Boom Boom Pow
Encyclopedia
"Boom Boom Pow" is a song by The Black Eyed Peas
released as the lead single
from their fifth studio album, The E.N.D.
The song uses the auto-tune
vocal effect, and blends the genres of Electro-rap, dance-pop
, electro hop and hip hop
.
"Boom Boom Pow" topped the Billboard Hot 100
, making it the group's first U.S. number-one single. It is the second longest-running single to stay atop the Hot 100 in 2009, beaten only by The Black Eyed Peas' second single from The E.N.D.
, "I Gotta Feeling
", which held the top spot for 14 consecutive weeks. It has also topped the Australian
, Canadian
and UK singles charts as well as reaching the top 10 in more than 20 countries. The song was named 7th on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade.
The song sold over 4,295,000 digital downloads in the U.S, becoming the group's highest-selling song in the U.S. to date. It reached this threshold in just 23 weeks, faster than any other song in digital history. The old record was set by "Low
" by Flo Rida
, which topped the 4 million mark in its 35th week of release.
The single has since sold 6,000,000 copies in the U.S. "Boom Boom Pow" was ranked as the No. 1 song and digital song at the Billboard Year End Chart of 2009. The song was nominated at the 52nd Grammy Awards
for Best Dance Recording and won Best Short Form Music Video. Rolling Stone
ranked the song #14 on their Best 25 Songs of 2009 list. As of June 2011 the music video of the song scored 100,000,000 views on YouTube and became the group's second most viewed video, first being "The Time (Dirty Bit)
"
meditating on and affirming a new, futuristic sound for himself and the rest of the Peas: "I got that rock-and-roll, that future flow". Fergie, Taboo
, and apl.de.ap
each offer a variation on this theme, after which Will.i.am (introduced by Fergie) demonstrates the theme at work in a series of rapid-fire raps, punctuated with digital effects. The song concludes with Fergie repeating her initial verse, forming an outro of sorts and taking the listener more or less full-circle. The song was originally written by Mordechai Weines. Fergie has commented on the unusual structure of the song, stating: The song also attempts a futuristic quality, with Fergie rapping the lyric "I'm so three thousand and eight, you so two thousand and late." The song's beat is influenced by 1980's electro song "Planet Rock
". Will.i.am stated that the lyric helped inspire the futuristic concept of the video. Will.i.am also stated on the Merrick and Rosso
breakfast radio show that the song was heavily influenced by the electro sounds he heard in the nightclubs in Sydney
, Australia
, during the filming of X-Men Origins: Wolverine
and his visit to Australia. Following the band's record breaking success with "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling", will.i.am commented in a video on Billboard
on the song's success, saying:
The song received criticism for the use of the word "shit" in Will.i.am, Fergie and Taboo verses. The word was censored in the music video for the song.
stations have elected to censor the song's reference to satellite radio
. Most UK radio stations have also been found to distort the word satellite radio, and this is the version that appears on the UK CD single.
Remix". The track is produced by Boys Noize and there are a total of five versions of the song. These remixes credit recording to Pardraic Kerin and mixing to Dylan "3-D" Dresdow. The official remix features 50 Cent
, and is structured like so: 50 Cent's verse goes first, then will.i.am's first new verse, then Fergie, later the chorus, Fergie's first verse is repeated, then will.i.am's second verse, later the chorus, Fergie's first verse is repeated, apl.de.ap and Taboo's verse from the original were used, then Fergie's second verse, later the chorus, and the song ends with will.i.am saying "POW". The song only lasts 4:30. A "Megamix" version was also very popular, and is structured like so: will.i.am's verse from the first version goes first, then 50's verse, later the chorus, then Fergie's, then will.i.am's new second verse, later the chorus, Fergie's first verse is repeated, later the chorus, and the song ends. The song only lasts 3:29. The megamix version features Gucci Mane
. A third version features Flo Rida
, a fourth version is a mash-up of the 50 Cent Remix and the Gucci Mane Remix, and a fifth version is remixed by Busta Rhymes and Fatman Scoop. A remix by DJ Ammo and A Poet Named Life is played in the ending credits of the 2009 Summer blockbuster film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. At the 2009 American Music Awards
, the guitar riff of "Smells Like Teen Spirit
" by Nirvana
was played after the performance of this song. On the fourth season of America's Best Dance Crew
, a District 78 remix of the song was used for the sudden death challenge on the first episode, in the dance-off between Beat Ya Feet Kings, Southern Movement, and Fr3sh. Fr3sh was eliminated. In 2009 Jeffree Star
created a remix with more explicit lyrics, that was originally available as a free download. The original download link no longer works. However, many videos of live performances are available.
