Pieces of Me
Encyclopedia
"Pieces of Me" is a song by American pop/rock singer Ashlee Simpson
and the first single
from her début album, Autobiography
. The song, which was co-written by Simpson, Kara DioGuardi
and John Shanks
(and produced by Shanks), is a blend of pop
and rock
with lyrics
about finding comfort and happiness in a relationship with a new boyfriend. "Pieces of Me" was released as the first single from Autobiography in mid-2004 (see 2004 in music
), prior to the album's release in July; it peaked at number five in the United States
(on the Billboard Hot 100
), and contributed to the considerable success of Autobiography, which went triple platinum in the U.S. Outside of the U.S., the song enjoyed some chart success as well, reaching the top ten in a number of countries. , it remains Simpson's most successful song, and her only song to reach the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart
. The song became her best charting single and it is Simpson's biggest hit to date.
, The Ashlee Simpson Show
, and was inspired by Simpson's relationship with the musician Ryan Cabrera
, a friend with whom she became romantically involved. As she said, "it was just really nice to be with somebody who's just real and who's nice — just a good person. So I wrote that about him, and when I finished it, I was so excited and so was he." (The two were reported to have broken up in August 2004, while the song was still high on the charts. They soon got back together before breaking up again in early 2005.) In another interview, she said "it's a feel good song, it's easy to listen to and every time I perform it or listen to it or whatever, ... it just feels good."
Jeff Rothschild played drums on the track, Shanks played guitars and bass, and Simpson and DioGuardi did background vocals. IGN.com
said of the song that it "lopes along to a feel good melancholic guitar strum while [Simpson] waxes like any lovelorn 19-year old would about the current love of their life." Another review said that the "stringy" guitar riff
s in "Pieces of Me" were "simple, yet effective", with the "catchy chorus bringing the song to life." According to one review of the album, Simpson's singing on the track goes from "impassioned wail to innocent cooing ably." A UK review of the single called it "palatable" "as guitar-led lipstick confessionals go". It has also been described as a "perfect choice" for the album's first single, having "a tempo between fast and slow, with hints of both throughout the song."
, 97 stations added "Pieces of Me" to their play lists in the week ending on May 17, which it said was the strongest week for any single in 2004 at that point in the year. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
at number 61 in June 2004 (the chart's top début for the week) and reached the top ten in August with a rise from number 13 to number nine. It then rose to number eight the next week, where it spent two weeks before peaking at number five on the Hot 100 in September 2004. After spending one week at number five, it fell to number six and then to number seven. "Pieces of Me" remained in the top 50 on the Hot 100 chart until November 2004. It also reached number one on the Billboard Top 40 Tracks chart. The single was certified gold
in October 2004 and platinum in January 2005. "Pieces of Me" was number 39 on Billboard' s 2004 year end Hot 100 Singles & Tracks chart and number 36 on the year end Hot 100 Singles Sales chart.
The U.S. CD
single was released by Geffen Records
on June 29, 2004, and debuted at number three in single sales (behind American Idol
stars Fantasia Barrino
and Diana DeGarmo
) with almost 8,000 copies sold. The single includes the album version of the song as well as an instrumental. On the cover, Simpson has dark hair, and the artwork is similar to that of the album Autobiography; an earlier, promotional version of the single shows a blonde Simpson with a yellow jacket. This promotional version includes only the original version of the song.
The single was released in the United Kingdom
on September 27, 2004, on two CDs; the first includes a David Garcia & High Spies remix
, and the second includes remixes, a medley of snippets of songs from Autobiography ("Shadow", "Autobiography", "La La
", and "Better Off"), and the "Pieces of Me" music video
. "Pieces of Me" debuted at number four on the UK Singles Chart
for the week ending October 3 and remained in the top 40 for seven weeks.
Simpson has described her excitement when she first heard the song on the radio:
In Australia
, "Pieces of Me" made its début on the ARIA singles chart at number 14, and peaked for two weeks at number 7 in September; it fell out of the top 40 in late November 2004. "Pieces of Me" was also accredited as a gold single in Australia. In New Zealand
, the song debuted on the RIANZ
top 40 singles chart at number 33 in September 2004, peaked at 32 the next week, and fell out of the top 40 after its third week.
