"Free Me" is a song by the English singer

Emma Bunton Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, actress, and media personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice. With over 100 million recor ...

from her second solo studio album of the same name (2003). The song was written by Bunton, Hélène Muddiman and

Mike Peden Michael Peden is a British record producer, remixer and composer, best known for his work with the British musical duo Lighthouse Family. With his former band the Chimes, Peden had a hit single with their version of "I Still Haven't Found What I ...

, and produced by the latter. It was released on 26 May 2003 as the album's lead single. It debuted and peaked at number five 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 ...

, becoming Bunton's fourth UK top-five single. The single also peaked at number four on the US

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chart. An accompanying music video was directed by

Tim Royes Tim Royes (December 25, 1964 – August 13, 2007, New York City) was a British music video director and editor, producing videos for artists such as Westlife (" Mandy"), Melanie C ("I Want Candy", " The Moment You Believe", "Carolyna"), Emma Bu ...

and filmed in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, including locations such as Macumba Beach,

Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay ( pt, Baía de Guanabara, ) is an oceanic bay located in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niterói and ...

and the

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neighbourhood.

Background

In 2001, Bunton released her first solo album, '' A Girl Like Me'', through

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

. It spent over 12 weeks in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, peaking at number four and earning a gold certification from 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 ...

(BPI). It also produced her only solo chart-topper " What Took You So Long?", as well as the top-five singles "

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" and "

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", and the top-20 entry "

We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight "We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight" is a song by English recording artist Emma Bunton from her debut solo album, '' A Girl Like Me'' (2001). Written by Bunton and Rhett Lawrence, the track was released in the United Kingdom as the album's third and ...

". She then left Virgin, and signed a new deal with

19 Recordings 19 Recordings Inc. (registered in the United Kingdom as 19 Recordings Ltd.) is a New York-based record label owned by 19 Entertainment. Founded in London by British entrepreneur Simon Fuller in 1999 as the music division of 19 Entertainment, the ...

, run by the former

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' manager

Simon Fuller Simon Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer renowned for nurturing and inspiring world class entertainment talent. He is the creator of the ''Idols'' TV format, including the UK s ...

. Bunton said, "We've always been in contact with Simon (Fuller): we've always texted each other and he was very supportive of my last album. And when I went through all these changes as I mentioned earlier I wanted people around me who were confident in me and wanted to support me and give me that extra push. I wanted people who believed in what I did and I knew, the whole time, that Simon believed in me. It felt really natural and I knew he was the best manager around and he'd allow me to be opinionated. For me, I know exactly what I want and people get scared of that. They want to push you in the direction they want you to go in and that's not right for me. I like to think I know what my fans like and what I feel comfortable doing."

Track listings

*UK CD 1 #"Free Me" – 4:28 #"Who the Hell Are You" – 3:20 #"Free Me" – 7:08 #"Free Me" *UK CD 2 #"Free Me" – 4:28 #"Tomorrow" – 3:56 #"Free Me" – 6:18

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of '' Free Me''. *

– vocals, songwriting * Richard Dowling – mastering * Martin Hayles – keyboards, recording * Graham Kearns – guitar *

Nick Ingman Nicholas Ingman (born 29 April 1948) is an English arranger, composer and conductor in the commercial music field. His collaborators include Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Björk, and the British X-factor. Born and educated in London, Ingman moved ...

– orchestra arrangement, orchestra conducting * Isobel Griffiths Ltd – orchestra contractor * Hélène Muddiman – backing vocals, keyboards, songwriting *

– bass guitar, production, songwriting * Charlie Russell – live drums, programming *

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 Sh ...

– mixing *

Gavyn Wright Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He is best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions (including Elton John, Simply Red, Bush, Mecano, Oasis, ...

– orchestra leader

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Free Me (Song) 19 Recordings singles 2003 singles 2003 songs Emma Bunton songs Music videos directed by Tim Royes Songs written by Emma Bunton Songs written by Mike Peden Universal Records singles