"Bam Bam" is a song by Cuban-American singer

Camila Cabello Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is a Cuban-born American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. While in ...

, featuring vocals from English singer-songwriter

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

. It was released through

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

as the second single from Cabello's third studio album, '' Familia'', on March 4, 2022. "Bam Bam" is a

Latin pop Latin pop (in Spanish and in Portuguese: Pop latino) is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. Originating in Spanish-speaking musicians, Latin po ...

song with a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...

-infused pre-chorus and chorus. It marks the second collaboration between Cabello and Sheeran, following the earlier single, " South of the Border" (which also featured American rapper

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

), from Sheeran's fourth studio album, '' No.6 Collaborations Project'' (2019). "Bam Bam" reached number five on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 singles chart, Cabello's highest peak since the chart's creation in 2020. "Bam Bam" peaked at number twenty-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and peaked inside the top 10 in over 15 countries. In November 2022, the song won the

NRJ Music Award An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisi ...

for Collaboration of the Year. It was also nominated for

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance The Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 63rd Grammy Awards category rules, "this category ...

at the 2023 Grammy Awards.

Release and promotion

On February 6, 2022, Cabello posted a video of her sitting in a car and lip-syncing the lyrics to "Bam Bam". She announced the song on February 21, 2022, referring to Sheeran as "one of my favorite people and artists ever". The song's cover art sees Cabello sitting on a curb with ruined makeup. Six days later, she shared another snippet on the video-sharing app

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

, which saw her singing in both English and Spanish. On March 2, Cabello and Sheeran posted a joint teaser on Instagram.

Critical reception

"Bam Bam" received positive reviews from critics.

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

reviewed the song prior to release calling it "a break up bop" and dubbed the track as "a song of acceptance, hope and happiness". ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' called it "a bona fide breakup bop". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' stated in their review that "Camila Cabello brought the ''azúcar'' to all the right places with the release of her salsa-infused "Bam Bam" featuring Ed Sheeran." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described the song as a "gyrating pop number

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

oozes Latin charm, with a warm tropical breeze blowing through" Katie Bain for ''Billboard'' described it as "a really catchy, accessible and breezy song that’s easy to like" ''Billboard'' named "Bam Bam" a contender for song of summer 2022. "Bam Bam" won the 'International Collaboration of the Year' Award at the

NRJ Music Awards An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisi ...

of 2022. "Bam Bam" is also nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group at the upcoming 2023 Grammy Awards, Cabello's fourth nomination, and second in the Best Pop Duo/Group Category.

Commercial performance

In its first week after release "Bam Bam" landed at number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and rose in its eighth week to a peak of 21, making it Cabello's 7th highest charting song ever on the Hot 100. Bam Bam became Cabello's eighth top-40 hit on the Hot 100. The song debuted at Number 2 on the US Digital Song Sales chart. Bam Bam peaked at number 8 on the US Pop Airplay chart, Cabello's 8th Top 10 entry and highest since her release of " My Oh My" in 2020. Bam Bam charted for 20 weeks on the BB100 before going recurrent and exiting. Bam Bam debuted at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 marking Cabello's highest entry on the chart, it then rose and peaked at number 5 on the chart, marking Cabello's first top 5 entry. In the UK, "Bam Bam" debuted on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at Number 22, before rising to number 7, marking Cabello's fifth Top 10 entry. In Ireland, Bam Bam peaked at number 4 on the Irish Singles Chart. In Canada "Bam Bam" debuted at Number 10 on the Canadian Hot 100, before rising to number 4, making it Cabello's 3rd Top 5 hit in Canada. It peaked at number 4 on the Canada AC, and number 2 on Canadian Pop Radio. In Australia "Bam Bam" debuted at Number 19 on the

ARIA Singles Chart 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 songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, before reaching a new peak of 11, marking Cabello's third highest charting song in Australia, it remained at number 11 for two consecutive weeks. Overall "Bam Bam" has reached the Top 10 in 18 countries. "Bam Bam" is currently the 2nd most streamed female lead song released in 2022 on Spotify as of November 2022. It also spent its first 100 days after release inside the top 10 of the iTunes Worldwide Chart. The music platform Deezer announced "Bam Bam" was the most streamed female song of 2022 on the platform, and 3rd most overall.