gave "Boom Boom Pow" four out of five stars, saying that "it's a fairly ridiculous robopop stomper featuring no real chorus, 808s & Heartbreaks-style beats, lashings of Auto-Tune
, techno synths that arrive half-way through and this vintage diss from Fergie: 'I'm so 3008, you're so 2000 and late.' It may well become grating, but frankly who cares? Right now this just sounds cracking." Billboard
gave the song a positive review, stating that the song "shows The Black Eyed Peas in fine form" and that it was "a knockout".
on April 6. It reached number one, staying there for six weeks. It was the highest selling single of 2009 before being de-throned by Britney Spears
's hit single "3
". It spent 27 weeks in the Top 20. Australia is the first country in which the song was released. As of May 2011, the song has sold 6,000,000 million downloads in the US and was certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA. This amount of singles sold, makes The Black Eyed Peas only the second artist to have 2 singles each selling 6 million copies or more, following Lady Gaga
.
The song debuted at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100
after garnering heavy airplay. The song rocketed from 39 to 1 in its fourth week on the chart. The single sold 465,000 downloads in its first week of digital release, the third-largest number of download sales in a single week overall, and the largest single-week and debut-download totals by a group in the history of digital-download sales tracking, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Pop 100
. It became the group's first U.S. #1, holding the spot for twelve consecutive weeks. Having been dethroned to #2 by The Black Eyed Peas' other song "I Gotta Feeling
", it is the second longest running #1 song of 2009 to date on the chart, behind I Gotta Feeling, and the first song to spend at least twelve weeks at #1 since Mariah Carey
's "We Belong Together" in 2005. "Boom Boom Pow"'s 12-week stay at #1 ties the record held by Eminem
's "Lose Yourself
" as the longest running Rap/Hip Hop song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was finally dethroned on the Hot 100 by the band's own follow up single "I Gotta Feeling." The chart week of May 30, 2009 "Boom Boom Pow" became only the fifth song to top both Billboards Mainstream Top 40 and Rhythmic Top 40 charts in the same week, reaching an estimated audience of 99 million on U.S. radio that week. It was the fourth song of the decade of the 2000s to spend at least twelve weeks at #1, and only the twelfth song in the chart's history to spend at least twelve weeks at the top. It is the band's first Rhythmic number one, and their second Mainstream Top 40 number one. "Boom Boom Pow" became the first song in digital history to spend its first twelve weeks of release as the most-downloaded song in America, selling at least 200,000 copies a week for eleven straight weeks. It has also topped the charts on the Canadian Hot 100
the same week as on the Hot 100 and on the Australian ARIA
Charts. On the New Zealand RIANZ
chart, the song has so far peaked at number two. Moreover, it has charted within the top 10 in more than ten countries. On May 17, 2009, it entered the UK Singles Chart
at #1 based on almost 75,000 downloads alone. It is the band's second number one in the UK (the other being "Where Is the Love?
" which also reached the top of the chart six years prior). It has also reached #3 so far in Ireland
. After being knocked off the number 1 spot in the United Kingdom
on May 24, 2009 by "Bonkers
" by Dizzee Rascal
and Armand Van Helden
, the song remained at the #2 slot for 2 weeks before returning to #1 on June 7, 2009. "Bonkers" had meanwhile swapped places with "Boom Boom Pow" and took the #2 slot. This subsequently marks the first time a song has had two separate runs at the summit of the chart since Shakira
's "Hips Don't Lie
" in July 2006. Their follow up single in the UK "I Gotta Feeling" also peaked at #1 and managed the same feat of having two separate runs at number one on the UK Singles Chart. With sales of over 600,000, the single is currently the sixth best selling of 2009 in the UK. "Boom Boom Pow" is also the 13th best selling R&B song of the 21st century in the UK.
