The Surprising Success of Friends' Theme Song

Listen, I just discovered that the Friends theme song almost never happened.

The producers hated it at first. They wanted REM or a big name band, but the Rembrandts

were basically nobodies. The network executives called it too theatrical and demanded changes. But here's the wild

part. The song wasn't even supposed to be released as a single.

Fans heard it on the show and started calling radio stations like crazy, requesting a song

that didn't officially exist yet. Radio DJs were playing bootleg recordings from their TV speakers.

The demand got so insane that the record label had no choice but to rush release it.

It shot to number one in eight countries. A song that almost got cut from the show became one