick still has the moves to resonate with the current generation!
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20. Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman
Back in 2001 Nicole Kidman was better known for films like Eyes Wide Shut and Moulin Rouge than for her (admirable) singing talents... so it's not surprising the world was shocked when she cropped up on a duet of 'Something Stupid' with Robbie Williams! And it must have been a good shock because the song went on to be that year's Christmas number one!!
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21. Girls Aloud and Sugababes
It was battle of the girl bands in 2007 when the unthinkable happened... rival girl bands Girls Aloud and the Sugababes actually TEAMED UP for a song! In aid of charity, the two groups released a cover of the Aerosmith and Run-DMC classic (Walk This Way), which saw the friendly rivals battling it out for a glamorous version of the seventies classic!
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22. Alicia Keys and Jack White
James Bond got a new lick of paint back in 2008 when Daniel Craig took on the role for Casino Royale, so it made sense the film's producers would look to two established names for the film's theme song. But no one could have expected them to team rocker Jack White with R&B songstress Alicia Keys to record 'Another Way To Die'! Despite coming from opposite genres the two made the impossible work... and had great chemistry to boot!
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23. Lady Gaga and Metallica
These two artists put on one HELL of a show at the 59th GRAMMY Awards, and we thought that would be that. Why try to top perfection? But then the heavy metal's guitarist, Kirk Hammett, accidentally let slip that they're collabing with the 'Telephone' superstar and were planning on releasing their work in 2019. Now we're just counting down the seconds until it happens... So far, we're on about 63,072,005 seconds.