that the music video would be shooting the week of March 8, 2009. The making of the video was released by MTV on April 8. In an interview to MTV, it was said that "... the concept of the video is the Peas' birth into the digital afterlife," Fergie said. "So the transformation is us going into a sort of birth or cocoon and coming out the other end as forms of energy. It's a parallel to the music industry. Now everything is downloaded." Group member will.i.am
stated the video was inspired by how digital the world has become and hopes the video portrays "what it would be like if we were actually in the computer, if art was fused in it," he said. "[It's] analog life from a digital perspective. Becoming technology." The music video was directed by Mathew Cullen and Mark Kudsi. The video premiered on Dipdive
on April 18, 2009 and was released on iTunes on April 24, 2009. The video is set in the year of 3008, portraying "how it would be like if we actually lived in computers". This concept was based in a line of the song, in which singer Fergie states "I'm so 3008 / You so 2000 and late". The video starts with Taboo
flicking through pictures on a HP TouchSmart
, he selects the image of a mushroom cloud
. As the singing starts, images of computer icons and random computer code and some ASCII art
of "THE END" are flashing in the background. The Black Eyed Peas are then seen singing their verses of the song. While this is happening, dancers are seen in striped zentai
suits, dancing to the song, and negative images are turned into positive images. e.g. the mushroom cloud turns into a tree swing, the grenade into a microphone, a gun into a trumpet and a nuclear barrel played as a drum. The video also features the face used on the album cover
miming along to various lyrics; the face was designed as an amalgam of all four band members' facial features. Much of the imagery in the video is a homage
to Rebecca Allen
's 1986 video for the Kraftwerk
song Musique Non Stop
. The video was meant to go the full song but they cut it to 3:28. The video won a Grammy at the 52nd Grammy Awards
in the category of Best Short Form Music Video.As of June 2011 the music video of the song scored 100,000,000 views on YouTube and became the group's second most viewed video,first being "The Time (Dirty Bit)
"
artist Ebony Latrice Batts, better known by her stage name Phoenix Phenom, alleged the song is simply a copy of her track, "Boom Dynamite". It was written by Manfred Mohr and conceived in a music studio in Chicago. The duo sent a demo tape to Interscope Records
because the record company was interested in their material. They are suing The Black Eyed Peas.
Digital Download E.P.
|-
! Country
! Certification
|-
| Australia
| 4× Platinum
|-
| Belgium
| Gold
|-
| Canada
| 8× Platinum
|-
| Germany
| Gold
|-
| Japan
| Gold (cellphone downloads)
|-
| New Zealand
| Platinum
|-
| Spain
| Gold
|-
| Switzerland
| Platinum
|-
| UK
| Platinum
|-
| United States
| 5× Platinum
|-
! Country
! Sales
|-
| United Kingdom
| 667,500
|-
| United States
| 6,000,000
|}
|-
! Region
! Date
! Format
! Label
|-
|United States
|March 10, 2009
|Radio impact
|rowspan="6"|Interscope
|-
|Worldwide
|March 30, 2009
|Digital download
|-
|Germany
|May 8, 2009
|rowspan="4"|CD single
|-
|Australia
|May 15, 2009
|-
|United Kingdom
|May 25, 2009
|-
|France
|June 22, 2009
|}
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
released as the lead single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from their fifth studio album, The E.N.D.
The E.N.D.
According to review aggregator Metacritic, The E.N.D. received an average of 60 out of 100 indicating mixed to average reviews from music critics, based on fifteen critiques, higher than their 2005 album Monkey Business but lower than their 2003 breakout Elephunk, with critics agreeing that the...
The song uses the auto-tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
vocal effect, and blends the genres of Electro-rap, dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
, electro hop and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
.
"Boom Boom Pow" topped the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, making it the group's first U.S. number-one single. It is the second longest-running single to stay atop the Hot 100 in 2009, beaten only by The Black Eyed Peas' second single from The E.N.D.
The E.N.D.
According to review aggregator Metacritic, The E.N.D. received an average of 60 out of 100 indicating mixed to average reviews from music critics, based on fifteen critiques, higher than their 2005 album Monkey Business but lower than their 2003 breakout Elephunk, with critics agreeing that the...
, "I Gotta Feeling
I Gotta Feeling
"I Gotta Feeling" is the second single from The Black Eyed Peas' fifth studio album The E.N.D., produced by the French DJ David Guetta. The song was released on May 21, 2009 and debuted at number two on the Canadian and Billboard Hot 100 on the week of June 27, 2009, behind the group's "Boom Boom...
", which held the top spot for 14 consecutive weeks. It has also topped the Australian
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
, Canadian
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
and UK singles charts as well as reaching the top 10 in more than 20 countries. The song was named 7th on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade.
The song sold over 4,295,000 digital downloads in the U.S, becoming the group's highest-selling song in the U.S. to date. It reached this threshold in just 23 weeks, faster than any other song in digital history. The old record was set by "Low
Low (Flo Rida song)
"Low" is the debut single by American rapper Flo Rida, featured on his debut album Mail On Sunday and also featured on the soundtrack to the 2008 film Step Up 2: The Streets. The song features T-Pain and was co-written with T-Pain. There is also a remix in which the hook is sung by Flo Rida rather...
" by Flo Rida
Flo Rida
Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...
, which topped the 4 million mark in its 35th week of release.
