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Billboard

The Billboard logo
Editor	Danyel Smith
Weekly
Circulation	16,327
First issue	1894
Company	Prometheus Global Media
Country	United States
Language	English
Website	www.billboard.com
ISSN	0006-2510

Billboard is an international newsweekly 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. The two most notable charts are the Billboard Hot 100, which ranks the top 100 songs regardless of genre and is based on digital sales, radio airplay, and internet streaming data; and the Billboard 200, the corresponding chart for album sales.

History[link]

A Billboard issue in 1896.

Billboard was founded in Cincinnati on November 1, 1894, by William h. Donaldson and James Hennegan.^[1][2] Originally titled Billboard Advertising it was a trade paper for the bill posting industry, hence the magazine's name.^[1] Within a few years of its founding, it began to carry news of outdoor amusements, a major consumer of billboard space. Eventually Billboard became the paper of record for circuses, carnivals, amusement parks, fairs, vaudeville, minstrels, whale shows and other live entertainment. The magazine began coverage of motion pictures in 1909 and of radio in the 1920s.

With the development of the jukebox industry during the 1930s, The Billboard began publishing music charts. Originally, there were only three genre-specific charts: Pop, Rhythm & Blues, and Country & Western. In the 1950s it introduced a section covering the television industry, including ratings charts for programs. It continued to carry news of fairs, carnivals, theme parks and other outdoor entertainments until 1961 when these departments were spun off into a new weekly magazine called Amusement Business. By this time the television coverage had also been moved to another publication.

At the start of 1961, The Billboard was renamed Billboard Music Week. The publication was now devoted almost entirely to the music industry, with some coverage of coin-operated vending and entertainment machines on its jukebox pages. The title was changed to simply Billboard at the start of 1963. In 2005, the magazine and its web sites were repositioned to provide coverage of all forms of digital and mobile entertainment.

Amusement Business prospered for a few decades, but was struggling by the beginning of the 21st Century. Shortly after then its frequency of publication was reduced to monthly, and it finally ceased publication following its May 2006 issue.

Billboard charts[link]

On January 4, 1936 The Billboard published its first music hit parade, and on July 20, 1940 the first Music Popularity Chart was calculated. Since August 4, 1958, the Hot 100 has been published, combining single sales and radio airplay.

Billboard currently puts out over 100 charts each week, the most popular ones being Hot 100, Billboard 200, and Hot 100 Airplay.

Radio countdown programs[link]

For many years, the weekly syndicated radio program American Top 40, hosted by Casey Kasem (July 4, 1970 to August 6, 1988), and Shadoe Stevens (August 13, 1988 to January 28, 1995), played the top 40 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in reverse order; in late November 1991, it switched to using the top 40 portion of the Hot 100 Airplay chart. Later, in early 1993, it began using the Top 40 Mainstream chart until it temporarily went off the air in 1995. When the show returned in 1998, it no longer used Billboard charts as its source, instead relying on Mediabase charts based purely on radio airplay.

A country music version of American Top 40, called American Country Countdown, has been on the air since October 1973. The show is hosted each week by Kix Brooks of the country duo Brooks & Dunn, who replaced radio legend Bob Kingsley in January 2006. American Country Countdown used the top 40 songs of the Hot Country Songs chart until August 2009.

[edit] Billboard today

Billboard Publications became a major trade magazine publisher, acquiring The Hollywood Reporter, Kirkus Reviews, Adweek and Mediaweek. It was acquired by Dutch publisher VNU (later renamed the Nielsen Company) in 1993, but later sold in 2009 along with the other Nielsen Business Media properties to the new company e5 Global Media, which was renamed in 2010 to Prometheus Global Media.^[3]

Billboard is intended for music professionals, such as record label executives, artists, music retailers, and radio DJs. Although it is generally considered a business-to-business magazine, it can be found at many consumer bookstores and magazine stands, particularly in cities with a large music industry presence such as New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Miami. Editorial coverage and broader strategy are guided by its editorial director, Bill Werde.

Much of the magazine is available at Billboard's B2B site, Billboard.biz. Billboard.com is the consumer-centered site, and includes artist interviews, daily news and charts.