In Germany
, "Pieces of Me" reached number 26 on the singles chart, and in Austria
it debuted at number 43 and peaked at 15 in its sixth week. In Switzerland
, it debuted at number 17 and peaked at 11 in its third week, in October 2004. In Italy
, "Pieces of Me" peaked at 24 in October 2004, in its fourth week on the top 50 singles chart after debuting at 47; after seven weeks, it fell out of the top 50. In Denmark
, the song debuted at 5 and peaked at 4, after which it fell off the chart; in Sweden
, it reached a peak of number 31 on the singles chart, while in Norway it stayed on the top 20 singles chart for 12 weeks, peaking at 3 in its fifth week.
"Pieces of Me" is track 16 on the American Now That's What I Call Music! 17, a compilation
of popular music that was released on November 2, 2004. It also is track 12 on the American Now That's What I Call Music!, #1's, a compilation of songs that reached #1 or songs that reached a high standard on the Billboard Hot 100; the compilation was released in January 2006.
In Japan
, "Pieces of Me" was a popular hit on radios reaching the top spot in domestic and international top in Japan Radio. It also reached the top 5 in countries such as Hong Kong
, Indonesia
, Thailand
and Taiwan
.
Simpson appeared on MTV
's Total Request Live
on May 17, 2004, and the "Pieces of Me" video was premiered on the show on this date. On June 2, she also appeared on the show and performed the song. The video did not debut on the countdown's top ten until July 19; however, it reached number one for the first time on August 4 and remained on the countdown through September 13. The "Shadow" video premiered on the following day and took the place of "Pieces of Me" on the countdown.
Simpson has frequently performed "Pieces of Me" live, including a number of notable television performances. She sang the song at Summer Music Mania on May 20, and it aired on FOX
on June 1. Simpson sang "Pieces of Me" (followed by a brief interview with Jay Leno
) on the May 24, 2004 episode of The Tonight Show
, and she also sang the song on The Late Show with David Letterman on July 16. She performed "Pieces of Me" (after a brief interview with Charles Gibson
) on Good Morning America
on July 19, the day before her album was released in the U.S., and on July 27, she sang it (after an interview) on Ryan Seacrest
's talk show, On Air With Ryan Seacrest
. On August 8 she performed "Pieces of Me" on the Teen Choice Awards, and the song also received the "Song of the Summer" award. On August 29, Simpson performed the song during the pre-show for the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards
.
The song made its debut somewhat later in the United Kingdom, where the album was also released several months after it was in the U.S. In September 2004, Simpson made several notable television appearances in the UK in which she performed the song, including on Top of the Pops (September 17), Top of the Pops Saturday (September 25), CD:UK and Popworld.
Later in 2004, on the October 23–24 episode of Saturday Night Live
, Simpson performed "Pieces of Me" as her first of two songs that night; when she started to perform her second song (which was supposed to be "Autobiography"), a recording of "Pieces of Me" was mistakenly played instead, indicating that Simpson was using some sort of vocal aid (she later explained it as being due to her acid reflux
condition). For her next performance, at the Radio Music Awards on October 25, Simpson poked fun at the SNL incident by having some of "Pieces of Me" play at the beginning of her performance, to suggest that she was caught in the same situation as before, only to then smile and exclaim that she was "just kidding", and begin performing "Autobiography".
She subsequently performed "Pieces of Me" (in addition to a performance of "La La") on Jingle Ball Rock, a television special on FOX featuring performances by a number of popular artists; it was taped on December 3 and aired on the evening of December 17. She also sang the song as part of a concert broadcast live over the Internet on December 6, and during the performance she pulled a member of the audience up on stage with her. Simpson later performed the song on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
2005, in which she also hosted the West Coast portion of the show.
The video for "Pieces of Me" was nominated for "Best Pop Video" for the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards
, but lost to Kelly Clarkson
's "Since U Been Gone
". The video was also nominated for the same category for the 2005 MTV Australia Video Music Awards, but lost to Guy Sebastian
's "Out with My Baby
".
