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"Go Ahead and Break My Heart" is a song that was written and recorded by American singers Blake Shelton and
Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...
for the former's tenth studio album, '' If I'm Honest'' (2016). Shelton's longtime producer
Scott Hendricks Scott Hendricks (born July 26, 1956) is an American record producer who has produced over 30 country music artists. His productions have garnered 121 Top 10s, and 78 Number One hits. Between 1995 and 1997, he was President and Chief Executive Off ...
produced the track. It was released as its second promotional single for digital download on May 9, 2016. The song is Shelton and Stefani's first collaboration. The ideas behind the song began after the pair shared similar insecurities with each other, leaving Shelton to write the first verse, followed by Stefani analyzing it and writing her own. "Go Ahead and Break My Heart" received generally positive reviews from music critics, with them finding it to be a "strong" choice for ''If I'm Honest''. Several other reviewers appreciated Stefani's contributions to the track. It debuted at number 70 on United States' ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and also managed to peak on the
Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally sta ...
component chart in Canada. The recording's release was accompanied by two live performances of the song later that day on both '' The Voice'' and at a promotional
iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
concert.


Background and composition

The release of the duet was first announced via Stefani's Twitter account, where she posted the album notes of ''If I'm Honest'', which revealed her name in the track listing. In an interview with '' People'', Shelton expressed that the best part of the duet was "the honest way it came about". He stated: "There's not a third ghost writer, there's not five writers on it. It's just she and I sat down and wrote this song €¦and I couldn't be happier about t" He further explained that the song was written about "some serious insecurities that we had when we first started down this road with each other"; he called the end result "perfect". The concept for "Go Ahead and Break My Heart" was developed by both singers, and began with Shelton writing the first verse, followed by Stefani creating the second, which Shelton described:
She and I sat down and wrote this song about some serious insecurities that we had when we first started down this road with each other, and we both had trust issues. We were getting over it, but we wrote this song about it. And it's perfect. I couldn't be happier about that song and the way it came about and the honest way ... It is like people getting a look at something personal for the first time.
The pair wrote the song, while longtime producer
Scott Hendricks Scott Hendricks (born July 26, 1956) is an American record producer who has produced over 30 country music artists. His productions have garnered 121 Top 10s, and 78 Number One hits. Between 1995 and 1997, he was President and Chief Executive Off ...
handled the production. It portrays a midtempo, country pop crossover duet. Shelton believed that writing his own music had "been a great channel for him to vent and celebrate his tumultuous year". '' Rolling Stone'' stated that Shelton and Stefani " idn'tgush about their relationship in the press too much, as they
ried __NOTOC__ Ried may refer to: Places Alsace * Ried (natural region) Austria *Ried in der Riedmark, a market town in Upper Austria *Ried im Innkreis, a city in Upper Austria and the surrounding Bezirk Ried im Innkreis *Ried im Oberinntal, a village ...
to keep some semblance of privacy. Instead, they wrote a song about it." Jim Farber from '' Entertainment Weekly'' claimed that "Go Ahead and Break My Heart" served as the parent album's "gossipy framing" for "offer nga simultaneous spit-in-the-face and
cri de coeur CRI or CRi may refer to: Organizations * Canadian Rivers Institute, for river sciences, University of New Brunswick * Cancer Research Institute, New York, US * Centro de Relaciones Internacionales (International Relations Center), Universidad Nac ...
to their exes".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
of AllMusic agreed, finding Shelton "embracing his new lease on life with renewed vigor and a new a love", who Erlewine later claimed was Stefani. The lyrics of the recording delve on Stefani's insecurities in a relationship that "will likely have its shares of ups and downs": "I'm so scared, I don't know what to do". Additionally, she explains in the lyrics how the two artists met: "I never ever meant to get so into you / Thought I was using you just to get me through" and "You know I'm broken, I don't trust anymore / Last thing I needed was to fall in love".


Critical reception

"Go Ahead and Break My Heart" was generally well received by music critics. Janine Schaults from '' Consequence of Sound'' enjoyed the track, claiming that the "rousing duet asdestined for hitsville", with her thanking Stefani for "com ngin to save the day" with her "pouty vocals". Erlewine from AllMusic thought the song would qualify as "an adult contemporary hit". Scott Stroud from '' The National'' favored it for being "the least subtle" of the "hard-to-miss observations from his high-profile personal life". Mikael Wood, writing for '' Los Angeles Times'', praised the collaboration, stating that Stefani provides "the most striking lyrical moment on ''If I'm Honest''", declaring it a "handsome duet". Jessica Mule from '' Renowned for Sound'' selected the recording as "an obvious track choice for the album", and complimented it for "be ngquite captivating as they both play off each others own experiences". A reviewer from
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was surprised by the duet, in which he "predict dthe song to be one of the weakest on th album"; instead he found it to "be one of the strongest" and claimed Stefani "put forth a solid performance in ..a surprisingly strong showing for both artists".
Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
's Robbie Daw acclaimed "Go Ahead and Break My Heart", stating that "as far as country-pop crossover duets go ..we'd rate it just below
Jason Aldean Jason Aldean (born Jason Aldine Williams; February 28, 1977) is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to BBR Music Group, Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released ten albums and 40 singles. His 2010 ...
and Kelly Clarkson's '
Don't You Wanna Stay "Don't You Wanna Stay" is a duet recorded by American singers Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson. It was written by Andy Gibson, Paul Jenkins, and Jason Sellers. It was released as the second single from Aldean's fourth studio album ''My Kinda Party ...
'".


Chart performance

"Go Ahead and Break My Heart" received moderate success on the United States' record charts after its release. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the single debuted and peaked at number seventy, becoming the week's second highest debut behind
Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...
's " Can't Stop the Feeling!", which topped the chart. The song debuted at position thirteen on the
Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
component chart, and at number two on the Country Digital Songs chart, selling 58,000 copies in its first week. The track has sold 120,000 copies in America as of June 2016.


Live performances

Shelton and Stefani first performed "Go Ahead and Break My Heart" on the tenth season of '' The Voice'' on May 9, 2016. Staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' lauded the rendition and stated the couple "heat dup the stage with palpable chemistry ..without ever losing eye contact". On the same day, they performed the single at a promotional
iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
concert. Another rendition occurred at the
2016 Billboard Music Awards The 2016 ''Billboard'' Music Awards ceremony was held on May 22, 2016, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the first nationally televised event to originate from that venue. It aired live on ABC with hosts Ludacris and Ciara. The nomin ...
on May 22, 2016. The two sang it additionally at Country Jam in Grand Junction, Colorado, on June 18, 2016, followed by select appearances during Stefani's This Is What the Truth Feels Like Tour (2016).


Charts


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Go Ahead and Break My Heart 2016 songs Blake Shelton songs Country pop songs Gwen Stefani songs Song recordings produced by Scott Hendricks Songs written by Blake Shelton Songs written by Gwen Stefani Male–female vocal duets