Billboard Books[link]

The group behind the billboard has an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group (itself a part of Random House) known as Billboard Reads, which bought the imprint from Nielsen in 2008. The publishing agency describes itself as "a leading publisher of music and entertainment titles".^[4]

See also[link]

• American Top 40
• Billboard Brasil (local Brazilian version of Billboard magazine)
• Billboard Touring Awards
• Billboard Türkiye (local Turkish version of Billboard magazine)
• Billboard Chile (local Chilean version of Billboard magazine)^[5]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Durkee, Rob. American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century. Schriner Books, New York City, 1999.
• Battistini, Pete, American Top 40 with Casey Kasem The 1970s. Authorhouse.com, January 31, 2005. ISBN 1-4184-1070-5.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Billboard magazine

• Official Billboard website
• Billboard archive on Google Books

Diana "Wynter" Gordon (born August 25, 1985 in South Jamaica, Queens, New York) is an American pop/dance singer-songwriter. She began as a writer for other artists, later signing with Atlantic Records where she began working on an album while continuing to write songs for other acts and providing vocals on songs. Her debut With the Music I Die was released in 2011.

Early life[link]

Gordon was born in Queens, New York City and was brought up in a poor and dangerous neighborhood in South Jamaica. She is the middle child of six, they lived in a two bedroom house.^[1] She recalled in an interview that many people she knew were deceased at a young age, because they "got into the wrong things".^[1] However, she refused to call her childhood difficult, she said that "if things were rough, I didn't feel it," explaining that the familiarity of the environment that she grew up in prevented her from objectively describing it.^[1] She attributed her well being to her strict mother who did not allow her to leave the yard and told her to go to the library after school.^[1] Her mother remarried when Gordon was 5, but Gordon did not have a close relationship with her step father.^[2] Her strict upbringing resulted in a strained relationship with her parents.^[2]

Gordon began singing at a young age and she began singing at funerals from the age of 6.^[1] She and her siblings would perform together in church and at street corners by her parents.^[2] They were strict about the music that Gordon and her siblings sang, only allowing them to listen to and sing gospel.^[2] However, Gordon would listen to the radio when her parents were not at home and recorded songs from the radio onto tapes that she smuggled into the house.^[2] It was during high school that Gordon decided that she was going to pursue music.^[3] She was later accepted to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts^[2] and interned at a record company.^[3] Gordon wrote her first complete song, "Daddy's Song" at age 15.^[3]

Career[link]

2005–08: Career beginnings[link]

After high school, Wynter threw herself fully into realizing her music dreams, while also dealing with surviving on her own for the first time. She juggled several jobs while working in the studio at nights and as much as she could. During this time, Wynter met her manager, Keith White who introduced her to Don Pooh at Atlantic Records. Wynter worked closely with producer D'Mile since 2004 where they both came with her first track to fame, "Gonna Breakthrough" written by Wynter Gordon and produced by D'Mile was used as the title track to Mary J. Blige's 2005 album The Breakthrough. Soon after, Wynter was given an opportunity and signed to Atlantic Records, through Don Pooh Music Group, where she has been working on her debut album since 2004. Also, in 2008, Wynter penned two tracks for Danity Kane's second album Welcome to the Dollhouse, "2 of You" and "Do Me Good".

[edit] 2009–present: With the Music I Die and New Recordings

Wynter co-wrote the single "Sugar", a track that she was featured on with Flo Rida on his album R.O.O.T.S. (2009) after laying down a reference vocal.^[4] The track became an international hit and peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100. Wynter also co-wrote and sang on the dance track "Toyfriend" from French DJ David Guetta's album One Love (2009). She worked closely with Jennifer Lopez, writing four tracks including "What Is Love", "What Is Love Part II", "Starting Over" and "Everybody's Girl" for her seventh studio album Love? (2011). Wynter is also writing for artists including Adrienne Bailon, Estelle & Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester.^[4]

She released her debut album, With the Music I Die, on June 17, 2011 in Australia. The first single from the album, "Dirty Talk" topped the US (Billboard) Hot Dance Club Songs and the Australian Singles Chart, and was certified 3x Platinum, The song was released in the UK and Ireland on 18 February 2011 where it peaked eight in Ireland and 25 in the UK. The song spent a total on eleven weeks inside the Top 40.^[5] The second single, "Til Death" has currently peaked on the Australian Singles Chart at 16 and number 3 on the US Dance Chart. She opened for Patrick Stump's second US tour in August and September. "Buy My Love" was released as the third single from "With The Music I Die".