As part of the promotion for her third album, Bittersweet World
, Simpson performed "Pieces of Me", together with her newer single "Little Miss Obsessive
", on The TODAY Show on April 18, 2008.
recorded an acoustic version of "Pieces of Me" for the TV show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time. Canadian R&B
group Jacksoul
covered
"Pieces of Me" on their 2006 cover album mySOUL
. The album won the 2007 Juno Award
for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year
. "Pieces of Me" has also been covered by the DC-based go-go band Rare Essence
as well as Almost Better.
The song appears in the game Karaoke Revolution Party.
U.S. CD single
Total time:7:17
UK CD single
Total time:6:52
Catalog 9863811
UK CD maxi single
Total time:11:44
Catalog 9863812
Australian CD single
Total time:13:59
Canadian Enhanced CD single
Total time: ??:??
Ashlee Simpson
Ashlee Nicole Simpson is an American singer and actress. In 2004, she rose to prominence with the success of her number-one debut album Autobiography and the reality series, The Ashlee Simpson Show. In October 2005, following a North American concert tour and a film appearance, Simpson released...
and the first 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 her début album, Autobiography
Autobiography (Ashlee Simpson album)
Autobiography is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Ashlee Simpson. Released in the United States by Geffen Records on July 20, 2004, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was certified triple platinum in the U.S. Musically, it combines elements of rock and pop....
. The song, which was co-written by Simpson, Kara DioGuardi
Kara DioGuardi
Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, composer and TV personality. She writes music primarily in the light pop-rock, dance, and R&B genres. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; her songs have appeared on more than 159...
and John Shanks
John Shanks
John Matthew Shanks is a modern rock writer and Grammy Award–winning producer.Born in New York City, Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17....
(and produced by Shanks), is a blend of pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
with lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
about finding comfort and happiness in a relationship with a new boyfriend. "Pieces of Me" was released as the first single from Autobiography in mid-2004 (see 2004 in music
2004 in music
See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....
), prior to the album's release in July; it peaked at number five in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(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...
), and contributed to the considerable success of Autobiography, which went triple platinum in the U.S. Outside of the U.S., the song enjoyed some chart success as well, reaching the top ten in a number of countries. , it remains Simpson's most successful song, and her only song to reach the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and 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 ...
. The song became her best charting single and it is Simpson's biggest hit to date.
About the record
The recording of "Pieces of Me" features in the fourth episode of the first season of Simpson's reality showReality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
, The Ashlee Simpson Show
The Ashlee Simpson Show
The Ashlee Simpson Show is a television reality show about the life of Ashlee Simpson. The first season, taped from 2003 to mid-2004, focused on the beginnings of her career as a singer and the recording of her debut album, Autobiography...
, and was inspired by Simpson's relationship with the musician Ryan Cabrera
Ryan Cabrera
Ryan Frank Cabrera is an American pop rock musician. In 2004, Cabrera debuted with his single "On the Way Down", a top ten hit in the U.S., and album Take It All Away...
, a friend with whom she became romantically involved. As she said, "it was just really nice to be with somebody who's just real and who's nice — just a good person. So I wrote that about him, and when I finished it, I was so excited and so was he." (The two were reported to have broken up in August 2004, while the song was still high on the charts. They soon got back together before breaking up again in early 2005.) In another interview, she said "it's a feel good song, it's easy to listen to and every time I perform it or listen to it or whatever, ... it just feels good."
Jeff Rothschild played drums on the track, Shanks played guitars and bass, and Simpson and DioGuardi did background vocals. IGN.com
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said of the song that it "lopes along to a feel good melancholic guitar strum while [Simpson] waxes like any lovelorn 19-year old would about the current love of their life." Another review said that the "stringy" guitar riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
s in "Pieces of Me" were "simple, yet effective", with the "catchy chorus bringing the song to life." According to one review of the album, Simpson's singing on the track goes from "impassioned wail to innocent cooing ably." A UK review of the single called it "palatable" "as guitar-led lipstick confessionals go". It has also been described as a "perfect choice" for the album's first single, having "a tempo between fast and slow, with hints of both throughout the song."
Chart performance
"Pieces of Me" began receiving widespread radio play in the U.S. in May 2004, well before the album's release on July 20. According to an article in the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The 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....
