"Flowers" is a song by American singer

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

. It was released on January 12, 2023, through

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as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from Cyrus's upcoming eighth studio album, ''

Endless Summer Vacation ''Endless Summer Vacation'' is the eighth studio album by American singer Miley Cyrus, released on March 10, 2023, via Columbia Records. It is her first new body of work since leaving RCA Records after her seventh studio album ''Plastic Hearts ...

'' (2023). The song was a massive commercial success, setting several records. It broke record as the most streamed song in a week on

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during both its first and second week. It debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Global 200 chart and reached number one in over 45 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

Production and release

"Flowers" was written by

, Gregory "Aldae" Hein and Michael Pollack in early 2022. Pollack said: "We started with the chorus and, if I remember correctly, the lyric, melody, and progression started to form simultaneously. It's one of those '

circle of fifths In music theory, the circle of fifths is a way of organizing the 12 chromatic pitches as a sequence of perfect fifths. (This is strictly true in the standard 12-tone equal temperament system — using a different system requires one interval ...

' songs where the melody informs the progression and vice versa. It practically wrote itself." The initial

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

version of the song was a stripped-back ballad, only consisting of Cyrus singing and Pollack playing the

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

. Then it evolved into the uptempo song. On December 31, 2022, while hosting her

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live special '' Miley's New Year's Eve Party'', Cyrus announced the release date of "Flowers" for January 13, 2023. However, the song was released on January 13 at midnight UTC+00:00, which was still January 12 in some parts of the world.

Composition

BrunoMars24KMagicWorldTourLive (cropped)

"Flowers" is a pop song with

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

influences. Anna Gaca of '' Pitchfork'' described it as a "twangy" disco funk song with a string section reminiscent of

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

. Gabrielle Sanchez of

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said, "A funky

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

guides the song, paired with a swooning string line and fizzy

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

s". Mary Siroky of '' Consequence'' thought that Cyrus's "raspy vocals offer an edge to the disco-toned anthem" and that the song

interpolates In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a n ...

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Gaynor ( née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...

's " I Will Survive" (1978). She further opined that "Flowers" sounds like "if the hazy, peaceful California tone of ' Malibu' were to be applied to a dance pop track". Gabrielle Sanchez of

called "Flowers" "a spunky track about flaunting one's self-reliance and independence, no longer depending on someone else to feel complete". Anna Gaca from '' Pitchfork'' described it as a "revenge anthem". Mary Siroky of ''Consequence'' felt that Cyrus is "embracing her story as her own, stepping into her autonomy in a fully realized way". Dale Maplethorpe of ''

Gigwise ''Gigwise'' is a British online music news site that features music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, concert tickets and video content. Founded in June 2001, the site is based in London, England. History Gigwise was launched in 2001 ...

'' felt that "the theme of the song is self-love and acceptance". Jason Lipshutz of ''

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'' compared the song to Cyrus' 2019 single " Slide Away", adding that "Flowers" "focuses far more on self-sustainability than revenge, trading the melancholy of a song like ... 'Slide Away' for a more assertive outlook". The song's chorus is a paraphrase of Bruno Mars' "

When I Was Your Man "When I Was Your Man" is a song by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars from his second studio album, ''Unorthodox Jukebox'' (2012). Atlantic Records released the song as the third promotional single and as the second official single, tak ...

" (2012). Following its release, several publications suggested that "Flowers" was supposed to be a response song directed at Cyrus' ex-husband Liam Hemsworth. It was released on Hemsworth's birthday, and the lyrics reference their Malibu, California home which burned down in November 2018 during the Woolsey Fire. Hemsworth had reportedly dedicated "When I Was Your Man" to Cyrus in the past.