Wynter announced via Twitter that she has already recorded some songs and hinted at her second studio album.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

Promotional singles[link]

As a featured artist[link]

Other appearances[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Natalie Imbruglia
Imbruglia at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
Background information
Birth name	Natalie Jane Imbruglia
Born	(1975-02-04) 4 February 1975 (age 37) Sydney, Australia
Genres	Pop, pop rock, alternative rock
Years active	1989–present
Labels	RCA / BMG (1997–2004) Brightside / Sony BMG (2004–2008) Malabar / Island (2009–2010)
Website	natalieimbruglia.com

Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( /ɪmˈbruːliə/; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress. In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Brennan in the popular Australian soap Neighbours. Three years after leaving the programme, Imbruglia launched a singing career with the international hit, "Torn". The subsequent debut album Left of the Middle (1997) sold over 7 million copies worldwide. Further releases, White Lilies Island (2001) and Counting Down the Days (2005), have been unable to match the commercial success of her debut, although the latter did become her first UK #1.

She co-starred in the 2003 film Johnny English and made her leading actress debut in the 2009 film Closed for Winter. Imbruglia is ranked #90 on VH1's Top 100 Sexiest Artists.^[1]

Early life[link]

Natalie was born on 4 February 1975, in Sydney, Australia, the first of the four daughters to Elliot Imbruglia, her father of Italian descent (originally a Sicilian from Lipari)^[2][3] and Maxene Anderson, her Anglo-Australian mother.^[4] Imbruglia grew up in Berkeley Vale, New South Wales, between Sydney and Newcastle. At the age of 15, she moved to Sydney with her family.^[2] Imbruglia studied ballet, tap, and highland dancing as a child, hoping to make a career out of it.

Imbruglia auditioned for Australian television commercials and appeared in spots for Coca-Cola and the popular Australian snack Twisties. By age 16, she left high school to start a career in acting. She soon obtained the chance to play a regular role on the Australian soap opera Neighbours.^[5] By the end of her second year, she left the show to move to London in 1994,^[2] immersing herself in the city's club scene. Natalie occasionally met with Anne Barret, who would become her future manager and convinced her to register a demo with four songs.^[2] Her effort paid off and she was signed to BMG Publishing, after coming up with a demo of the song "Torn" which greatly impressed RCA Records.

Career[link]

[edit] 1997–2000: Left of the Middle

She has received an MTV Award for Best New Artist in 1998, and 3 constitutive Grammy Award nominations in 1999. She has sold over 9 million albums worldwide. She was ranked No. 11 on Rock on the Net's list of single artists of the year in 1998, and No. 76 in 2001. Imbruglia has tied up her 4-album record deal with BMG after the delivery of her compilation album, Glorious: The Singles 1997–2007.

Imbruglia's first internationally released single, "Torn" (1997) (original version from Danish singer Lis Sørensen "Brænt"), was a cover of an Ednaswap song. Instantly the single became one of the biggest hits of the 90s, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart in November 1997^[6] and number one on airplay around the world and was number one on the Billboard Airplay chart for 14 weeks. The single went on to sell over a million copies in the United Kingdom alone.

It was also released as a radio single in the US, but not in buyable CD-format. The single quickly hit No. 1 on the Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart, where it stayed for 14 weeks. At the time, singles not released commercially were unable to chart to the overall Hot 100 chart (combined sales and airplay), so "Torn" made no appearance on it for a while. By the time the policy was changed in late 1998 to allow airplay-only songs, "Torn" was already heading down the charts, so its peak on the Hot 100 only ended up being at #42. The single also topped the Top 40 Mainstream/CHR Pop and Adult Top 40 charts.

In October 1997, it broke the all-time airplay record in the UK for being the most played (more than 2000 plays) for six consecutive weeks. It was finally No. 1 for 14 weeks in the UK radio chart, a record that is being tied by only Simply Red's Fairground. It was the No. 1 radio single in the US from March to July 1998. It was knocked down to No. 2 by The Goo Goo Dolls' Iris.

Rick Dees, in his Top 40 Chart show also declared "Torn" as the 'number one radio single of 1990s' in their 2000 Millennium Countdown show, broadcast from KIIS-FM on New Year's Eve.