The single has since sold 6,000,000 copies in the U.S. "Boom Boom Pow" was ranked as the No. 1 song and digital song at the Billboard Year End Chart of 2009. The song was nominated at the 52nd Grammy Awards
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
for Best Dance Recording and won Best Short Form Music Video. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
ranked the song #14 on their Best 25 Songs of 2009 list. As of June 2011 the music video of the song scored 100,000,000 views on YouTube and became the group's second most viewed video, first being "The Time (Dirty Bit)
The Time (Dirty Bit)
"The Time " is a song by American hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas from their sixth studio album, The Beginning. The song was released as the album's lead single on November 5, 2010. The chorus of the song samples " The Time of My Life" from the 1987 film Dirty Dancing...
"
Song context and formation
The song opens with will.i.amWill.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
meditating on and affirming a new, futuristic sound for himself and the rest of the Peas: "I got that rock-and-roll, that future flow". Fergie, Taboo
Taboo (rapper)
Jaime Luis Gómez , better known by his stage name Taboo, is an American singer, actor, and rapper best known as a member of the group The Black Eyed Peas.-Personal life:...
, and apl.de.ap
Apl.de.ap
Allan Pineda Lindo, Jr. better known as apl.de.ap , is a Filipino-American rapper, record producer, and occasional drummer who is best known as a member of The Black Eyed Peas.-Early life:Pineda was born in Belfast...
each offer a variation on this theme, after which Will.i.am (introduced by Fergie) demonstrates the theme at work in a series of rapid-fire raps, punctuated with digital effects. The song concludes with Fergie repeating her initial verse, forming an outro of sorts and taking the listener more or less full-circle. The song was originally written by Mordechai Weines. Fergie has commented on the unusual structure of the song, stating: The song also attempts a futuristic quality, with Fergie rapping the lyric "I'm so three thousand and eight, you so two thousand and late." The song's beat is influenced by 1980's electro song "Planet Rock
Planet Rock (song)
"Planet Rock" is a 1982 song by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force. In the background and hooks featured Marvella Murray, Yvette Murray, Melissa Johnson and Sandra Wheeler. Although it was only a minor hit in the US, Canada, and UK, it helped change the foundations of hip-hop and dance music...
". Will.i.am stated that the lyric helped inspire the futuristic concept of the video. Will.i.am also stated on the Merrick and Rosso
Merrick and Rosso
Merrick and Rosso are an Australian comedy duo, Merrick Watts and Tim Ross. The duo began in stand up comedy and first came together when they teamed up for a one off comedy show in 1996...
breakfast radio show that the song was heavily influenced by the electro sounds he heard in the nightclubs in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, during the filming of X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 American action film based on the Marvel Comics' fictional character Wolverine. The fourth installment in the X-Men film series, it was released worldwide on May 1, 2009...
and his visit to Australia. Following the band's record breaking success with "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling", will.i.am commented in a video on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
on the song's success, saying:
The song received criticism for the use of the word "shit" in Will.i.am, Fergie and Taboo verses. The word was censored in the music video for the song.
Release
"Boom Boom Pow" was released to U.S. mainstream radio on March 13, 2009. It was released officially on iTunes in the U.S. on March 30, 2009. It was scheduled to be released in the UK on May 25, 2009, however due to three alternative versions of the song entering the UK iTunes Top 50 songs, The Black Eyed Peas version was released two weeks early, on Sunday, May 10. One of their full performances took place at the American Idol Finale of 2009. As of June 2009, an unknown number of North American radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
stations have elected to censor the song's reference to satellite radio
Satellite radio
Satellite radio is an analogue or digital radio signal that is relayed through one or more satellites and thus can be received in a much wider geographical area than terrestrial FM radio stations...
. Most UK radio stations have also been found to distort the word satellite radio, and this is the version that appears on the UK CD single.
Remixes
The official remix of the song is entitled "Let The Beat Rock - Boys NoizeBoys Noize
Boys Noize is the stage name of Alexander Ridha, a German electronic music producer and DJ. It is similar to the name of Ridha's label, Boysnoize Records, which he established in 2005...
Remix". The track is produced by Boys Noize and there are a total of five versions of the song. These remixes credit recording to Pardraic Kerin and mixing to Dylan "3-D" Dresdow. The official remix features 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
, and is structured like so: 50 Cent's verse goes first, then will.i.am's first new verse, then Fergie, later the chorus, Fergie's first verse is repeated, then will.i.am's second verse, later the chorus, Fergie's first verse is repeated, apl.de.ap and Taboo's verse from the original were used, then Fergie's second verse, later the chorus, and the song ends with will.i.am saying "POW". The song only lasts 4:30. A "Megamix" version was also very popular, and is structured like so: will.i.am's verse from the first version goes first, then 50's verse, later the chorus, then Fergie's, then will.i.am's new second verse, later the chorus, Fergie's first verse is repeated, later the chorus, and the song ends. The song only lasts 3:29. The megamix version features Gucci Mane
Gucci Mane
Radric Davis , better known by his stage name Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He debuted in 2005 with Trap House and followed with albums such as Hard to Kill in 2006, Trap-A-Thon and Back to the Trap House in 2007. In 2009, his second studio album The State vs. Radric Davis was released...
