After nearly 20 years in the business, 11 #1 singles and 7 GRAMMY wins, it’s safe to say Country trio Lady A has quite the catalog, however, there is one song that “got away” that they just can’t stop thinking about.

Ahead of their performance at Audacy’s Totally Private concert series at the Hard Rock in Nashville, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott revealed they were pitched the song “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” and passed on it, making room for Meghan Trainor and John Legend to swoop in and make it a big ol’ hit.

“Meghan Trainor and John Legend’s [“Like I’m Gonna Lose You”], got pitched to us and we said ‘No,’” Hillary recalled with a stunned look on her face. “What were we thinking?! [That’s] such an amazing song.”

While the trio continues to wrap their minds around what could have been, they were quick to admit they’ve been on the receiving end of the same kind of story with some of their own hits — for example, “Downtown.”

“‘Downtown’ was on hold for Miranda [Lambert],” Charles shared. “Someone had sent it to us… technically, they shouldn’t have sent it to us but we were in the studio and were like, ‘We need a song like this!’”

He continued, “It kind of got back to Miranda that we were thinking about it and she goes, ‘Oh, I love those guys. You know, if they’re going to the studio and cutting it, let ‘em have it.’ It could have been a Miranda hit.”

While no one will ever know what the song would’ve accomplished for Miranda, Charles shared he believes songs have a way of “ending up where they’re supposed to,” which was exactly the case for a number of songs penned by Dave, Scott and Hillary, which found their best life with other artists.

“‘A Little Bit Stronger' [by] Sara Evans” Hillary shared is a favorite song she penned made famous by another artist. “That one — before ‘Thy Will’ was probably the most personal song I’d ever written and so, to let it go, it was OK that we pitched it and I was so excited when she cut it because she’s just a huge, huge influence on me as an artist and a singer.”

Dave then chimed in sharing a favorite from his own catalog, “I think the one with Luke Bryan [that] Charles and I wrote, ‘Do I.’ It was just a special moment in time too — we were early on in our career and just kind of coming up a similar time with Luke and getting to kind of be a part of — a little tiny part — of his star just shooting and rising early on.”

While the song shuffle is all part of the business, Lady A is determined to make sure no song falls through the cracks as they continue work on their next album and plan to take their time to not only write, but explore outside songs.

“I think what we’re trying to do this year is leave some space and margin to just kind of see creatively where we go,” Dave said of the approach the band is taking to work on their next project. “We had a big, busy tour last year, so we’ve got some good time for writing and letting the music dictate where we go. We feel so lucky to be in this spot, 17 years in.”

While the record is still in the very beginning stages, the trio has set the tone for what’s to come with the lead single, “Love You Back,” a song that raised its hand with help from some Lady A experts — the fans.

“Over the summer, we brought in a bunch of fans into a listening space and played a handful of new songs and this was the one that they really gravitated towards,” said Hillary. “This new music is [us] really wanting to put out songs and put on a show that the fans really gravitate towards and they feel is very personal to them.”

As the band continues to keep things loose and let the fans and creativity be their guide for new Lady A music, they’re also excited to foster creativity with other artists as well.

“I’ve been writing too with other artists,” Charles revealed. “Wrote a song with Jake Owen, got one with Carly Pearce that she’s puttin’ on a record, so trying to also branch out into different things and I think that’s what’s fun for us — is if you’re having fun doing it, then you’re doing the right thing.”

“There’s nothing more exciting to me than that pure excitement of you’re working on a project and you have no idea if the song that you’re working on is going to be the next big song for you or not… you just keep showing up and you keep doing it.”

Hear more about what’s to come from Lady A, plus some of the their hysterical memories including Bruce Springsteen, gas station restrooms, and Nahville Snow by checking out their entire interview with Audacy’s Katie Neal above.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Katie Neal