Throwback Thursday: Sunshine Anderson – “Heard It All Before”

Throwback Thursday: Sunshine Anderson – “Heard It All Before”

It’s not clear when or how it happened, but Sunshine Anderson’s “Heard It All Before” has become a cookout standard. And now that we are officially in cookout season, it’s only right that we revisit this unexpected classic.

Released in February 2001, “Heard It All Before” was the lead single from Sunshine Anderson’s debut album, Your Woman. The song is a kiss-off to a cheating lover who keeps repeating the same lies, and believe me when I say the early 2000s was not lacking when it came to these types of songs. However, most of them were forgotten as the years passed.

Sometime over the next 15 years, “Heard It All Before” achieved anthem status, but despite its theme, it’s not the breakup anthem you would expect it to be. The song has now become a staple on cookout playlists, so much so that people now believe it to be an important part of a successful cookout.

A remix for “Heard It All Before” — recorded as a duet with Brandy — was made, but it didn’t see the light of day till years later and has never gotten an official release.

“Heard It All Before” would become Sunshine Anderson’s one and only song to crack the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 18. However, the enduring legacy of that one song has helped secure her place in popular music — and cookout — history.

PS: I never noticed Macy Gray in this music video until today.