Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' is one of the most famous songs in the world, yet it was initially a commercial failure. Cohen spent five years writing it, reportedly drafting 80 different verses. When he finally released it in 1984, his label (Columbia) refused to release the album in the US, believing it wasn't commercial enough. The song only became a 'hit' through covers: first by John Cale in 1991, then most famously by Jeff Buckley in 1994, and later by Rufus Wainwright for the movie 'Shrek' (2001). The song has now been covered by over 300 artists. It finally entered the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016, following Cohen's death. The track is celebrated for its 'broken' Hallelujah, blending biblical imagery with a secular, human story of love and loss. It is often cited as a prime example of a 'sleeper hit' that took decades to reach its full cultural potential.