Beautiful Stranger is a Grammy Award winning song written and produced by Madonna and British song-writer and musician William Orbit, drawing heavily on the 1966 song "She Comes in Colors" by Love. "Beautiful Stranger" was written for the film soundtrack Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999). The song was released as a single in the middle of 1999. It was the last single Madonna released during the 1990s.
She Comes In Colors - Love
In the United States, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 1, 1999 at #78 and peaked at #19 on July 13, 1999 (after reaching the Top 40 on June 15) on the strength of radio airplay only, a considerable achievement at the time for a song that did not receive a commercial release. By not releasing a single, fans in the US had to purchase the soundtrack, which has sold two million copies in the US alone. "Beautiful Stranger" was also a hit on the Billboard dance charts, reaching number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart and number three on the Hot Dance Singles Sales Chart.
In the United Kingdom, the song was a huge hit, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart, being kept from the number one spot by S Club 7's "Bring It All Back". The song spent sixteen weeks on the singles chart, with seven of those being within the top twenty. "Beautiful Stranger" also became one of the most played songs on UK radio ever. At one point the song received 2,462 broadcasts per week. According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 520,000 copies there.
Elsewhere the song was also a hit, reaching number one in Canada, South Africa, Finland and Italy. It also went top five in Australia and top twenty in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and Japan. The single sold around 2.5 million copies worldwide.
It won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media in 2000.
Beautiful Stranger
"Beautiful Stranger" featured a retro music video that was directed by Brett Ratner and shot on May 1, 1999 at Universal Studios in Universal City, California. The video won in the category of 'Best Video from a Motion Picture' at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards.
1999 MTV Video Music Awards
That was a fun video. Her look really reminded me of her Susan character in Desperately Seeking Susan.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Fun, sexy and devilish. Good call JC.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably how Susan would be 14 years later.