Imbruglia made a surprise appearance alongside David Armand midway through a performance of his 'interpretative dance' routine to sing her hit song Torn at Amnesty International's The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006).

Imbruglia's debut album Left of the Middle was released on 8 December 1997. It sold 350,000 copies in the UK 3 weeks after its initial release and was certified platinum. It has sold over 6 million copies to date. It broke the record of the highest selling debut album by a pop/rock/alternative female artist, more than Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, and Meredith Brooks combined in its first week according to Billboard. The second single released in the UK, after "Torn" was "Big Mistake", which debuted at number-two. "Wishing I Was There" followed and it was less successful than her first two singles, reaching number 19. However, "Wishing I Was There" was a smash hit on the UK radio, peaked at No. 2 in summer 1998, and was a summer smash hit in the US radio, peaked at No. 14 on the Top 40 Show. The final single from Left of the Middle was "Smoke", and the reception was much more divided compared to the other singles. It was a hit in the UK and made the top 5, while in Australia it just missed the top 40. Eventually, the album became a million-seller after charting well in many countries and entering the Top 10 in the US and UK. In 1999, she recorded a cover of the song Never Tear Us Apart by INXS with Tom Jones which appeared on his album Reload.

Left of the Middle was certified platinum by RIAA within 4 weeks of release (3 April 1998) and was certified 2X platinum in November 1998.

As of 2011, 'Torn' holds the record for most played song on Australian radio since 1990, played more than 300,500 times since its 1998 release, an average of 75 times a day, based on data compiled by the Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA).^[7]

[edit] 2001–2004: White Lilies Island and Johnny English

Imbruglia's next album, White Lilies Island, arrived in 2001. It is named after the island where her English and main home is situated on the banks of the River Thames at Windsor. The writing process, in which Imbruglia co-wrote every track, took almost three years to complete. The album's first single, "That Day", was very different stylistically from her previous singles, but it did not reach the UK Top 10. In the US, "Wrong Impression" was released as the first single and it enjoyed small success, charting in the Hot 100 Singles chart and the Adult Contemporary chart. The track was also released in the UK as a second single, and it did slightly better than That Day. "Beauty On The Fire", the final single, experienced minimal success and barely entered charts worldwide, and did not make the top 50 in Australia. The album, which gained brief notoriety in the Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal, still managed to sell over 1 million copies but failed to repeat the widespread success of Left of the Middle.

Imbruglia (centre) in Naples, Italy, in 2005

Imbruglia's third album was ready in November 2003. Imbruglia's record label refused to release it due to it being too rock and not radio-friendly. She was later given songs to record with Swedish pop producers, Bloodshy & Avant, which she refused to do. Imbruglia and her record label parted ways at the beginning of 2004. Four months later she signed with a new label Brightside Recordings, which was formed by a former Innocent Records executive, Hugh Goldsmith.

[edit] 2005–2008: Counting Down the Days

In April 2005, Imbruglia released her third studio album Counting Down the Days in the UK with "Shiver" as its first single. "Shiver" was a huge success, and it became her longest running single in the UK since "Torn." It topped UK airplay charts for several weeks, reaching eighth place in the UK charts. It also became the most played song of 2005. The song's acclaim and reception paid off and Counting Down The Days became her first album to reach the top spot on the album charts.

It was decided that 'Sanctuary' would be second single from the album. The promo singles were sent to radio stations. The decision was later changed to the title track "Counting Down the Days", with radio stations being asked to play the album version, because the radio mix was not finished. The single was released on 25 July but it did not have as much success in the singles chart as "Shiver," although it managed to reignite interest in its parent album and also received a lot of airplay in the UK. Due to the single, the album managed to re-enter the top 40 in the official UK charts.

Imbruglia had a choice to either release 'Perfectly' as her third single, or use the GBP200,000 funding from BMG to do a tour. She decided to do a small European tour (as she had not done a proper tour since Left of the Middle) in late October and November to promote the album. Though the album never entered UK Top 40 again, she proved once again that she had maintained a dedicated fan base; several concerts, especially those in London, sold out.