. A third version features Flo Rida
Flo Rida
Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...
, a fourth version is a mash-up of the 50 Cent Remix and the Gucci Mane Remix, and a fifth version is remixed by Busta Rhymes and Fatman Scoop. A remix by DJ Ammo and A Poet Named Life is played in the ending credits of the 2009 Summer blockbuster film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. At the 2009 American Music Awards
American Music Awards of 2009
The 37th American Music Awards took place on November 22, 2009 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The nominees were announced on October 13, 2009. For the first time in history, there was no host for the year's ceremony. Instead, various celebrities introduced the performers similar...
, the guitar riff of "Smells Like Teen Spirit
Smells Like Teen Spirit
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, Nevermind , released on DGC Records...
" by Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
was played after the performance of this song. On the fourth season of America's Best Dance Crew
America's Best Dance Crew
America's Best Dance Crew, often abbreviated as ABDC, is an American competitive dance reality television series that features street dance crews from the United States and around the world. It is produced by American Idol judge Randy Jackson and airs on MTV...
, a District 78 remix of the song was used for the sudden death challenge on the first episode, in the dance-off between Beat Ya Feet Kings, Southern Movement, and Fr3sh. Fr3sh was eliminated. In 2009 Jeffree Star
Jeffree Star
Jeffree Star is an American model, fashion designer, make-up artist, DJ, and singer-songwriter residing in the Beverly Hills area...
created a remix with more explicit lyrics, that was originally available as a free download. The original download link no longer works. However, many videos of live performances are available.
Critical reception
Nick Levine from Digital SpyDigital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
gave "Boom Boom Pow" four out of five stars, saying that "it's a fairly ridiculous robopop stomper featuring no real chorus, 808s & Heartbreaks-style beats, lashings of Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
, techno synths that arrive half-way through and this vintage diss from Fergie: 'I'm so 3008, you're so 2000 and late.' It may well become grating, but frankly who cares? Right now this just sounds cracking." Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
gave the song a positive review, stating that the song "shows The Black Eyed Peas in fine form" and that it was "a knockout".
- Boston Globe: Dealt with individually, substance-free, grammatically suspect dance-floor jams like current monster hit "Boom Boom Pow," the slinky "Imma Be," or the fuzzy "Missing You" could be booty-shaking guilty pleasures.
- Dot Music: E.N.D. opener "Boom Boom Boom" has a long way to go before it even tickles the room, mid-tempo beats cushioning a Fergie vocal that an autotune stuck on override can't sort out.
- Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
: Indeed, indefatigable Auto-Tune anthems like The E.N.D.'s propulsive lead single, "Boom Boom Pow" (already the band's most successful to date), seem fueled by some mysterious slurry of dance-floor plutonium and diet Red Bull.
- Vibe magazine: However, the intergalactic punch of “Boom Boom Pow”–BEP’s first ever Billboard chart-topper–has stimulated a slew of cosigns from the likes of 50 Cent, Gucci Mane, and Kid Cudi.
- The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
: As on their recent No 1 single, "Boom Boom Pow", electronic clicks and buzzes are used lavishly, and the mood is as positive as ever. Just don't expect to love it immediately.
- Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
: The titles of the Peas' biggest hits tell the story: the giggle-inducing pun of "Don't Phunk With My Heart," the cheerily crude anatomical gesture of "My Humps" and now the Imax-ready sound effects burst of the chart-topping "Boom Boom Pow."
- Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
: Whereupon the record segues into the Number One hit "Boom Boom Pow," and all hell breaks loose. There are Auto-Tune vocal trills, eerie synth chords, screechy disco-diva wailing, 808 thuds, raps about 808 thuds and a dizzying barrage of doggerel: "I got that . . . digital spit/Next-level visual shit." It is an assault on the senses, and on good taste. And it's the best thing The Black Eyed Peas have ever recorded.
- The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
: Contrary to Fergie's claim on "Boom Boom Pow" that "I'm so 3008, you so 2000-and-late", their supposedly innovative electro-beat stylings are tired.