, 97 stations added "Pieces of Me" to their play lists in the week ending on May 17, which it said was the strongest week for any single in 2004 at that point in the year. The song debuted 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...
at number 61 in June 2004 (the chart's top début for the week) and reached the top ten in August with a rise from number 13 to number nine. It then rose to number eight the next week, where it spent two weeks before peaking at number five on the Hot 100 in September 2004. After spending one week at number five, it fell to number six and then to number seven. "Pieces of Me" remained in the top 50 on the Hot 100 chart until November 2004. It also reached number one on the Billboard Top 40 Tracks chart. The single was certified gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in October 2004 and platinum in January 2005. "Pieces of Me" was number 39 on Billboard
The U.S. CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
single was released by Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
on June 29, 2004, and debuted at number three in single sales (behind American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
stars Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Monique Barrino commonly known as Fantasia, is an American R&B singer, Broadway and television actress who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the reality television series American Idol in 2004. Following her victory, she released her debut single, "I Believe", which...
and Diana DeGarmo
Diana DeGarmo
Diana Nicole DeGarmo is an American singer and Broadway actress. She finished as the runner-up on the third season of the reality/talent-search television series American Idol, narrowly missing the win by about 2% out of over 65 million votes...
) with almost 8,000 copies sold. The single includes the album version of the song as well as an instrumental. On the cover, Simpson has dark hair, and the artwork is similar to that of the album Autobiography; an earlier, promotional version of the single shows a blonde Simpson with a yellow jacket. This promotional version includes only the original version of the song.
The single was released 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 September 27, 2004, on two CDs; the first includes a David Garcia & High Spies remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
, and the second includes remixes, a medley of snippets of songs from Autobiography ("Shadow", "Autobiography", "La La
La La (song)
"La La" is a song by the American singer Ashlee Simpson from her 2004 album Autobiography. In the U.S., it began its run as the album's third and final single on radio and television in November 2004; in the United Kingdom , a CD single was released in January 2005.-Song information:"La La", the...
", and "Better Off"), and the "Pieces of Me" music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
. "Pieces of Me" debuted at number four on 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 ...
for the week ending October 3 and remained in the top 40 for seven weeks.
Simpson has described her excitement when she first heard the song on the radio:
In 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...
, "Pieces of Me" made its début on the ARIA singles chart at number 14, and peaked for two weeks at number 7 in September; it fell out of the top 40 in late November 2004. "Pieces of Me" was also accredited as a gold single in Australia. In New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the song debuted on the 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...
top 40 singles chart at number 33 in September 2004, peaked at 32 the next week, and fell out of the top 40 after its third week.
In Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, "Pieces of Me" reached number 26 on the singles chart, and in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
it debuted at number 43 and peaked at 15 in its sixth week. In Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, it debuted at number 17 and peaked at 11 in its third week, in October 2004. In Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, "Pieces of Me" peaked at 24 in October 2004, in its fourth week on the top 50 singles chart after debuting at 47; after seven weeks, it fell out of the top 50. In Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, the song debuted at 5 and peaked at 4, after which it fell off the chart; in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, it reached a peak of number 31 on the singles chart, while in Norway it stayed on the top 20 singles chart for 12 weeks, peaking at 3 in its fifth week.
"Pieces of Me" is track 16 on the American Now That's What I Call Music! 17, a compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of popular music that was released on November 2, 2004. It also is track 12 on the American Now That's What I Call Music!, #1's, a compilation of songs that reached #1 or songs that reached a high standard on the Billboard Hot 100; the compilation was released in January 2006.
In Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, "Pieces of Me" was a popular hit on radios reaching the top spot in domestic and international top in Japan Radio. It also reached the top 5 in countries such as Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
On television
The music video for the song, directed by Stefan Smith, features Simpson (wearing a white shirt emblazoned with the word "punk" and a pink dress) and her band in the studio interspersed with clips of reality TV footage. The video is fairly simplistic, and Simpson refers to the more elaborate video for her second single, "Shadow", as her first "real" video.Simpson appeared on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
on May 17, 2004, and the "Pieces of Me" video was premiered on the show on this date. On June 2, she also appeared on the show and performed the song. The video did not debut on the countdown's top ten until July 19; however, it reached number one for the first time on August 4 and remained on the countdown through September 13. The "Shadow" video premiered on the following day and took the place of "Pieces of Me" on the countdown.