Critical reception

"Flowers" received favorable reviews from music critics, with many complimenting Cyrus' vocal delivery. According to ''

''s Jason Lipshutz, the single is not a "full-blown reinvention" for Cyrus, but "sturdy, hummable pop, and it captivates without bells or whistles." ''

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'' Lindsay Zoladz described the song as "breezy" and opined that "the relatively subdued chorus melody may not demand much of Cyrus, but her vocals are imbued with a laid-back maturity and convincing self-assurance". ''Consequence''s Mary Siroky was appreciative of the song and Cyrus, writing that the singer "has played with genre extensively throughout her career, and it's probably because her voice just sounds good in every single one of them." She went on to add to the praise, stating that "once the chorus n 'Flowers'hits, she arrives at the conclusion that everything is going to be okay, and there's even a strong chance she'll be better off going forward: 'I can take myself dancing/ And I can hold my own hand/ Yeah, I can love me better than you can'." She also gave the song their "Song of the Week" status. Dale Maplethorpe of ''Gigwise'' felt that Cyrus' "incredibly recognizable voice chiming in and sounding fantastic" and noted that in the chorus "we hear a

and killer drums that don't leave the listener with much else to do other than bust a move". However, he felt that the song "does feel like it doesn't build as much as it could do" and "is lacking in the big finish that it seems to tease". Writing for ''Pitchfork'', Anna Gaca described the single as "generic", and Cyrus' vocal delivery as "sincerely unbothered". Gaca further negatively compared the song to " Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53", stating that "calling it revenge is a reach, not when

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

is ready to call you a

Twingo The Renault Twingo is a four-seater passenger city car manufactured and marketed by the French auto-maker Renault, introduced in 1992 and currently in its third generation. The first generation Twingo (two door, front engine) debuted at the Pa ...

: What we're really dealing with here is self-help" implying that the latter addressed the revenge topic in a better way.

Commercial performance

Upon its release "Flowers" broke several records of the

streaming service Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

. During its first full seven days (January 13–20, 2023) the song earned 96,032,624 plays in Spotify globally, becoming the biggest week for a song in the platform's history (previously the record was held by Adele's "

Easy on Me "Easy on Me" is a song by English singer Adele from her fourth studio album '' 30'' (2021). Adele wrote the song with its producer, Greg Kurstin. Columbia Records released it as the album's lead single on 15 October 2021. It is a minimally pr ...

" with over 85 million streams). In next seven days (January 21–27, 2023) it earned 115,156,896 plays, breaking the record again. It also became the fastest song to cross 100 million plays on Spotify globally (seven days), breaking the record previously held by

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...

' "

Butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

" in eight days. Jana Coffey, Spotify's artist and label partnerships leader, noted that the popularity of "Flowers" had been growing day-after-day, while streaming numbers for other record-breaking songs were the largest on their first days and then declined throughout the week. "Flowers" has spent its five debut weeks on top of the ''Billboard'' Global 200 and ''Billboard'' Global Excl. US, becoming Cyrus' first number-one single on both charts since their launch in September 2020. During its first three weeks it gained 179.1, 217.1 and 185.6 million streams worldwide consecutively, which became the fifth, second and fourth biggest weeks ever for a song in the ''Billboard'' Global 200's history. It also became the first song since The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber's " Stay" in October 2021 to gain over 100 million global streams for at least five weeks in a row and the first in the chart's history to do it in five debut weeks.

North America

During the first five hours of availability on January 12, 2023, "Flowers" gained 685,000 streams, 2.4 million radio airplay audience impressions and 2,000 digital downloads sold and debuted at number 21 on the Digital Song Sales chart. After its first full week (January 13–19) "Flowers" debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the 65th song to do so, Cyrus' second number-one single after " Wrecking Ball" in 2013 and her 11th top ten entry. Due to garnering 52.6 million streams, 33.5 million radio airplay audience impressions and 70,000 digital downloads sold, it debuted atop the Streaming Songs, rose to number one of the Digital Song Sales and debuted at number 18 of the Radio Songs. The same week, Cyrus reached her career top of number three on ''Billboard''

Artist 100 The Artist 100 is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. The ''Billboard'' Artist 100 combines performance across the Hot 100 chart, the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart, and the Internet-centric Social 50 chart. The Artist 10 ...

chart and her back catalog had an increase of 65% in streaming in the United States. "Flowers" spent its first five weeks on the first place of Hot 100. It became the highest streamed song in a week since Drake's " Way 2 Sexy" in September 2021 due to 59.8 million streams in its second week, as well as the first song with two consecutive weeks of at least 50 million streams since Olivia Rodrigo's "

Drivers License A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public r ...

