What Makes You Beautiful
"What Makes You Beautiful" (WMYB) is the debut single by English-Irish boy band One Direction. It served as their debut single and lead single from their debut studio album, Up All Night (2011). Written by Savan Kotecha and producer Rami Yacoub, the song was released by Syco Records on 11 September 2011. The uptempo power pop[1] track features a prominent guitar-based chorus and riff. The middle eight consists of a "na na na" hook.
"What Makes You Beautiful"
"Na Na Na"
11 September 2011
July 2011
- Malibu, California
- Kinglet & Cosmos Studios, Stockholm, Sweden
3:18
- Rami Yacoub
- Carl Falk
"What Makes You Beautiful" was a commercial success, reaching number one in several countries. It has been certified quadruple platinum in the US with sales of 4.8 million copies as of June 2016.[3] The single peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the UK Singles Chart. The song won the 2012 Brit Award for British Single of the Year and was generally complimented by contemporary music critics, who highlighted the appeal to the teenage audience and the pop sensibility. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart after setting a Sony Music Entertainment pre-order record and selling 153,965 copies in its first week. The single also topped the Irish and Scottish Singles Charts, and reached the top ten on the Australian and New Zealand Singles Charts, Flemish Ultratop 50, Canadian Hot 100, and the Japan Hot 100.
The accompanying music video, directed by John Urbano, depicts One Direction spending time on a beach in Malibu, California. The music video was uploaded to YouTube on 19 August 2011 and has accumulated more than 1.4 billion views since it premiered. The clip garnered the group three MTV Video Music Awards at the 2012 ceremony. One Direction performed the song live on televised shows, at awards ceremonies, and on all four of their major concert tours: Up All Night Tour (2011–12), Take Me Home Tour (2013), Where We Are Tour (2014) and On the Road Again Tour (2015), while band member Harry Styles performed the song on his 2017 solo tour, as well as his 2021 solo tour. Many artists including the Piano Guys, Boyce Avenue, and Enhypen have covered "What Makes You Beautiful".
Release and promotion[edit]
"What Makes You Beautiful" premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 10 August 2011,[7] and was released by Syco Music in Europe, Australia and New Zealand via digital download on 11 September 2011.[9] A CD single was released in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2011,[10] and followed in Australia and Germany on 25 November 2011 and 2 December 2011, respectively.[11][12] In North America, the single was released in Canada via digital download on 31 January 2012.[13] It was issued 14 February 2012 in the United States[14] and was sent by Columbia Records to US contemporary hit radio (CHR) playlists on 28 February 2012.[15]
For the North American release of Up All Night on 13 March 2012, Columbia Records executives used social media to shape the marketing campaign. Columbia Records co-chairman Steve Barnett and his team decided to reverse the usual pattern of releasing a single on radio. Instead the label mounted a four-month marketing campaign aimed at building a fan base through social media before a single was ever released or played on the radio. The social media campaign asked fans to sign petitions and to enter video competitions to win a concert in their town. The campaign was a success as One Direction's Facebook followers in the United States rose from 40,000 to 400,000. As a result, "What Makes You Beautiful" sold more than 131,000 copies in its first week, even though it had yet to be played on the radio. Radio programmers were flooded with calls from fans. Johnny Wright, who managed New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, said: "Now they are calling the radio station, and the radio station is scratching its head, saying, "We don't even have that record yet". It's almost like the return of the Beatles. I call it hype, but it's positive hype because it's all real. It's not manufactured. No one paid these kids."[16]
Composition[edit]
"What Makes You Beautiful" is a power pop song,[1] with electropop influences.[17] Running for 3 minutes and 23 seconds, the song is set in common time with a tempo of 125 beats per minute. Written in the key of E major, it follows the chord progression E–A–B; vocal elements range from the note of B2 to G♯4.[18] James C. McKinley Jr. of The New York Times compared its chord progression to "La Bamba".[19] The opening guitar riff has been noted as similar to that of "Summer Nights" from the musical Grease.[20] "What Makes You Beautiful" has a guitar-based chorus whose notes range from C to E; Digital Spy's Robert Copsey likened it to a cross between Pink's "Raise Your Glass" and McFly's "All About You".[20] It also contains cowbell instrumentation,[21] and the middle eight consists of an "oh na na na" hook.[22]
Critical reception[edit]
The song received generally positive reviews from music critics. Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave "What Makes You Beautiful" four out of five stars, praising its catchy melody and summarising it as "adorable, completely innocent and bound to cause a stir amongst your mates".[20] Zachary Houle of PopMatters called the song a "nice get-up-and-go dance number."[21] Ailbhe Malone of NME commended the song's appeal to the teenage audience and its chord progression for being "simple enough to be played on an acoustic guitar at a house party."[22] Newsround called it "fun, upbeat and incredibly catchy."[23] AllMusic's Matthew Chisling called it an "effervescent and fresh tween love song", and chose it as one of the best tracks on Up All Night.[24] Sophie Goddard from Cosmopolitan called the single "ridiculously catchy".[25] Student's Jack Murray rated "What Makes You Beautiful" five out of five stars and called it "not only the best pop single of the year so far, but potentially of any X Factor contestant ever". Murray lauded the songwriting and light production.[26] Tanner Stransky of Entertainment Weekly awarded "What Makes You Beautiful" a B+ grade, calling the song "shallow but crushworthy", writing that the song shows that boy bands are not dying out.[27]
Jason Lipshutz of Billboard characterised it as "the real deal", regarding the song as "endlessly playable" as 'N Sync's "Bye Bye Bye". Lipshutz noted its "cheeky electro-pop twist".[28] Stephanie Abrahams of TIME assessed, "The group takes cues from the boy bands of yesteryear with bubblegum lyrics about young love — "The way you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed" they croon in their breakout single – which any parent can get behind. That's a far cry from a typical Nicki Minaj verse."[29] The Observer editor Kitty Empire wrote in an assessment, "With the exception of their persuasive No 1 single, "What Makes You Beautiful", their songs aren't wildly distinctive."[30] "What Makes You Beautiful" won the BRIT Award for Best British Single at the 2012 Brit Awards, which was held on 21 February 2012.[31] The song also won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Music: Love Song at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards.[32] Newsround called the song "fun, upbeat and incredibly catchy" while commenting "there's no way these boys won't be a hit".[33]
Music video[edit]
The music video for "What Makes You Beautiful" was directed by John Urbano and produced by Stephenie Fernandez. Filmed over two days in July 2011,[64][65] it premiered on 19 August 2011.[66] On each of the five days preceding the video's premiere, One Direction posted a teaser trailer of the video online. Each teaser showed footage from the video and behind the scenes, and one member of the band announcing how many days were left until the video premiere.[67] The video opens with One Direction spending time on a Malibu, California beach intercut with scenes of them driving an orange campervan. During the second verse, a group of three girls joins the band at the beach; in Styles' bridge solo, he intimately sings to one girl, Madison McMillin,[68] individually. During the final choruses the band and girls are shown sitting around a fire, lighting sparklers and taking photographs.[8] On video sharing website MUZU TV, the video was the fourth most-watched music video of 2011 in the UK.[69] The video won two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Pop Video and Most Share-Worthy Video, and earned the group the award for Best New Artist on 6 September 2012.[70] As of 2023, the music video has received 1.4 billion Vevo and YouTube views.[71] A 4K video was also uploaded on 23 July 2020 and had over 11 million views as of October that year.