The album is the 100th best-selling album in 2005, selling 204,877 copies in the UK alone.^[8]

Imbruglia started working on her fourth album in late 2005. In mid 2007 the plans changed and Imbruglia's record company decided to release the single collection instead. The compilation is a celebration of Imbruglia's 10 years in the music industry. The only single lifted from the album – "Glorious" premiered in BBC Radio 1 on the Chris Moyles Show. The promotion included a special acoustic gig. It can be found on iTunes. The Singles Collection debuted at No. 5 in the UK Music charts, and boasted 5 new songs, including the single "Glorious", as well as a bonus DVD featuring all Imbruglia's Music Videos. The album has sold around 600,000 copies worldwide to date.

[edit] 2009–2011: Come to Life

Imbruglia in Bucharest, Romania, in 2008

She parted ways with her record label.^[9] She is no longer associated with Brightside Recordings. It has been confirmed that Imbruglia obtained the rights to the songs recorded for the album and is going to release her fourth studio album on her own independent label, Malabar Records.^[10] She confirmed that the songs included on the record were co-written with Ben Hillier, Dave McCracken, Daniel Johns, Gary Clark, Jamie Hartman, Paul Harris and Shep Solomon. Some of the tracks were produced by Hillier and mixed by Danton Supple, who previously collaborated with the singer on her album White Lilies Island. The album was scheduled to be released in March 2009 with the first single being sent to radio stations in February.^[11] It has now been confirmed by Imbruglia that the first single will be sent to radio around July, as she had a “last-minute inspiration" and also had some new material offered from Chris Martin.^[12] In an interview with BBC Radio 1 she said that "there is some electronic stuff in there". The album is confirmed to be titled Come to Life.^[13][14] According to The Sun, Imbruglia and Chris Martin of Coldplay collaborated on "a string of tracks, which are likely to feature on her forthcoming album".^[15] Martin later confirmed the information. In an interview he said he had asked Imbruglia to record one of the band's songs which, he thinks, turned out great adding "we've given her the best Coldplay song of all time [. . .] she sounds [. . .] brilliant on it. I think she has a very unique talent and an incredibly unique voice."^[16] She later stressed that she recorded two songs written by him saying "if Chris Martin calls with two songs, you don't think, you say, 'Yes'."^[17] It was confirmed that the songs were mixed by Michael Brauer. He also informed that there are actually three songs written by Chris, which were recorded by Imbruglia and that the album is finished and awaits mastering.^[18] Two songs – "My God" and "Apologise" – leaked to the Internet in early February. It was confirmed that the latter was co-written with Jamie Hartman of Ben's Brother and will not be included on her fourth album.^[19] A version of "Apologise" performed by Ben's Brother was released instead in 2009 as the first single from their second album, Battling Giants. Tracks confirmed to be part of the album include "Fun", "Lukas", and "Want", which were mixed by Michael Brauer.^[20] The music video for a pre-single track, "Wild About It", was filmed in London on 25 July 2009.^[21] In July 2009, it was announced that the album will be released via Island Records outside of Australia and New Zealand. A record deal for distribution in Australia and New Zealand is expected to be announced soon.^[22] Universal Music is set to release the album locally in Australia on 9 October 2009,^[23] and New Zealand on 5 October 2009.^[24][25]

The first official single taken from Come to Life, "Want", which was written by Imbruglia, Daniel Johns (credited Kat Kourtney), Gary Clark, and Chris Martin,^[26] was released on 28 September 2009, to critical acclaim, but poor worldwide chart performances.^[27] On 3 August 2009 the music video of "Wild About It" was released.

Come to Life was released on 12 October 2009 in Europe, and in the UK on 3 May 2010, with a new lead single "Scars". The video for "Scars" was filmed on 26 February 2010 according to her Twitter. "Scars" was sent to radio in the UK on 22 March 2010; however, due to no support from radio networks, the single release was cancelled. There was further news that the single would be released with a 5 July date, however the video and single cannot be found on the internet anywhere. The release of her album was also cancelled in the UK.

Imbruglia is currently working on her fifth album, which is scheduled for a Fall/Autumn 2012 release.