Simpson has frequently performed "Pieces of Me" live, including a number of notable television performances. She sang the song at Summer Music Mania on May 20, and it aired on FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
on June 1. Simpson sang "Pieces of Me" (followed by a brief interview with Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
) on the May 24, 2004 episode of The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
, and she also sang the song on The Late Show with David Letterman on July 16. She performed "Pieces of Me" (after a brief interview with Charles Gibson
Charles Gibson
Charles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson is a former American broadcast television anchor and journalist. He was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and 1999 to 2006 and anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009....
) on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
on July 19, the day before her album was released in the U.S., and on July 27, she sang it (after an interview) on Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...
's talk show, On Air With Ryan Seacrest
On Air with Ryan Seacrest
On Air with Ryan Seacrest is an American syndicated television talk show, which ran from January 12, 2004, through September 17, 2004. It was distributed in the United States and Canada by Twentieth Television.-Series background:...
. On August 8 she performed "Pieces of Me" on the Teen Choice Awards, and the song also received the "Song of the Summer" award. On August 29, Simpson performed the song during the pre-show for the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
.
The song made its debut somewhat later in the United Kingdom, where the album was also released several months after it was in the U.S. In September 2004, Simpson made several notable television appearances in the UK in which she performed the song, including on Top of the Pops (September 17), Top of the Pops Saturday (September 25), CD:UK and Popworld.
Later in 2004, on the October 23–24 episode of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, Simpson performed "Pieces of Me" as her first of two songs that night; when she started to perform her second song (which was supposed to be "Autobiography"), a recording of "Pieces of Me" was mistakenly played instead, indicating that Simpson was using some sort of vocal aid (she later explained it as being due to her acid reflux
Gastroesophageal reflux disease
Gastroesophageal reflux disease , gastro-oesophageal reflux disease , gastric reflux disease, or acid reflux disease is chronic symptoms or mucosal damage caused by stomach acid coming up from the stomach into the esophagus...
condition). For her next performance, at the Radio Music Awards on October 25, Simpson poked fun at the SNL incident by having some of "Pieces of Me" play at the beginning of her performance, to suggest that she was caught in the same situation as before, only to then smile and exclaim that she was "just kidding", and begin performing "Autobiography".
She subsequently performed "Pieces of Me" (in addition to a performance of "La La") on Jingle Ball Rock, a television special on FOX featuring performances by a number of popular artists; it was taped on December 3 and aired on the evening of December 17. She also sang the song as part of a concert broadcast live over the Internet on December 6, and during the performance she pulled a member of the audience up on stage with her. Simpson later performed the song on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest is a television program that airs every New Year's Eve on ABC. It has been hosted by Dick Clark since its first airing on Sunday, December 31, 1972. Ryan Seacrest has been the program's co-host since the December 31, 2005 telecast...
2005, in which she also hosted the West Coast portion of the show.
The video for "Pieces of Me" was nominated for "Best Pop Video" for the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
, but lost to Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...
's "Since U Been Gone
Since U Been Gone
"Since U Been Gone" is a song written and produced by Max Martin and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald for American singer Kelly Clarkson. The song was released as the second single from her second album, Breakaway in the US and Australia and was released as the first single in Europe...
". The video was also nominated for the same category for the 2005 MTV Australia Video Music Awards, but lost to Guy Sebastian
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. He is currently a judge on the Australian version of The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi platinum albums, including a number-one and...
's "Out with My Baby
Out with My Baby
"Out with My Baby" is a song by Australian R&B artist Guy Sebastian. Out With My Baby was co-written by Guy Sebastian and Robin Thicke, the renowned US/Canadian R&B artist. Thicke also produced this single for Sebastian...
".
As part of the promotion for her third album, Bittersweet World
Bittersweet World
Bittersweet World is the third studio album by American recording artist Ashlee Simpson. It was released in the United States on April 22, 2008. Simpson worked on the album with producers Timbaland, Chad Hugo, and Kenna. It has been described by Simpson as a "fun party album" with a "silly and...
, Simpson performed "Pieces of Me", together with her newer single "Little Miss Obsessive
Little Miss Obsessive
"Little Miss Obsessive" is the second and final single from Ashlee Simpson's third studio album, Bittersweet World. The song features the Plain White T's lead singer, Tom Higgenson, on vocals. Unlike much of Bittersweet World, it has a pop rock style and more characteristic of Simpson's previous...
