Emanuel Kiriakou

Throughout her career, Selena Gomez has been an advocate for self-love, a theme that she particularly highlighted with her debut song “Who Says” at the young age of 19.

The impactful song from 2011 almost ended up being performed by another artist, as revealed by the singer and actress. Gomez actively fought to retain the song and record it with her group, Selena Gomez and the Scene. During the Twilio SIGNAL conference, the star of “Only Murders in the Building” discussed her effort to convince Disney to allow her to sing this iconic track.

She recounted, “It’s actually a funny story: I was working with Disney at the time, and they were actually giving the song to another artist.” The artist behind “Love You to Love Me” shared her emotional attachment to making “Who Says” her own and sharing it with her audience.

“I cried — I remember, I was with my mom — because I loved the song so much. I basically said to my label, ‘I feel like my fans are young and they need it.’ That’s all I kept saying because I was 16 at the time. I was like, ‘I think my fans really need it; tell [them] my fans really need the song.’”

Gomez described the song, co-written by Emanuel Kiriakou and Priscilla Hamilton, as an unexpected “gift” that she didn’t realize she needed. She emphasized her strong attachment to it, stating, “And I love, love that song, and it has carried with me through my whole career, and I fought for it.”

The entrepreneur behind Rare Beauty further shared that she continues to resonate with the song’s message, which emphasizes, “Who says you’re not perfect / Who says you’re not worth it.”

“Who Says” served as the lead single from Gomez’s album with her former band, The Scene, titled “When the Sun Goes Down.” The uplifting pop track reached a peak position on the Billboard Hot 100 and ultimately received Platinum certification from the RIAA.

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