" in January 2021, the first non-holiday song with three consecutive weeks of at least 40 million streams since Olivia Rodrigo’s " Good 4 U" in June 2021 and the first song to sell over 30,000 in three consecutive weeks since Coldplay and

’s " My Universe" in October 2021. After one month of release in the United States, "Flowers" became Cyrus' 11th biggest hit in total radio airplay audience due to 233 million impressions and her 13th biggest in on-demand streaming due to 182 million streams. In its fifth week it topped the Radio Songs and Pop Airplay charts. It became Cyrus' first number one single on Radio Songs and the fourth song to top it in five weeks at most since it became an all-format chart in December 1998. It also became the 13th song in history to top Pop Airplay in five weeks at most. In Canada, "Flowers" spent its debut five weeks atop the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

, becoming Cyrus's second number-one single after "Wrecking Ball" in 2013. It also became her second number-one single on Canadian CHR/Top 40 Airplay and AC Airplay charts.

International

The song topped national charts in most European countries, including Austria, Belgium (both

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

and

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

), Bulgaria, Croatia (both Airplay Radio Chart and Croatia Songs), Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands (both

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

and

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), Norway, Poland (both streaming and airplay charts), Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, "Flowers" debuted atop 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 ...

with 92,000 chart units, partially due to 9.9 million streams, which was the biggest first week overall since

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...

' " As It Was" in April 2022. The song has topped the chart for six weeks, becoming Cyrus' third number-one single in the UK after " We Can't Stop" and " Wrecking Ball" (both from 2013) and the first to remain on top for longer than one week. On February 10, 2023, the song was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

for shipment of 400,000 units. In Germany, "Flowers" debuted at number two on the Offizielle Deutschen Singles Charts and climbed to the top position in the second week, becoming Cyrus' first chart-topper in the country. Also in France "Flowers" debuted at number two on the Top Singles chart and climbed to the top position in the second week, becoming Cyrus' first chart-topper in the country. Outside Europe, "Flowers" topped the charts in Australia, Israel, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, and Vietnam, as well as the overall

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streaming chart and the overall

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airplay chart. In Australia, it amassed over 5 million streams in its first week, breaking the first week record in the country's history. The song spent its first six weeks on top of 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 ...

, making it Cyrus' first chart-topper in the country. On February 10, 2023, the song was certified Platinum by the

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for shipment of 70,000 units.

Music video

The January 12, 2023 release of the single, "Flowers", was accompanied by its music video. It was directed by

Jacob Bixenman Jacob Taylor Bixenman (born May 27, 1994) is an American model. He was born in Orange County, California. Career Bixenman entered into a VMan modelling competition and was signed by Ford Models, who handle Naomi Campbell, Courteney Cox and La ...

, with cinematography by Marcell Rév. The video's opening uses panorama-view footage of Los Angeles above the downtown skyline. Cyrus enters by strutting across a bridge in Elysian Park. ''

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'' classified Cyrus dressed in vintage gold lamé gown from the Yves Saint Laurent Autumn/Winter 1991–92 collection, accessorized with square Saint Laurent sunglasses, noting that "somewhere in the metaphorical vintage hall of fame, a second-life savant is affixing a plaque with Miley Cyrus's name to the wall". ''

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'' reported that her black underwear has generated trending online searches for "black lingerie sets", with search numbers increasing 413% following the release of the "Flowers" music video on January 13, 2023.

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

. *

– vocals, songwriting, executive production, percussion * Kid Harpoon – production, bass guitar, drums, guitar, synthesizer * Gregory Aldae Hein – songwriting * Tyler Johnson – production, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer *

Randy Merrill Randy Merrill is an American mastering engineer who has worked with international artists including DAY6, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Harry Styles, One Direction, Adele, Imagine Dragons, Beck, Liam Gallagher, Jonas Brothers, Muse, Cage the ...

–

mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

ing * Rob Moose –

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

* Michael Pollack – songwriting, keyboards * Brian Rajaratnam – engineering * Doug Showalter – keyboards *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran ...

–

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

ing * Matt Wolach – assistant engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Certifications

Release history

References