", on The TODAY Show on April 18, 2008.
Cover versions
In 2005, country-rock singer Juice NewtonJuice Newton
Judith Kay "Juice" Newton is an American Pop music and Country singer, songwriter and guitarist...
recorded an acoustic version of "Pieces of Me" for the TV show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time. Canadian R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
group Jacksoul
Jacksoul
jacksoul, sometimes stylized as jackSOUL, was a Canadian soul and R&B band. Based in Toronto, the band was fronted by singer Haydain Neale, and was best known for their hits "Can't Stop" and "Still Believe in Love"....
covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
"Pieces of Me" on their 2006 cover album mySOUL
MySOUL
mySOUL is the fourth album by Canadian R&B/soul band jacksoul, released in 2006. The album comprises mainly covers of rock, pop and soul songs, although it also includes one original song by jacksoul singer and songwriter Haydain Neale....
. The album won the 2007 Juno Award
Juno Awards of 2007
The Juno Awards of 2007 were hosted in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada on the weekend ending 1 April 2007. These ceremonies honoured music industry achievements in Canada during most of 2006...
for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year
Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year
The Juno Award for "R&B/Soul Recording of the Year" has been awarded since 1985, as recognition each year for the best rhythm and blues/soul album in Canada.-Best R&B/Soul Recording :*1985 - Liberty Silver, Lost Somewhere Inside Your Love...
. "Pieces of Me" has also been covered by the DC-based go-go band Rare Essence
Rare Essence
Rare Essence, is an American go-go band, originally from Washington, D.C.-Career:The band developed from a relationship between four childhood friends: Quinten "Footz" Davidson, Andre "Whiteboy" Johnson, Michael "Funky Ned" Neal and John Jones...
as well as Almost Better.
The song appears in the game Karaoke Revolution Party.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Pieces of Me".U.S. CD single
Total time:7:17
- "Pieces of Me (Album version)" - 3:37
- "Pieces of Me (Instrumental)" - 3:40
UK CD single
Total time:6:52
Catalog 9863811
- Pieces of Me (Album Version) - 3:37
- Pieces of Me (David Garcia & High Spies Remix Radio Edit) - 3:15
UK CD maxi single
Total time:11:44
Catalog 9863812
- "Pieces of Me (Radio Edit #2)" - 3:11
- "Pieces of Me (David Garcia & High Spies Remix Club Mix)" - 7:09
- "Pieces of Me (29 Palms Remix Vocal Edit)" - 4:04
- "Shadow/Autobiography/La La/Better Off (Snippet Medley)" - 5:20
- "Pieces of Me" (Video - Performance only version/International Version)
Australian CD single
Total time:13:59
- Pieces of Me (Radio Edit) - 3:13
- Pieces of Me (David Garcia & High Spies Remix Club Mix) - 7:06
- Pieces of Me (Instrumental) - 3:40
Canadian Enhanced CD single
Total time: ??:??
- Pieces of Me (Album Version) - 3:37
- Pieces of Me (Instrumental) - 3:40
- Better off (Bonus)
- Pieces of Me (Official Video)
Release history
| Country | Release date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | June 29, 2004 | 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... |
| United States | ||
| United Kingdom | August 16, 2004 |
Charts
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| American Top 40 American Top 40 American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. Originally a production of Watermark Inc... |
1 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart 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... |
7 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Belgian Singles Chart 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... (Flanders) |
3 |
| Belgian Singles Chart 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... (Wallonia) |
42 |
| Brazilian Jovem Pan FM Hit Parade Jovem Pan FM Jovem Pan is a large Brazilian FM radio station. The name is derived from the word jovem, which means "young", and Panamericana. The latter comes from the name of one of the earliest radio stations in Brazil, Rádio Panamericana, which began broadcasting from São Paulo on May 3, 1944 and was... |
7 |
| Danish Singles Chart Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
4 |
| Dutch Singles Chart Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
27 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
45 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
13 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 48 |
| 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... Singles Chart |
32 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
3 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 31 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 11 |
| 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 ... |
4 |
| 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... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 1 |