''Special'' is the fourth studio album by American singer and rapper

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After col ...

, released by Nice Life and

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 ...

on July 15, 2022. It was preceded by the lead single "

About Damn Time "About Damn Time" is a song by American singer and rapper Lizzo, released on April 14, 2022, by Nice Life Recording Company, Nice Life Recordings and Atlantic Records as the lead single from her fourth studio album ''Special (Lizzo album), Spec ...

", released on April 14, 2022, which reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and the top ten in twelve other countries. ''Special,'' has been described by critics as a pop,

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 ...

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 ...

, hip hop and R&B album. It received positive reviews from music critics. The album peaked at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, becoming, at the time, the highest-charting album by a female artist in 2022, as well as the largest week by units earned, among all albums released by women in 2022. It reached the top ten on the UK, Australian, Canadian, Hungary, and New Zealand album charts.

Background

Lizzo released her third studio album and major-label debut studio album, ''

Cuz I Love You ''Cuz I Love You'' is the third studio album and major label debut studio album by American singer and rapper Lizzo. It was released through Nice Life and Atlantic Records on April 19, 2019. The album features guest appearances from American rapp ...

'', on April 19, 2019. The album was met with critical acclaim and peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The album was nominated for

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Al ...

, contributing to Lizzo receiving the most nominations at the ceremony. The album also won the award for

Best Urban Contemporary Album The Grammy Award for Best Progressive R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for quality works on albums in the urban contemporary subgenre within the R&B field. Honors in several categories are presented at t ...

. In October 2020, Lizzo announced that her fourth studio album was nearing completion, saying she had "a few more songs to write". In January 2021, American singer SZA confirmed to have heard new material from Lizzo. In August 2021, Lizzo announced "

Rumors A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; see spelling differences; derived from Latin:rumorem - noise), is "a tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in p ...

", her first song after two years, which was released on August 13. The standalone single features American rapper, singer, and songwriter

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

. During her keynote speech at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

festival in March 2022, Lizzo announced that her album was finished, saying "It’s done so it’s coming very very soon…and it’s good. I worked real hard on it, so it better be good."

Production and recording

Recording for "Special" began in 2018, but the tracks that made up the album only started to be recorded in September 2021 and was finished by March 2022. In an interview with

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

for

Apple Music 1 Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod), ...

in April 2022, Lizzo explained that the album was originally titled ''In Case Nobody Told You'' until

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

helped her "restructure" the hook of the song "Special", which she then changed the title of the album to. In another interview with

in July 2022, Lizzo talked about the origins of the track "Coldplay", with

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

lead singer

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, pianist, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Devon, he went to Univ ...

appearing in the interview as well. The track features a monologue by Lizzo where she talks about a recent vacation in which she "was with somebody, and I was just looking at the stars. And I was with him, and I was singing

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

"]."

Promotion

On March 21, 2022, Lizzo previewed the single "About Damn Time" on ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'', with a release date of April 14. Shortly after the release of the song and its accompanying music video, Lizzo formally announced ''Special'', with a release date of July 15. On July 6, Lizzo revealed the tracklist of ''Special'' on her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account by showing the back cover of its

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

packaging..

Singles

" was released on April 14, 2022, as the lead single of the album. The song was a commercial success peaking at the top of The

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

in the US as well as reaching top 3 in 7 other countries. On July 18, 2022 "

2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)" is a song by American singer and rapper Lizzo, from her fourth studio album ''Special'' (2022). It was released to Italian radio on July 18, 2022, as the album's second single, while in the United States, it impacted ...

" was released to Italian radio as the album's second single. In the United States the song impacted

hot adult contemporary radio Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

on August 1, 2022 and

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

, as well as

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

radio on August 2, 2022.

Promotional singles

"Grrrls" was released on June 10, 2022, as the album's first promotional single.

Tour

On April 25, 2022, Lizzo announced a full arena tour in support of the album, starting on September 23, 2022, in

Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 97,335. Sunrise was incorporated in 1961 and founded ...

and ending on November 19, 2022, in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

Latto Alyssa Michelle Stephens (born December 22, 1998), professionally known as Latto or Big Latto (formerly known as Mulatto), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. She first appeared on American rapper Jermaine Dupri's reality television s ...

will open for the tour.

