"Heat" is a song by American singer

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

, from her eighth studio album, ''

Meaning of Life The meaning of life, or the answer to the question: "What is the meaning of life?", pertains to the significance of living or existence in general. Many other related questions include: "Why are we here?", "What is life all about?", or "What ...

'' (2017). Originally written and produced by the production duo

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, the final version of the track is co-written and co-produced by

Mick Schultz Michael Abram Schultz (born March 30, 1989) is an American music producer and songwriter. His most notable accomplishments to date include the production of Jeremih’s debut and second albums, including the multi-platinum hits "Birthday Sex", " ...

with additional writing by Michael Pollack and production by American singer Harlœ and vocal production by

Jesse Shatkin Jesse Samuel Shatkin (born 1979) is an American songwriter, producer and engineer. He has worked with Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Lopez, Fitz and the Tantrums and One Direction, among others. Shatkin was nominated in 2014 for Grammy Awards a ...

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

released the song as the album's third single on July 27, 2018, with a remix version by British DJ Luke Solomon. It reached number one on the US ''

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 ...

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart in March 2019. It also received critical acclaim. The song was featured in the

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show ''

Soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

''.

Background and composition

"Heat" was originally written by the production duo

and Michael Pollack for Clarkson's debut album for

. According to

, Atlantic chairman and CEO

Craig Kallman Craig Kallman is an American entrepreneur and former DJ. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records. His career in music began in the 1980s as a DJ in Manhattan. He is the founder of the independent label Big Beat, which was es ...

and A&R manager Carrie West approached him and his frequent collaborator Harlœ to re-produce the track after finishing recording another song, "Medicine", for Clarkson. He described the original recording as "rock and soulful", and ultimately produced two versions of it. He recalled that the process took days, remarking: "They (Atlantic) told me they wanted something out of the box, so I tried to really think about doing something left field. I ended up with (the version) that's on the album now." Schultz and Harlœ later received co-writing credits for the track. An uptempo

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

number, Clarkson described its lyrics as giving a full commitment to a relationship. ''

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 ...

'' contributor Maura Johnston described its music as recalling the "upbeat soul-tinged hits of the Nineties while possessing a decidedly 21st-century energy".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

senior editor

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 ...

also noted that the song has a "bit of

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

fire", while ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

''s Katherine St. Asaph compared it to

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

's collaborations with

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...

Release and reception

In an interview with the

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 ...

, Clarkson revealed plans to release "Heat" as a follow-up single from ''Meaning of Life''. A remix by British DJ Luke Solomon was released by Atlantic as a single on July 27, 2018. A fan video was released on August 1, 2018, featuring Clarkson singing and dancing over the track accompanied by self-recorded footage of various enthusiasts performing their versions of it. "Heat" received a positive response from music critics upon the release of ''Meaning of Life''.

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 Mike Wass called the track the best song on the album, while Shaun Kitchener of the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' praised the sheer confidence Clarkson exudes on the track. Reviewing for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', Michael Cragg described the song as a "pure unadulterated joy".

Live performances

Clarkson recorded a live performance of "Heat" in 2017 as part of her "Nashville Sessions" series at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, which was later released on July 11, 2018. She also filmed a live performance of the track at the "Rocking and Stockings" content series sponsored by American chain store

Cracker Barrel Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., doing business as simply Cracker Barrel, is an American chain of restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme. The company was founded by Dan Evins in 1969. Its first store was in Lebanon, T ...

to promote the album during the 2017 holiday season. Clarkson presented the song in a live television performance at ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'' on June 8, 2018. She has then included it on a medley presentation at the 2018 Radio Disney Music Awards and has also performed the track at the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular holiday special on July 4, 2018. On August 27, 2018, Clarkson opended the 2018 US Open, with a medley of her hits which included the song. Clarkson performed the song during the 92nd Annual

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...

on November 22, 2018. She broke Macy's tradition by singing the vocals live rather than lip syncing to the track. She also performed the song on ''

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 ...

'' on December 4, 2018, and on ''

NBC's New Year's Eve NBC has broadcast coverage of New Year's Eve festivities since the 1940s, the majority of which focusing on the "ball drop" event at New York City's Times Square . NBC's coverage was initially anchored by Ben Grauer, airing in simulcast on NBC ra ...

''. Clarkson was featured singing the song on episode 4 of ''The Morning Show'' which premiered on

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

on November 9, 2019.

Track listing

Digital streaming – Luke Solomon Remix Digital streaming – Single Digital streaming – Niko the Kid Remix Digital streaming – Paul Morrell Remix Digital streaming – Easy Star All-Stars & Michael Goldwasser Reggae Remix Digital streaming – Wolves by Night Remix Digital streaming – Bynon Remix

Personnel

Credits lifted the album's liner notes. * Lead vocals – Kelly Clarkson * Background vocals – Nicole Hurst, Bridget Sarai, Jessica Karpov * Producers –

* Vocal producers –

, Jessica Karpov, The Monarch * Mixing engineer – John Hanes * Mastering engineers –

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered recordings such as Gwen Stefani's '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), Rihanna's '' Loud'' (2010), Lady Gaga's '' Born This Way'' (2011) and Drake' ...

, Will Quinnell * Engineers – Iain Findlay, Jesse Shatkin, Mick Schultz, Todd Tidwell,

Steve Churchyard Steve Churchyard is an English record producer, recording engineer and mixer who began his career at Sir George Martin’s AIR Studios in London. He currently resides in the United States. He has been nominated for 15 Grammy awards. In 2008 he wo ...

* Guitars –

Eric Peterson Eric Neal Peterson (born October 2, 1946) is a Canadian stage, television, and film actor, known for his roles in three major Canadian series – '' Street Legal'' (1987–1994), '' Corner Gas'' (2004–2009), and '' This is Wonderland'' ...

* Bass – Brian Schultz * Mixer – Serban Ghenea * Programmer – Mick Shultz, The Monarch

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2017 songs 2018 singles Atlantic Records singles Kelly Clarkson songs Song recordings produced by Jesse Shatkin Songs written by Mick Schultz Songs written by Michael Pollack (musician) Songs written by Jessica Ashley Songs written by Andre Davidson Songs written by Sean Davidson Song recordings produced by the Monarch (production team)