Other ventures[link]

In May 2010, after Dannii Minogue, who is a judge on the British version of The X Factor, declined to judge the Australian show, Imbruglia became one of the new judges instead. The series began airing on Channel Seven in the second half of 2010. The auditions took place in June 2010. Imbruglia mentors the Girls category and her final three contestants that she chose for the top twelve live stages were Hayley Teal, Sally Chatfield and India-Rose Madderom. Chatfield came second to Altyian Childs. Imbruglia has since been nominated for a TV Week Silver Logie for Most Popular TV Presenter. In March 2011, it was announced that she was replaced by Natalie Bassingthwaighte as a judge on the third season of The X Factor.^[28]

Personal life[link]

Natalie Imbruglia performs in Amsterdam, 1 November 2005

On New Year's Eve 2003, Imbruglia and her boyfriend of three and a half years, Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns, were married in a beach ceremony in Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia. While Imbruglia lived mainly in Windsor, Berkshire, UK, on an island named "White Lilies" (also the name of her second album), Johns lived in Newcastle, Australia.^[29] On 4 January 2008, Imbruglia and Johns released a statement announcing their divorce, citing distance as the main reason.^[30] However, the two remain friends.

Natalie Imbruglia is the eldest sister of singer-songwriter Laura Imbruglia.

Personal causes[link]

• Imbruglia is an ambassador for Virgin Unite and supports campaigns to end poverty and to bring attention to the disease known as obstetric fistula.
• She appeared in a sketch at the Secret Policeman's Ball for Amnesty International on 31 October 2006.
• She has also spoken publicly of suffering from clinical depression to raise awareness about the disorder.^[31]
• 2008 saw her support the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign in support of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, alongside fellow celebrities: comedian Alan Carr, DJ & presenter Edith Bowman, actress Anna Friel and supermodel Twiggy.

Looks and fashion[link]

Imbruglia was named 6th most naturally beautiful woman of all time in 2004.^[32] Audrey Hepburn topped the poll in which only experts like fashion editors, model agents and make-up artists could vote. The voting was decided on the "most naturally beautiful woman, inside and out". She was ranked 90th on the VH1 100 Sexiest Artists.^[33]

She has been seen sporting tattoos of Sanskrit/Hindi inscription "Shreya" on her neck, Chinese word for courage on her left foot and Sanskrit Aum on her lower back.

Imbruglia stated that she has never had any plastic surgery but added "I wouldn't rule it out because I don't know how I'll feel in the future." She also stated she'd like to "grow old gracefully, wrinkles and all".^[34]

Besides modelling for L'Oréal, Imbruglia also modelled Sass and Bide's "The Mad Ones" dress to raise money for cancer research.

Discography[link]

• Left of the Middle (1997)
• White Lilies Island (2001)
• Counting Down the Days (2005)
• Come to Life (2009)

Film career[link]

Television[link]

Endorsements[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Natalie Imbruglia

• Official website
• Natalie Imbruglia at the Internet Movie Database
• Article in the Indian press about Natalie Imbruglia's involvement in the Campaign to End Fistula
• Natalie Imbruglia discusses the global importance of the water cycle with Ecover Wateraid
• ELLE TV: A Trouser Suit Story

"Pumped Up Kicks" is a song by American indie pop band Foster the People. It was released as the group's debut single in September 2010, and the following year was included on their EP Foster the People and their debut album Torches. "Pumped Up Kicks" became the group's breakthrough hit and was one of the most popular songs of 2011. The song was written and recorded by frontman Mark Foster while he was working as a commercial jingle writer. Contrasting with the upbeat musical composition, the lyrics describe the homicidal thoughts of a troubled youth.

The track received considerable attention after it was posted online in 2010 as a free download, and it helped the group garner a multi-album record deal with Columbia Records imprint Startime International before they had issued a commercial release. The song became both a crossover hit and a sleeper hit in 2011, as it received significant airplay on modern rock and contemporary hit radio stations. The song spent eight consecutive weeks at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, making it the first Billboard Alternative Songs number-one single to crack the U.S. top 5 since Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" in 2009. The song was widely praised by critics, and it has been licensed for use in a wide range of popular media since its release. "Pumped Up Kicks" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Recording[link]

Soon after Mark Foster formed Foster the People in 2009, he wrote and recorded "Pumped Up Kicks" in five hours while working as a commercial jingle writer at Mophonics in Los Angeles.^[1][2] Thinking that he was just recording a demo, he played all of the instruments on the song. Ultimately, Foster's original version of the song is what ended up being released.^[3]

Composition and inspiration[link]