Chart performance
In Australia, "Boom Boom Pow" was released on March 30, 2009, and debuted on the ARIA ChartsARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
on April 6. It reached number one, staying there for six weeks. It was the highest selling single of 2009 before being de-throned by Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
's hit single "3
3 (song)
"3" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, from her second greatest hits compilation The Singles Collection. It was released on September 29, 2009, as the only single of the album by Jive Records. The song was produced by long-time collaborator Max Martin and Shellback, and recorded...
". It spent 27 weeks in the Top 20. Australia is the first country in which the song was released. As of May 2011, the song has sold 6,000,000 million downloads in the US and was certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA. This amount of singles sold, makes The Black Eyed Peas only the second artist to have 2 singles each selling 6 million copies or more, following Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
.
The song debuted at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
after garnering heavy airplay. The song rocketed from 39 to 1 in its fourth week on the chart. The single sold 465,000 downloads in its first week of digital release, the third-largest number of download sales in a single week overall, and the largest single-week and debut-download totals by a group in the history of digital-download sales tracking, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Pop 100
Pop 100
The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...
. It became the group's first U.S. #1, holding the spot for twelve consecutive weeks. Having been dethroned to #2 by The Black Eyed Peas' other song "I Gotta Feeling
I Gotta Feeling
"I Gotta Feeling" is the second single from The Black Eyed Peas' fifth studio album The E.N.D., produced by the French DJ David Guetta. The song was released on May 21, 2009 and debuted at number two on the Canadian and Billboard Hot 100 on the week of June 27, 2009, behind the group's "Boom Boom...
", it is the second longest running #1 song of 2009 to date on the chart, behind I Gotta Feeling, and the first song to spend at least twelve weeks at #1 since Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
's "We Belong Together" in 2005. "Boom Boom Pow"'s 12-week stay at #1 ties the record held by Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
's "Lose Yourself
Lose Yourself
"Lose Yourself" is an Academy Award winning song by American hip-hop artist Eminem, released as the first single from the original soundtrack to the movie 8 Mile on October 22, 2002. It was written and produced by Eminem himself, along with longtime collaborator Jeff Bass, one half of the...
" as the longest running Rap/Hip Hop song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was finally dethroned on the Hot 100 by the band's own follow up single "I Gotta Feeling." The chart week of May 30, 2009 "Boom Boom Pow" became only the fifth song to top both Billboards Mainstream Top 40 and Rhythmic Top 40 charts in the same week, reaching an estimated audience of 99 million on U.S. radio that week. It was the fourth song of the decade of the 2000s to spend at least twelve weeks at #1, and only the twelfth song in the chart's history to spend at least twelve weeks at the top. It is the band's first Rhythmic number one, and their second Mainstream Top 40 number one. "Boom Boom Pow" became the first song in digital history to spend its first twelve weeks of release as the most-downloaded song in America, selling at least 200,000 copies a week for eleven straight weeks. It has also topped the charts on the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
the same week as on the Hot 100 and on the Australian ARIA
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
Charts. On the New Zealand RIANZ
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
chart, the song has so far peaked at number two. Moreover, it has charted within the top 10 in more than ten countries. On May 17, 2009, it entered the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at #1 based on almost 75,000 downloads alone. It is the band's second number one in the UK (the other being "Where Is the Love?
Where Is the Love?
"Where Is the Love?" is a song recorded by the American hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas for their third album, Elephunk. It is the band's first record to feature Fergie. The song features vocals from Justin Timberlake, although he is not officially credited on the single release.The single was...
" which also reached the top of the chart six years prior). It has also reached #3 so far in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. After being knocked off the number 1 spot in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on May 24, 2009 by "Bonkers
Bonkers (song)
"Bonkers" is a song by British rapper Dizzee Rascal and American producer Armand Van Helden. It is the first single released from Rascal's fourth album, Tongue n' Cheek. Rascal released the track under his own record label, Dirtee Stank Recordings on 17 May 2009 in the United Kingdom; where it...
" by Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
and Armand Van Helden
Armand Van Helden
Armand Van Helden is a record producer, DJ and remixer whose biggest commercial successes came from his remixes of the 1996 Tori Amos song "Professional Widow" , which reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1997, and his own track "U Don't Know Me ", which went to number 1...
, the song remained at the #2 slot for 2 weeks before returning to #1 on June 7, 2009. "Bonkers" had meanwhile swapped places with "Boom Boom Pow" and took the #2 slot. This subsequently marks the first time a song has had two separate runs at the summit of the chart since Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
's "Hips Don't Lie
Hips Don't Lie
"Hips Don't Lie" is a Latin pop song based in a salsa and cumbia performed by Colombian singer Shakira and Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released in 2006 as the second single from Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
" in July 2006. Their follow up single in the UK "I Gotta Feeling" also peaked at #1 and managed the same feat of having two separate runs at number one on the UK Singles Chart. With sales of over 600,000, the single is currently the sixth best selling of 2009 in the UK. "Boom Boom Pow" is also the 13th best selling R&B song of the 21st century in the UK.
