Good Luck, Babe!
2024 single by Chappell Roan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Good Luck, Babe!" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Chappell Roan, released as a single on April 5, 2024, through Amusement Records and Island Records. Roan wrote the song with Justin Tranter and Dan Nigro, who produced it. A 1980s-influenced power ballad, "Good Luck, Babe!" incorporates synth-pop, new wave, and dance, with elements of baroque pop and soft rock. Its maximalist production consists of pulsing synthesizers and a string section. Its lyrics vengefully address a queer woman who denies her romantic feelings for Roan in order to enter a compulsory heterosexual relationship.
| "Good Luck, Babe!" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Chappell Roan | ||||
| B-side | "Read & Make Out" (demo) | |||
| Released | April 5, 2024 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:38 | |||
| Label |
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| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Dan Nigro | |||
| Chappell Roan singles chronology | ||||
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| Lyric video | ||||
| "Good Luck, Babe!" on YouTube | ||||
Music critics acclaimed Roan's vocals, the production, and the storytelling lyrics. Many publications included "Good Luck, Babe!" in their rankings of the best songs of 2024; NME, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone placed it at number one on their lists. The single became Roan's breakout song and a sleeper hit; it peaked at number five on the Billboard Global 200 chart, reached number one on charts in Ireland and Poland, and reached the top five in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, and the US. It has been certified platinum in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, New Zealand, Portugal, Poland, the UK, and the US.
Roan performed "Good Luck, Babe!" at Coachella, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, where it was nominated for Song of Summer. The song was nominated for Best Song at the 2024 MTV Europe Music Awards; and for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in 2025. It won the Brit Award for International Song at the Brit Awards 2025 and topped the Triple J Hottest 100, 2024.
Release
In April 2024, Roan sent an email to fans stating that her new single "Good Luck, Babe!" would be released on April 5, 2024, writing that the song is "about wishing good luck to someone who is denying fate."[1] She added that it would be the "first song of the next chapter," following the release of her debut studio album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess in September 2023.[2][3] Amusement Records and Island Records released the single through streaming and digital download on April 5, 2024.[4] An accompanying lyric video for "Good Luck, Babe!" was released on that day.[5] Inspired by early Internet culture imagery, the video includes extensive use of the Comic Sans typeface.[6] The song was later released as a limited-edition 7-inch vinyl on June 28, 2024.[7] Roan has expressed reluctance to make a music video, citing burnout and exhaustion from continuous touring and recording new material.[8]
Writing and composition
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Co-writers Dan Nigro (left) and Justin Tranter (right)
Roan wrote "Good Luck, Babe!" with Justin Tranter and Dan Nigro, stating that she "was just wanting to write a big anthemic pop song", and that it "was a bitch to write".[9] The song originated in November 2022, during the making of The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, as a "scratch idea" titled "Good Luck, Jane!", consisting of just a verse and a chorus.[10][11] Roan and Nigro recorded a demo of the song, but Nigro said that it "felt like it wasn't right" at the time.[10] The two revisited the song a few months later and adjusted the chorus so that Roan sang some of the words in full voice.[10] Nigro said that Roan wrote the bridge herself "in like two minutes".[10]
Lyrically, the song speaks about compulsory heterosexuality, with Roan describing a relationship with a woman who tries to deny her romantic feelings for Roan and women in general.[12] Musically, "Good Luck, Babe!" has been described as a pop,[13] synth-pop,[13][14][15] new wave,[16] and dance[17] power ballad[18] with elements of baroque pop[19][20] and soft rock,[21] and '80s new wave synths.[21][19] The song is composed in the key of D major and has a shifting tempo centered around 117 beats per minute.[22] Roan's vocal range spans from the low note A3 to the high note of F♯5.[23]
