Barbie the Album
Barbie the Album is the soundtrack album for the 2023 film Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. It was released by Atlantic Records on July 21, 2023, the same day as the film's North American theatrical release. The album was produced by Mark Ronson, Kevin Weaver, and Brandon Davis. It was met with generally favorable reviews from critics.
For the score album, see Barbie (score).Barbie the Album
July 21, 2023
- Manhattan Center, New York City
- Abbey Road, London
44:05
- Mark Ronson
- Kevin Weaver
- Brandon Davis
The album was promoted by the release of six singles; the album's lead single "Dance the Night" by Dua Lipa topped the charts in 10 countries including the UK and Ireland as well as reaching the top ten in 25 countries including the US. The second single was "Angel" by PinkPantheress and the third was "Barbie World", a collaboration by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice with Aqua, which reached the top ten in 15 territories including the UK and US. A fourth single "Speed Drive" by Charli XCX was a top ten hit in the UK and Ireland. The fifth single "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish topped the charts in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, and Australia, and entered the top ten in 15 countries. Ava Max's "Choose Your Fighter" was serviced to airplay radio as the album's sixth single on July 28, 2023.
Upon release, the album was met with critical and commercial success. It debuted at number one in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand and reached the top ten in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and the United States. At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, the album won Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, while four of its songs ("Dance the Night", "Barbie World", "What Was I Made For?", and "I'm Just Ken") received nominations for Best Song Written for Visual Media. "Dance the Night" and "What Was I Made For?" were additionally nominated for Song of the Year and the latter for Record of the Year. At the 96th Academy Awards, two of its songs "What Was I Made For" and "I'm Just Ken" received nominations for Best Original Song, the former winning the Academy Award.
Background[edit]
On May 25, 2023, Rolling Stone reported that the Barbie soundtrack would be produced by Mark Ronson and would feature original songs by Ava Max, Charli XCX, Dominic Fike, Fifty Fifty, Gayle, Haim, Ice Spice, Kaliii, Karol G, Khalid, the Kid Laroi, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, PinkPantheress, Tame Impala, and cast members Dua Lipa and Ryan Gosling, with additional surprise artists being revealed at a later date.[2][3] That evening, the soundtrack's partial tracklist was released.[4]
On July 6, 2023, Billie Eilish was announced as the soundtrack's first surprise artist.[5][6] Eilish's inclusion on the album had been speculated after she posted a neon pink Barbie sign on her Instagram account a week prior.[7] On July 10, Sam Smith was announced as the soundtrack's second surprise artist.[8]
Production[edit]
Before signing on to the Barbie project, producer Mark Ronson received a text message from his friend, Barbie music supervisor George Drakoulias, that simply stated, "Barbie?"[9][10] Before Barbie rehearsals could begin in two weeks' time, director Greta Gerwig needed a disco song that would form the basis of highly-choregraphed dance number. She sent Ronson a playlist of what she had in mind for the soundtrack—"guilty pleasure music" or "Peloton pop"—including songs from Andrea True Connection and Xanadu.[5] Ronson and colleague Andrew Wyatt created a backing track that Gerwig loved and used for the cast's dance rehearsals. This song would later become "Dance the Night" by Dua Lipa.[9][11][12]
Over the course of a year, Ronson was tasked with curating a soundtrack that matched Gerwig's vision for Barbie. Gerwig and Ronson made a "wish list" of artists they wanted on the soundtrack, and as the film was being edited in post-production, they would show scenes from the film to these artists.[5][9] Ronson stated, "Everybody would watch the scene and come back a week or two weeks later, and got exactly to the heart of everything we were trying to do."[11]
In April 2022, Aqua's manager Ulrich Møller-Jørgensen stated that the band's 1997 hit "Barbie Girl" would not be included on the film’s soundtrack.[13] However, actress Margot Robbie, who plays Barbie, reportedly begged Gerwig to include the song in the film, and Gerwig assured Robbie that she would find a way to incorporate the song in "a cool way."[11] Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice were then signed to perform a remix of the song for the soundtrack, titled "Barbie World". Aqua are credited as both co-writers and performers on the track.[14][15]
Commercial performance[edit]
In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number one on the Official Compilations Chart and had six songs enter the Top 40 on the Official Singles Chart. It also become the first soundtrack album to have three songs on the Top 5 of the Singles Charts simultaneously: "What Was I Made For?" (3), "Dance the Night" (4), and "Barbie World" (5).[65] In the United States, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 in the issue dated August 5, 2023. The album opened with 126,000 album-equivalent units, of which 70,000 were streaming equivalent album, 53,000 were pure album sales, and 3,000 were track equivalent album.[66]
Notes
