Massive Attack turned down Madonna to make one of the defining songs of the '90s.⁠ ⁠ "Teardrop" started as a harpsichord melody that producer Neil Davidge picked out in 1997. Band member Mushroom built the track out with him, adding piano and a beat sampled from Les McCann's "Sometimes I Cry." He became so attached to it that he went behind his bandmates' backs to send the demo to Madonna, with whom the group had collaborated on a reworking of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You." She responded immediately, calling it fantastic and asking if the offer was real.⁠ ⁠ It was the first Davidge or anyone else in the band had heard about it. That same Sunday, he stripped the song back to its essentials and rebuilt it from scratch. That session became the foundation of the released version, and Madonna was turned down. Elizabeth Fraser was later in the studio recording her vocals when she learned of Jeff Buckley's death. The two had been in a relationship in the mid-nineties, and Fraser has since confir...