The stories behind 6 of Joel Corry's biggest hits
Joel has had some bangers!
Last updated 1st Nov 2023
Joel Corry is known for his huge hits 'Lonely', 'Head & Heart' with MNEK, and 'History' with Becky Hill, but do you know the stories behind some of his biggest hits? Here we take a look at what the songs are about and how some of his biggest collabs happened.
With the release of Joel's debut album 'Another Friday Night' featuring many of his bangers, along with some new tunes to get your hands on, let's take a look at the stories behind some of his biggest hits.
'Sorry'
'Sorry' was Joel's breakthrough hit after it was used on Love Island back in 2019. The song became the most Shazamed song in 24 hours after being played on the show.
Despite being a huge hit for Joel, it was originally released by Monsta Boy back in 2000. 'Sorry (I Didn't Know)' was a garage anthem at the time, and Joel reminisced about playing the tune at some of his gigs during a video shared on TikTok.
He said: "'Sorry' is a cover of Monsta Boy/Denzie's 'I'm Sorry', which is a garage classic, and I used to DJ garage music back in the day. It's how I started, on my vinyls. 'Sorry' the original record, was one of my favourite garage tracks of all time."
He went on to explain: "I was just vibing to some garage music, listening to 'Sorry'. I was like, it would be so cool to flip this. I'd worked with Hayley May on a few of my other records, and I rang up Hayley, and I was like, the original record was sung by Denzie, which is a male vocal, and I was like it would be cool to hear it like the female vocal, and she sent me like a voicenote on WhatsApp singing the hook, and I was like, that sounds sick!"
'Lonely'
Keen not to be a one-hit-wonder, Joel already had 'Lonely' ready to go while 'Sorry' was riding high in the charts. The song became Joel's second Top 10 hit and he explained why 'Lonely' was important to him in a TikTok: "'Lonely' is a record that I made with Harlee, she is the vocalist on the record and part of the writing team on it as well, and she's an amazing girl and somebody that (I) have a really good relationship with, and support so much."
He went on to say: "'Lonely' was really an important record for me because it was the follow up to my first hit record and I think there is a lot of pressure on artists to not be like a one-hit wonder and that does play on your mind. You know you just had this big moment and you feel like the world's opened up to you and you just want to get that second record away."
'Head & Heart'
'Head & Heart' with MNEK was released at the height on the Coronavirus Pandemic, and as Joel explained to his fans, he almost didn't release the song, that went on to be his first Number 1 hit.
"It was like no gigs... I actually nearly didn't release the song as a DJ, it just felt so weird to like release a record when there was no clubs for me to DJ in," he explained. "Then I just was thinking, I'm not going to release this, I'm just going to hold on to it.
"Luckily, I changed my mind and I was like, you know what? Let's just get it out," Joel contintued.
"When I look back at it now, I actually think it was kind of special, that we released it during that time, because I've had so many messages since, and people were like, that track gave me positive, positive vibes, and it made me feel good at the time that like I was really down and obviously everyone was going through a really difficult period."
'Bed'
Joel has previously cited French DJ David Guetta as a huge inspiration, and back in 2021, Joel released 'Bed' with David Guetta and RAYE. The DJ told how an email to David Guetta ended up with the Top 5 hit.
Joel explained how he was working with songwriter Jin Jin who works with RAYE regularly. Jin Jin played Joel some of RAYE's demos, and he fell in love with what was to become 'Bed'.
Later, Joel slid into RAYE's DMs asking if she'd be up for working on the new track, and of course she was, but she mentioned, she'd been working on it with none other than David Guetta. 👀
Joel fired off an email to the super star DJ, and the rest, they say, is history!
'Out Out'
Teaming up with Jax Jones, Charli XCX and Saweetie, Joel released 'Out Out' in August 2021, and he described it as the "perfect post-lockdown" tune. The song went to Number 6 in the UK, and samples a song from 2009 called 'Alors on Danse'.
Joel explained the inspiration behind his song: "We'd just been told by the government that clubs were reopening, we had the concept of 'Out Out', and I was like 'oh my god, clubs are opening again', people are going to be able to go out out again, and this is like the perfect banger to bring out at night, to set it off!"
He then explained why he used the 'Alors on Danse' sample: "I was always a huge fan of that original record, I used to play it in my sets back in the day."
'0800 Heaven'
Joel Corry released '0800 Heaven' with Nathan Dawe and Ella Henderson in June 2023, and it became another Top 10 hit for the DJ. The song was written by a team of songwriters, including Joel, Nathan and Ella, with Ella opening up to us about the speed at which the song was written.
Ella told us at Hits Live Liverpool how she was doing a writing camp with Nathan and the pair wrote the song just five and a half weeks before its release.
"This has happened very, very fast," she explained. "The next thing you know he's (Nathan) sent it to Joel, Joel rings me and he's like, 'I want to come on it, we've got to do it together', and then, here we are, it's happening! So, we're absolutely buzzing."