Music video
Fergie had stated at an interview on The InsiderThe Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
that the music video would be shooting the week of March 8, 2009. The making of the video was released by MTV on April 8. In an interview to MTV, it was said that "... the concept of the video is the Peas' birth into the digital afterlife," Fergie said. "So the transformation is us going into a sort of birth or cocoon and coming out the other end as forms of energy. It's a parallel to the music industry. Now everything is downloaded." Group member will.i.am
Will.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
stated the video was inspired by how digital the world has become and hopes the video portrays "what it would be like if we were actually in the computer, if art was fused in it," he said. "[It's] analog life from a digital perspective. Becoming technology." The music video was directed by Mathew Cullen and Mark Kudsi. The video premiered on Dipdive
Dipdive
Dipdive is a social networking website tagged as "a Lifestyle Engine for Music, Arts, Action & More." It is best known for the original source site of the "Yes We Can" music video. The site allows users to upload images, videos, MP3s, Blogs and create playlists. Videos and MP3s are allowed in the...
on April 18, 2009 and was released on iTunes on April 24, 2009. The video is set in the year of 3008, portraying "how it would be like if we actually lived in computers". This concept was based in a line of the song, in which singer Fergie states "I'm so 3008 / You so 2000 and late". The video starts with Taboo
Taboo (rapper)
Jaime Luis Gómez , better known by his stage name Taboo, is an American singer, actor, and rapper best known as a member of the group The Black Eyed Peas.-Personal life:...
flicking through pictures on a HP TouchSmart
HP TouchSmart
HP TouchSmart is a series of tablet PC laptops and touchscreen all-in-one desktop computers designed by HP. It features various Intel or AMD processors and runs Windows Vista or Windows 7 as standard.-HP TouchSmart Crossfire:...
, he selects the image of a mushroom cloud
Mushroom cloud
A mushroom cloud is a distinctive pyrocumulus mushroom-shaped cloud of condensed water vapor or debris resulting from a very large explosion. They are most commonly associated with nuclear explosions, but any sufficiently large blast will produce the same sort of effect. They can be caused by...
. As the singing starts, images of computer icons and random computer code and some ASCII art
ASCII art
ASCII art is a graphic design technique that uses computers for presentation and consists of pictures pieced together from the 95 printable characters defined by the ASCII Standard from 1963 and ASCII compliant character sets with proprietary extended characters...
of "THE END" are flashing in the background. The Black Eyed Peas are then seen singing their verses of the song. While this is happening, dancers are seen in striped zentai
Zentai
Zentai is a term for skin-tight garments that cover the entire body. The word is a contraction of zenshin taitsu...
suits, dancing to the song, and negative images are turned into positive images. e.g. the mushroom cloud turns into a tree swing, the grenade into a microphone, a gun into a trumpet and a nuclear barrel played as a drum. The video also features the face used on the album cover
The E.N.D.
According to review aggregator Metacritic, The E.N.D. received an average of 60 out of 100 indicating mixed to average reviews from music critics, based on fifteen critiques, higher than their 2005 album Monkey Business but lower than their 2003 breakout Elephunk, with critics agreeing that the...
miming along to various lyrics; the face was designed as an amalgam of all four band members' facial features. Much of the imagery in the video is a homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to Rebecca Allen
Rebecca Allen
Rebecca Allen is an international artist inspired by a variety of media to create work from 3-D computer graphics, animation, music videos, video games, performance works, artificial life systems, multisensory interfaces, interactive installations, virtual and mixed reality.- Biography :Allen's...
's 1986 video for the Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
song Musique Non Stop
Musique Non Stop
"Musique Non-Stop" is a 1986 single by German techno group Kraftwerk, which was featured on the album Electric Café. It was re-released as a remix on their 1991 album The Mix. The single was their first #1 on the Dance charts and was one of two songs to make it to #1...
. The video was meant to go the full song but they cut it to 3:28. The video won a Grammy at the 52nd Grammy Awards
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
in the category of Best Short Form Music Video.As of June 2011 the music video of the song scored 100,000,000 views on YouTube and became the group's second most viewed video,first being "The Time (Dirty Bit)
The Time (Dirty Bit)
"The Time " is a song by American hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas from their sixth studio album, The Beginning. The song was released as the album's lead single on November 5, 2010. The chorus of the song samples " The Time of My Life" from the 1987 film Dirty Dancing...