Awards and nominations

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="width: 50%;" , - ! scope="col" , Year ! scope="col" , Ceremony ! scope="col" , Category ! scope="col" , Result , - , rowspan="6", 2022 ,

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, , - ,

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

, Best Cinematography , , - ,

Nickelodeon Mexico Kids' Choice Awards The Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards Mexico is an annual awards show that awards entertainers with a blimp trophy, as voted by children on the Internet. The show is usually held in September and televised days later through Nickelodeon. Hosts Ed ...

, International Hit of the Year , , - , rowspan=2,

, International Song of the Year , , - , International Collaboration of the Year , , - ,

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

, Collaboration of the Year ,

Music video

The music video for "Bam Bam", directed by Mia Barnes, premiered on March 4, 2022. It reached 50M views within the first month. 5 months after release it surpassed 100M views. As the video starts, Cabello is sitting on a curbside at night, drinking beer and eating ice cream, presumably miserable over the aftermath of the breakup. As the song starts, she then goes into a club called "Life is Beautiful" where a party is going on and dances while dressed up and having fun with the party-goers. Meanwhile, as Sheeran's verse starts, he is sitting at a table and receives a notification that his ride was cancelled, and goes into the same club as Cabello, where he pulls out the guitar and starts playing. As the song progresses, it intercuts with scenes of Cabello walking with her friends, being rolled around in a shopping cart, and in a limousine in the rain. Sheeran playing his guitar is intercut multiple times. The final minute features Cabello and her friends in a laundromat playing with lingerie, then it cuts to the morning where she tosses a striped bucket hat to some patrons and smiles as it cuts to her in another building getting ready to do some yoga as the video ends. The official lyric video was released on March 10, 2022. A second lyric video was released on April 8, 2022, alongside other lyric videos for the release of Cabello's album ''Familia''.

Live performances

On March 4, the day that "Bam Bam" was released, Cabello performed the song for the first time on ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...

''. On March 29, Cabello and Sheeran performed the song for the first time together at the ''

Concert for Ukraine ''Concert for Ukraine'' was a two-hour benefit concert in the United Kingdom organised by ITV plc, Livewire Pictures, Global Radio and the Disasters Emergency Committee to raise funds for people affected by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine t ...

'' benefit concert at

Resorts World Arena The Resorts World Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena located at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Solihull, England. It has a capacity of 15,685 seats. The venue was built as the seventh hall of the NEC complex. After 18 months of constr ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, where Cabello also performed a cover of "

Fix You "Fix You" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all four members of the band for their third studio album, '' X&Y'' (2005). It was released on 5 September 2005 as the second single from ''X&Y'' and reached number 4 on the ...

" by

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

. On April 10, Cabello performed a solo performance of the song on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

''. On April 12, Cabello performed "Bam Bam" solo on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'', alongside other songs ''Familia''. On May 28, Cabello performed the song in the

2022 UEFA Champions League Final The 2022 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, the 67th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 30th season since it was renamed from the European Champio ...

. On June 4 and 5, Cabello performed the song during the Wango Tango and WAZMATAZZ music festivals in California. "Bam Bam" was used in promotional material for Season 22 of

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

, which Cabello will be a judge for. Bam Bam was performed as part of Cabello's promo TikTok concert: 'Familia: Welcome to the Family' as the closing performance.

Credits and personnel

– lead vocals, songwriting *

– featured vocals, songwriting *

Ricky Reed Eric Burton Frederic (born July 23, 1982), known professionally as Ricky Reed, is an American artist, music producer, singer, songwriter, and founder of Nice Life Recording Company. From 2005 to 2014, Reed was also known as Wallpaper. Early w ...

– production, songwriting, programming *

Edgar Barrera Édgar Barrera aka Edge is a Mexican songwriter, Record producer, producer, and musician based in Miami, Florida. He has won a total of 20 Latin Grammys and 1 Grammy Award including "Producer of The Year" in 2021. He has written and produced son ...

– production, songwriting, programming *

Cheche Alara Ezequiel "Cheche" Alara is a Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning music composer, producer, music director, conductor and keyboardist. He is the composer for "The Titan Games" on NBC (hosted by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), "Death by Magic" (Netflix), "T ...