Critical reception
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"Good Luck, Babe!" received acclaim upon release,[24][25][26] with many declaring it Roan's breakthrough hit. Critics were particularly enthused by Roan's powerful vocal showcase, observing that it was symbolic of her concurrent ascent in popularity.[27][28] Sydney Brasil of Exclaim! opined that the song was "a more realized version of her baroque pop vision, both airy and devastating in its delivery".[19] Stephen Daw from Billboard praised the combination of Nigro's production with Roan's vocal performance, writing, "The maximalist production—featuring chunky '80s synths and a multi-piece string section—fuels Roan's octave-jumping voice... As frustration, flirtation and self-confidence ooze from every syllable of Roan's impeccable delivery, it's no wonder why audiences are clamoring for more of the superstar's exceptional artistry".[27] Several commentators drew comparisons of Chappell Roan to the likes of prominent musicians of the 1980s, such as Kate Bush, Wham!, and Cyndi Lauper.[29] Shaad D'Souza of The New York Times compared Roan's vocals to those of singer Liza Minnelli, positing that the song highlights a theatrical element to how she delivers her narrative lyrics.[30]
Speaking for NPR, Sheldon Pearce chose the track as the best pop song of the year, writing of the refrain: "'You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling' is such a monumental read that feels like a gut punch. It's the kind of direct emotional attack that you can't escape even as a bystander".[31] Mary Kate Carr of The A.V. Club similarly praised the songwriting as an improvement from her debut album and "brimming with righteous anger".[32] Other critics praised the vivid storytelling of the bridge;[33] Jason P. Frank of Vulture praised it as a strong case against a current trend of artists omitting a bridge to shorten tracks.[34] Pitchfork named it one of the best songs of the first half of the 2020s.[35]
The song made it to number one on Australian radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 countdown for 2024.
| Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard | The 50 Best Songs of 2024 (So Far) | 3 | [27] |
| Consequence | 100 Best Songs of 2024 (So Far) | 7 | [36] |
| Los Angeles Times | The 24 best songs of 2024 so far | N/A | [37] |
| The New York Times | The 40 Best Songs of 2024 (So Far) | N/A | [38] |
| Rolling Stone | The Best Songs of 2024 So Far | N/A | [28] |
| NPR | The best songs of 2024 (so far) | N/A | [31] |
| The A.V. Club | 25 Best Songs of 2024 (So Far) | N/A | [32] |
| Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| NME | The 50 Best Songs of 2024 | 1 | [39] |
| The Guardian | The 20 Best Songs of 2024 | 1 | [40] |
| Rolling Stone | The 100 Best Songs of 2024 | 1 | [41] |
| The Independent | The 20 Best Songs of 2024 | 2 | [42] |
| Billboard | The 100 Best Songs of 2024 | 2 | [43] |
| Business Insider | The Best Songs of 2024 | 2 | [44] |
| USA Today | 10 Best Songs of 2024 | 2 | [45] |
| Pitchfork | The 100 Best Songs of 2024 | 3 | [46] |
| Exclaim! | The 20 Best Songs of 2024 | 4 | [47] |
| Stereogum | The 50 Best Songs of 2024 | 5 | [48] |
| The New York Times | Best Songs of 2024 | 9 | [49] |
| ELLE | The Best New Songs of 2024 | N/A | [50] |
| Associated Press | Top Songs of 2024 | N/A | [51] |
| UPROXX | The Best Songs of 2024 | N/A | [52] |
Commercial performance
"Good Luck, Babe!" debuted at number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending April 20, 2024, becoming Roan's first entry on the chart and a sleeper hit. It reached number four on the chart dated September 28, 2024.[54] It was certified quadruple platinum in the US on January 22, 2025, for sales exceeding four million units.[55] It also reached number one on Billboard's Pop Airplay chart and nine on the Adult Pop Airplay chart. On November 29, 2024, it became Roan's first song to reach one billion streams on Spotify, which Roan described as "cuckoo loco" on social media.[56][57]
"Good Luck, Babe!" topped the singles chart in Ireland and reached number two on the UK singles chart, becoming Roan's highest-charting single. It reached the top ten in Singapore (#4), Australia (#5), New Zealand (#7), Canada (#8), Iceland (10), and on the Global 200 (#10). It was certified four-times platinum in Canada, double platinum in New Zealand, Poland, and the UK, platinum in Greece, and Portugal, and gold in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, and Spain.[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69]
Impact
