Mary J. Blige, whose version of the song leaked online in July 2011. In an interview with News.com.au, Guetta spoke about its leak, saying, "You shouldn't even know about that ... I'd rather not speak about it." Sia recorded a demo of the song, which was then sent to Blige and other artists. Eventually, Guetta decided to stay with her version. He explained, "The first time I heard what Sia did, because she was not in the studio with me, I fell in love with it ... I didn't even want to give it to anyone else; it was perfect the way it was. It's not only about how big you are in America, it's about the song and the voice." American pop singer Katy Perry was the first person to be offered the track but turned it down because she felt its message was too similar to that of her song "Firework". An insider told Take 40 Australia, "So that 'Titanium' song, Sia wrote it for Katy, but [Katy] didn't want to do a song with Guetta ... " According to Sia's manager, Jonathan Daniel of Crush Management, Sia wrote the song for American R&B singer Alicia Keys. Guetta considered approaching other female singers to record on the song, however Perry advised him to keep Sia on the track. Guetta ultimately followed this suggestion. Sia later revealed that Guetta put her vocals on the song without her consent, nor was she made aware that her vocals would be released: "And then Mary J. Blige sang it. And then he took her vocal off it, and put my vocal back on, my demo vocal, without asking and released it. And I never even knew it was gonna happen, and I was really upset. Because I had just retired, I was trying to be a pop songwriter, not an artist." "Titanium" was released for digital download on 8 August 2011, as the first of four promotional singles from the album, as part of the iTunes Store's countdown to the album's release. Composition "Titanium" is a house and urban-dance song. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is set in common time with a tempo of 126 beats per minute. The verses are in the key of E♭ major, with a chord progression of E♭–B♭–Cm. The chorus and breakdown are set in the key of