– production, songwriting, arrangement * Scott Harris – songwriting * Daniel Uribe – miscellaneous production * Antonio Sol – background vocals * Carlos Murguía – background vocals * James Zavaleta – background vocals * Ramon Stagnaro – guitar * Carlitos del Puerto – bass * George Shelby – saxophone * Harry Kim – trumpet * Michael Cordóne – trumpet * Gerardo Rodriguez – trumpet * Eric Jorgensen – trombone * Luis Conte – percussion * Kevin Ricard – percussion *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

– mixing * Michelle Mancini – mastering * Bill Malina – engineering * Ethan Shumaker – engineering * James Kirk – engineering assistance * Logan Taylor – engineering assistance

Charts

Weekly charts

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" , + Weekly chart performance for "Bam Bam" ! scope="col", Chart (2022) ! scope="col", Peak
position , - , - , - , - , - , - ! scope="row", Bulgaria (

PROPHON The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...

) , 6 , - , - , - , - , - ! scope="row" ,

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

(''

'') , 22 , - , - , - ! scope="row", El Salvador (

Monitor Latino Monitor Latino (stylised monitorLATINO) is a singles chart founded in 2003 which ranks songs on chart based on airplay across radio stations in Latin American countries and Hispanic radio stations in the United States using the Radio Tracking Data ...

) , 20 , - ! scope="row", Finland (

Suomen virallinen lista The Official Finnish Charts ( fi, Suomen virallinen lista; sv, Finlands officiella lista) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiell ...

) , 20 , - ! scope="row", France ( SNEP) , 7 , - , - , - ! scope="row", Greece International (

IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...

) , 11 , - , - , - , - , - ! scope="row", Iceland (''

'') , 16 , - ! scope="row", Iceland ( Plötutíðindi) , 7 , - , - ! scope="row", Italy (

FIMI The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...

) , 12 , - , - ! scope="row", Lithuania ( AGATA) , 7 , - ! scope="row", Luxembourg (''

'') , 4 , - ! scope="row",

Mexico Airplay Mexico Airplay is a weekly record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine since 2011 for singles receiving airplay in Mexico. According to ''Billboard''s electronic database, the first chart was published on January 17, 2009. In 2011, "Give ...

(''

'') , 3 , - , - , - , - , - ! scope="row", Panama (

) , 8 , - ! scope="row", Peru (''

'') , 24 , - , - , - , - ! scope="row", Singapore ( RIAS) , 13 , - ! scope="row", Slovakia (''

'') , 5 , - , - ! scope="row", Slovakia ( Singles Digitál Top 100) , 3 , - ! scope="row", South Africa (

RISA Risa may refer to: * Risa (given name), a feminine given name * Risa (Star Trek), a fictional planet * Radioiodinated serum albumin * Recording Industry of South Africa * Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer analysis See also * * * Rise (disambiguation) ...

) , 50 , - ! scope="row", South Korea ( Gaon) , 188 , - ! scope="row", Spain ( PROMUSICAE) , 22 , - , - , - , - ! scope="row", Uruguay (

) , 16 , - , - , - , - , - , - , - ! scope="row", Vietnam (

Vietnam Hot 100 The ''Billboard Vietnam'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Vietnam for songs, compiled by '' Billboard Việt Nam'' since January 2022. The chart is updated every Thursday ( ICT) on both the ''Billboard Việt Nam'' and '' Billboard'' websites. The ...

) , 55

Year-end charts

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" , +2022 year-end chart performance for "Bam Bam" ! scope="col", Chart (2022) ! scope="col", Position , - ! scope="row", Canada (Canadian Hot 100) , 14 , - ! scope="row", Germany (Official German Charts) , 38 , - ! scope="row", Global 200 (''Billboard'') , 29 , - ! scope="row", US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 , 66 , - ! scope="row", US Adult Top 40 (''Billboard'') , 25 , - ! scope="row", US Mainstream Top 40 (''Billboard'') , 28

Certifications

Release history

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , + Release history for "Bam Bam" ! scope="col", Region ! scope="col", Date ! scope="col", Format ! scope="col", Label ! scope="col", , - ! scope="row", Various , rowspan="2", March 4, 2022 , ,

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

, , - ! scope="row", Italy ,

Contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2" , United States , March 7, 2022 ,

Adult contemporary radio Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...

, rowspan="2", Epic , , - , March 8, 2022 , Contemporary hit radio ,

References

{{authority control 2022 singles 2022 songs Camila Cabello songs Ed Sheeran songs Songs written by Camila Cabello Songs written by Ed Sheeran Songs written by Ricky Reed Songs written by Edgar Barrera Songs written by Scott Harris (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Edgar Barrera Epic Records singles Syco Music singles