Some of country's biggest hits almost sounded a lot different, all because some artists passed on tracks that wound up being big singles for others.

Often when writers get together to create a song, they already have an artist in mind to cut it. Of course, that doesn't always work out — artists have many reasons for passing on a track, even if they can tell it's going to be a big hit. It might not feel genuine to them, or it just might not sound like them vocally.

Dierks Bentley, for example, passed on "Whiskey Lullaby," and the song sat for three years before Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss cut it as a duet. Jason Aldean's "Big Green Tractor" was almost a hit for another well-known male, and Frankie Ballard passed on a song that became a big hit for Blake Shelton. Ballard felt it just "wasn't him."

In the gallery below, you'll find 20 hit songs that other artists passed on, as well as the interesting stories behind them.

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