"I Want You Back" is a song by American

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

NSYNC NSYNC (, ; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync) was an American boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to European ...

, from their debut studio album,

'N Sync NSYNC (, ; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync) was an American boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to European ...

(1997). It was released in Germany on October 4, 1996, as the band's debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. The

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

song was later released in the United States on February 17, 1998, and in the United Kingdom on February 15, 1999. It was written by Max Martin and the producer

Denniz Pop Dag Krister Volle (26 April 1963 – 30 August 1998), better known as Denniz Pop (stylized ''Denniz PoP''), was a Swedish DJ, music producer, and songwriter. He co-founded the recording studio Cheiron Studios in Stockholm in 1992. Life and car ...

. In its initial release, "I Want You Back" peaked at number four in Germany, and topped the charts in the Netherlands. After releasing internationally, the song charted at number 13 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and 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 ...

. Two

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s for "I Want You Back" were released for the song's initial release and global re-release, which were directed by Alan Calzatti, and Jesse Vaughan and Douglas Biro respectively.

Background and composition

"I Want You Back" was written and produced by Max Martin and his then-mentor

were flown over to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

to record the song in 1996. In a 2018 interview with ''

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 ...

'', band member Joey Fatone described the song as "edgy for

" and was apprehensive about its reception with listeners. "I Want You Back" was released as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

in Germany on October 4, 1996, and eventually in the United States on February 17, 1998. The song was also distributed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 1999. Musically, "I Want You Back" is a

and pop song. According to the

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

that was published on Musicnotes.com by

Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram. Universal Music Publishing is the worl ...

, the song is set in the

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

of common time, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 110 beats per minute, while composed in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

of G minor. NSYNC's vocals on the track ranges from the low note of E₄ to the high note of G₅, while the song is constructed in verse–chorus form.

Commercial performance

"I Want You Back" peaked in the top 10 in Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada. The song also topped the chart in the Netherlands. It peaked at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

gold in the United States, Germany and Australia.

Music videos

Two versions of the

for "I Want You Back" were released: one for the song's original release, and the other for its global re-release.

Original version

The first video was shot in Stockholm, Sweden from August 15–16, 1996 by Alan Calzatti. It was released with the original German release of the song in October 1996. It depicts the NSYNC members in a space station, with many high-tech effects playing out around them. The video was filmed using a

green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...

, as each member walked on treadmills. The band attempt to contact a girl through a computer, in order to bring her onto the ship, while they are dancing throughout the video.

Alternate version

The second video accompanied the British and US release of the song in 1998 and was directed by Jesse Vaughan and Douglas Biro in America. The video was partially shot in grayscale, and depicts NSYNC performing in a warehouse, playing pool, riding jet-skis, and driving around the neighborhood with a girl in a

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

JC Chasez Joshua Scott "JC" Chasez (; born August 8, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and occasional actor. He started out his career as a cast member on ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' before rising to stardom with NSYNC, and b ...

opined that this version was the moment where "we just made a real music video".

Track listing

* German maxi single (1996) # "I Want You Back" (Radio Version) – 3:22 # "I Want You Back" (Long Version) – 4:23 # "I Want You Back" (Club Version) – 5:24 # "I Want You Back" (Progressive Dub Mix) – 5:26 * UK & European maxi single (1997) # "I Want You Back" (Radio Version) – 3:22 # " Tearin' Up My Heart" (Radio Version) – 3:26 # "You Got It" – 3:34 # "I Want You Back" (Club Version) – 5:24 * UK & European

1 (1998) # "I Want You Back" (Radio Version) – 3:22 # "I Just Wanna Be with You" – 4:02 # "I Want You Back" (Riprock & Alex G.'s Smooth Vibe Mix) – 4:28 * UK & European CD single 2 (1998) # "I Want You Back" (Radio Version) – 3:22 # "

Everything I Own "Everything I Own" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates. It was originally recorded by Gates's soft rock band Bread for their 1972 album ''Baby I'm-a Want You.'' The original reached No. 5 on the American ''Billboard'' H ...

" – 4:10 # Exclusive interview – 5:06 * US cassette single (1996) # "I Want You Back" (Radio Version) – 3:20 # "Giddy Up" – 4:07 * US maxi single (1998) # "I Want You Back" (Hot Tracks Extended Version) – 5:23 # "I Want You Back" (Riprock's Elevation Mix) – 5:28 # "I Want You Back" (Florian's Transcontinent Club Mix) – 5:45 # "I Want You Back" (Riprock & Alex G.'s Smooth Vibe Mix) – 4:27

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 1996 songs 1996 debut singles 1998 singles NSYNC songs RCA Records singles Songs written by Max Martin Song recordings produced by Denniz Pop Song recordings produced by Max Martin Torch songs 1999 singles