"
Alleged copyright infringement
In January 2010, ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
artist Ebony Latrice Batts, better known by her stage name Phoenix Phenom, alleged the song is simply a copy of her track, "Boom Dynamite". It was written by Manfred Mohr and conceived in a music studio in Chicago. The duo sent a demo tape to Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
because the record company was interested in their material. They are suing The Black Eyed Peas.
Track listing
UK CD Single- "Boom Boom Pow" (Radio Edit) - 3:38
- "Boom Boom Pow" (Wow (D.J. will.i.amWill.i.amWilliam James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
Megamix) - 4:12
Digital Download E.P.
- "Boom Boom Pow" (Let The Beat Rock Boys NoizeBoys NoizeBoys Noize is the stage name of Alexander Ridha, a German electronic music producer and DJ. It is similar to the name of Ridha's label, Boysnoize Records, which he established in 2005...
Megamix) (Feat. 50 Cent50 CentCurtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
) — 3:29 - "Boom Boom Pow" (Let The Beat Rock Boys Noize Megamix) (Feat. Gucci ManeGucci ManeRadric Davis , better known by his stage name Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He debuted in 2005 with Trap House and followed with albums such as Hard to Kill in 2006, Trap-A-Thon and Back to the Trap House in 2007. In 2009, his second studio album The State vs. Radric Davis was released...
) — 3:09 - "Boom Boom Pow" (Style Zuper Blahq Megamix) (Feat. Kid CudiKid CudiScott Ramon Seguro Mescudi , better known by his stage name Kid Cudi , sometimes stylized KiD CuDi, is an American rapper, singer and actor. He first gained major attention after the release of his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi. In 2009, his single "Day 'n' Nite" reached the top five of the...
) — 3:37 - "Boom Boom Pow" (Guetta Electro Hop Remix) (Feat. David GuettaDavid GuettaPierre David Guetta , known professionally as David Guetta , is a French house music producer and DJ. Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster and Pop Life...
) — 4:01 - "Boom Boom Pow" (Wow D.J. will.i.am Megamix) — 4:12
- "Boom Boom Pow" (Boom D.J. Ammo & A Poet Name Life Megamix) — 5:48
Charts and certifications
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Greece (IFPI IFPI Greece International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Greece or IFPI Greece is the Greek branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification body for Greece. Currently two charts are compiled, one for sales of... ) |
1 |
Year-end charts (2009)
| Country | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 4 |
| German Singles Chart | 26 |
| Hungarian Singles Chart | 122 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 5 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 17 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
1 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 43 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
7 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (2000–2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia Top 100 Songs of the Decade | 14 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
47 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
7 |
Certifications
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Country
! Certification
|-
| Australia
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
| 4× Platinum
|-
| Belgium
Ultratop
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...
| Gold
|-
| Canada
Cria
A cria is the name for a baby camelid such as a llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco. It comes from the Spanish word cría, meaning "baby". Its false cognate in English, crya , was coined by British sailors who explored Chile in the 18th century and were quick to describe the camelids onomatopoeically...
| 8× Platinum
|-
| Germany
IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...
| Gold
|-
| Japan
| Gold (cellphone downloads)
|-
| New Zealand
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
| Platinum
|-
| Spain
PROMUSICAE
Spanish Music Producers is a trade group representing the Spanish recording industry...
| Gold
|-
| Switzerland
IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...
| Platinum
|-
| UK
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
| Platinum
|-
| United States
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
| 5× Platinum
Sales
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Country
! Sales
|-
| United Kingdom
| 667,500
|-
| United States
| 6,000,000
|}
Release history
{|class="wikitable"|-
! Region
! Date
! Format
! Label
|-
|United States
|March 10, 2009
|Radio impact
|rowspan="6"|Interscope
|-
|Worldwide
|March 30, 2009
|Digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
|-
|Germany
|May 8, 2009
|rowspan="4"|CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
|-
|Australia
|May 15, 2009
|-
|United Kingdom
|May 25, 2009
|-
|France
|June 22, 2009
|}
See also
- List of number-one singles in Australia in 2009
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2009 (Canada)
- List of European number-one hits of 2009
- List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)
- List of number-one R&B hits of 2009 (UK)
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2009 (U.S.)
- List of Mainstream Top 40 number-one hits of 2009 (U.S.)
- Ultratop 40 number-one hits of 2009Ultratop 40 number-one hits of 2009This is a list of songs that topped the Belgian Wallonia Ultratop 40 in 2009....
- Ultratop 50 number-one hits of 2009Ultratop 50 number-one hits of 2009These hits topped the Ultratop 50 in 2009.-Notes:# Turkish entry to the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest# Winner of 2009 Eurovision Song Contest...