Upon charting on the Billboard Hot 100, Hannah Jocelyn, writing for the publication, posited that the song's overt LGBTQ themes represented a breakthrough for not just Roan's career, but also a wider movement of young LGBTQ pop artists.[29] Natalie Sofia agreed, arguing that chart-topping "queer anthems" are imbued with subtext, blurring the lines between homosexual and heterosexual relationships at the expense of LGBTQ themes. She argued that Roan's inclusion of such themes spoke to her authenticity as an artist.[70] Juliana Tanner of The Michigan Daily echoed such optimism, commending Roan for not leaving any room for ambiguity in her homosexuality despite facing cynicism in the past, and avoiding fetishization of lesbian relationships for male audiences.[71]
Live performances and cover versions
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Roan debuted "Good Luck, Babe!" at SOMA San Diego on February 22, 2024,[72] and a few months later it was added to the set list of the Midwest Princess Tour, performing it at her first Coachella set in April 2024.[73] Her first televised performance of the song was in June 2024, when she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[74] On September 11, Roan performed the song at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. The medieval-themed costuming and production design attracted considerable praise.[75][76]
In June 2024, Sabrina Carpenter covered "Good Luck, Babe!" as part of a set for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge; Carpenter had previously shared that she was a fan of the song.[77] Her version charted at number 75 on the UK Video Streaming Chart for the week of July 4, 2024.[78] After sharing an admiration for Roan's music, Kelly Clarkson and Miranda Lambert performed a duet cover version of "Good Luck, Babe!" on The Kelly Clarkson Show in September 2024.[79] "Good Luck, Babe!" has also been covered by various acts including Muna,[80] Franz Ferdinand,[81] the Jonas Brothers, Cxloe, Girl in Red,[82] and Sondre Lerche.[83] In December 2024, Filipino singer Sarah Geronimo covered the song on the Philippine variety program ASAP, altering the lyrics to make them heteronormative. The lyric changes went viral, with many Filipinos criticizing the perceived erasure and "censorship" of the song's lesbian themes, exacerbated by the fact that Roan is openly a lesbian.[84]
The song has also been covered by Post Modern Jukebox.
Accolades
| Organization | Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTV Video Music Awards | 2024 | Song of Summer | Nominated | [85] |
| MTV Europe Music Awards | 2024 | Best Song | Nominated | [86] |
| Danish Music Awards | 2024 | International Song of the Year | Nominated | [87] |
| Triple J | 2025 | Hottest 100 of 2024 | 1 | [88] |
| BRIT Awards | 2025 | International Song of the Year | Won | [89] |
| Grammy Awards | 2025 | Record of the Year | Nominated | [90] |
| Song of the Year | Nominated | |||
| Best Pop Solo Performance | Nominated | |||
| iHeartRadio Music Awards | 2025 | Best Lyrics | Nominated | [91] |
| American Music Awards | 2025 | Favorite Pop Song | Pending | [92] |
Charts
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Weekly charts |
Monthly charts
Year-end charts
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Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[183] | 5× Platinum | 350,000‡ |
| Austria (IFPI Austria)[64] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| Belgium (BRMA)[65] | Platinum | 40,000‡ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[58] | 4× Platinum | 320,000‡ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[66] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| France (SNEP)[67] | Platinum | 200,000‡ |
| Italy (FIMI)[68] | Gold | 50,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[59] | 2× Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| Poland (ZPAV)[60] | 2× Platinum | 100,000‡ |
| Portugal (AFP)[62] | 2× Platinum | 20,000‡ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[69] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[63] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[55] | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000‡ |
| Streaming | ||
| Greece (IFPI Greece)[61] | Platinum | 2,000,000† |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | April 5, 2024 |
|
[4] | |
| United States | April 18, 2024 | Contemporary hit radio | [184] | |
| Various | June 28, 2024 | 7-inch single | [7] | |
| United States | July 15, 2024 | Hot adult contemporary radio | [185] | |
| Italy | August 22, 2024 | Radio airplay | Island Italy | [186] |
See also
References
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