# Seal was so embarrassed by a song that he threw the tape away. Now, it has been streamed over 655,000,000 times

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/seal-was-so-embarrassed-by-a-song-that-he-threw-the-tape-away-now-it-has-been-streamed-over-655000000-times/
- Published: 2026-11-03T23:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T00:02:50+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/seal-was-embarrassed-by-his-biggest-hit-and-threw-tape-away-now-it-has-been-streamed-over-655000000-times/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Seal once hid the ‘Kiss From a Rose’ demo out of embarrassment.
- Trevor Horn encouraged him to record it for his 1994 album.
- The song later topped the US chart and passed 655 million streams.

## Summary

Seal was so embarrassed by his early demo of ‘Kiss From a Rose’ that he threw the tape aside and initially hid it from producer Trevor Horn. The song later became one of his defining hits, showing how a track he doubted could find a much wider audience with the right encouragement and exposure.

Seal recorded the four-track experiment in 1987, before his breakthrough with Adamski’s ‘Killer’ and his first solo album. Horn kept asking about the song while they worked on Seal’s 1994 second album, which included it; after a weak initial release alongside The NeverEnding Story III, it was revived for Batman Forever in 1995. It went on to top the US Hot 100 and has since been streamed more than 655 million times.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.