In another interview with us, Joel explained how they knew each other, and said: "I’m a big fan of Ella and we’ve been in the studio many times and wanted to collab. Me and Nathan go way back! We used to both be resident DJs in Zante, Malia, Kavos back in the day.
"I used to play in a club in Zante and Nathan would be playing next door to me. We were both selling tickets to our own events. Now we’re sitting here with a record out."
You can hear songs by Joel Corry on Hits Radio.
Take a look through some of Joel's biggest collaborations:
2019: 'Sorry'
'Sorry' was the song that got Joel Corry noticed in the music industry. The summer anthem was featured on Love Island and became the 'most Shazamed track in one day, with 41,000 Shazams'!
The song was a cover of Monsta Boy's 'Sorry (I Didn't Know)', and although not credited, featured the vocals of Hayley May.
Hayley, who appeared on Britain's Got Talent back in 2013, is a singer/songwriter, who has worked on a lot of dance music tracks. She has also featured on two of Joel's previous tracks 'Good As Gold' and 'Fallen'.
2020: 'Lonely'
Joel's follow-up to 'Sorry' was 'Lonely', which featured his sister in the music video. Despite not crediting the singer on this track, it featured Harlee.
Not much is known about Harlee (real name Harley Jayne Sudworth), but she has also featured on 'Afraid' by James Hype and 'Last Night' by Digital Farm Animals. She is also a songwriter and at the end of 2022 revealed she plans to release some of her own music in 2023.
The music video has now had more than 29 million views.
2020: 'Head & Heart' with MNEK
Joel Corry and MNEK teamed up for their 2020 hit 'Head & Heart', and what a banger it was!
'Head & Heart' celebrated more than 10 weeks at Number 1 in the UK, with a massive 61 weeks in total in the chart. It also became the duo's first UK Number 1.
2021: 'Bed' with David Guetta and RAYE
In 2021, Joel, along with David Guetta and RAYE released 'Bed'. The song was a huge hit reaching Number 3 in the UK and being certified Platinum in the UK.
Speaking about working with RAYE, Joel told us: "The first time I met RAYE in the studio, we just instantly clicked and I just knew that I wanted to work with her so much."
2021: 'Out Out' with Jax Jones featuring Charli XCX and Saweetie
What a collab! 'Out Out' with Jax Jones, Charli XCX and Saweetie was another big hit for Joel. The song topped the UK dance chart and was written by Joel, Jax, Charli XCX and Saweetie, along with a team of writers.
2021: 'I Wish' with Mabel
'I Wish' became Joel's sixth Top 20 hit in the UK. The song was written by a huge team of writers including some famous names such as MNEK, Jess Glynne, Harlee (who featured on 'Lonely'), and of course Joel Corry.
'2022: What Would You Do?' with David Guetta and Bryson Tiller
'What Would You Do?' with David Guetta and Bryson Tiller was released back in March 2022. Although Joel and David had worked together before, this was the first time they'd teamed up with American singer/rapper Bryson Tiller.
2022: 'History' with Becky Hill
Joel Corry and Becky Hill had been teasing a collab for a long time, and finally in August 2022 they dropped 'History', along with a futuristic music video. The song was a Top 20 hit for the pair.
2022: 'Lionheart (Fearless)' with Tom Grennan
Friends Joel and Tom Grennan released their song 'Lionheart (Fearless)' in October 2022. The song became an unofficial World Cup anthem supporting the England team after a version called 'Lionheart (Come On England)' was released at the time of the football tournament.
2023: 'Dance Around It' with Caity Baser
Joel and Caity Baser joined forces on 'Dance Around It'. Speaking about his song, Joel said: "'Dance Around It' has been killing it in my club sets. Working with Caity on this record has been so much fun, she's really talented and I love her energy. The track feels super fresh and it really shows off Caity's personality. I'm buzzing to 'Dance Around It' all summer!"
2023: '0800 Heaven' with Nathan Dawe and Ella Henderson
Joel Corry, Nathan Dawe and Ella Henderson released their banger '0800 Heaven' back in June 2023, followed by an acoustic version a month later. The trio's song was written by Nathan and Ella, with Ella telling us: "This has happened very, very fast. The next thing you know he's (Nathan) sent it to Joel, Joel rings me and he's like, 'I want to come on it, we've got to do it together', and then, here we are, it's happening! So, we're absolutely buzzing.
"It is a really fun record," she continued.
2023: 'Drinkin'' with Rita Ora and MK
Joel Corry, MK and Rita Ora have released their new collab 'Drinkin'', after premiering it at Ibiza Rocks in August 2023. On the day of release they also shared the visualiser with clips from their performance.
Now read:
Joel Corry: Everything you need to know about the 'Drinkin'' DJ 🙌
How an email to David Guetta ended up with a collab with Joel Corry and RAYE 🙌
Nathan Dawe, Joel Corry and Ella Henderson release an acoustic version of '0800 Heaven' 👼