Critical reception

Reviews

''Special'' received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

upon its initial release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 78, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Writing for ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' David Smyth states that "This time she'll sweep an older generation into her gang too. Many of the biggest tunes channel Seventies disco and Eighties synthpop" and added "It's clear she isn’t an outsider any more. This is her world, and we're lucky to live in it." In an article for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', reviewer Helen Brown pointed that ''Special'' is overflowing with love and gratitude to friends, family, lovers and fans and added that izzo'srap flow has a terrific tensile strength and said that when singing, she delivers as both a belter and a breathy balladeer. Special is good as hell." ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' contributor Nick Levine gave the album four out of five stars, observing that "Lizzo's overwhelmingly positive message, ''Special'' is sometimes a bit cheesy," before concluding that "Lizzo knows exactly who she is as an artist and what she wants to achieve: she's the bad bitch with an incredible talent for making people feel good". In a more mixed reception of the album, Sam Franzini of ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'' believed that for "most songs on Special, there is a rawer, more real iteration somewhere else in Lizzo’s catalog," and that having the "glossiest pop sheen steamrolled over them, erasing any wrinkles or mishaps" removed "the exact thing that made izzo's songsendearing to begin with." ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' published two contrasting reviews of the album, with John Amen scoring the album 7/10 and commenting that "''Special'' is as much a celebration of the Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook cosmos as it is an in-person, post-Covid bacchanal." while Nick Malone scored the album 4/10 and wrote that "''Special'' is such a disappointment because you can hear the better album Lizzo is capable of making."

Controversy over word choice

The song "Grrrls" earned controversy for its use of the word "

spaz In medicine, the adjective spastic refers to an alteration in muscle tone affected by the medical condition spasticity, which is a well-known symptomatic phenomenon seen in patients with a wide range of central neurological disorders, including s ...

" in its lyrics "I'mma spaz / I'm about to knock somebody out". Disability advocates viewed the use of the term "spaz" as an offensive

ableist Ableism (; also known as ablism, disablism (British English), anapirophobia, anapirism, and disability discrimination) is discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities or who are perceived to be disabled. Ableism characteri ...

slur and called for Lizzo to remove the song. Some internet users claimed that "spaz" is used differently in

African-American Vernacular English African-American Vernacular English (AAVE, ), also referred to as Black (Vernacular) English, Black English Vernacular, or occasionally Ebonics (a colloquial, controversial term), is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urban ...

and is synonymous with "freaking out," but disability organizations in the UK and the US have criticized its use. Shortly afterwards, Lizzo issued an apology and released an updated version of the song, stating, "I never want to promote derogatory language." The updated song lyrics replace "I'mma spaz" with "Hold me back".

Commercial performance

In the United States, ''Special'' debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with 69,000 equivalent album units sold in its first week, becoming Lizzo's highest-charting album to date. It was the highest charting album by a female artist in 2022, as well as the largest week by units earned, among all albums released by women in 2022 until it was surpassed by

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's ''

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

''.

Track listing

Notes

* signifies an additional

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* signifies a co-producer * "About Damn Time" samples the song " Hey DJ" performed by

The World's Famous Supreme Team The World's Famous Supreme Team was an American hip hop radio show duo and recording group active from 1979. The original members were Sedivine the Mastermind (Larry Price) and Just Allah the Superstar (Ronald Larkins Jr.). Career The group's ...

, as written by

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English impresario, visual artist, singer, songwriter, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner, notable for combining these activities in an inventive and provoc ...

, Ronald Larkins, Larry Price and

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session k ...

. * "Grrrls" samples the song "

Girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...

" performed by

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

, as written by Beastie Boys and

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

. * "I Love You Bitch" samples the song "I Hate You Bitch" performed by

Z-Ro Joseph Wayne McVey IV (born January 19, 1977), better known by his stage names Z-Ro and the Mo City Don, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He was named one of America's most underrated rappers by ''The New York Times'' in 2007. Early li ...

, as written by Z-Ro and Mike Dean. * "Break Up Twice"

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 ...

the song "

Doo Wop (That Thing) "Doo Wop (That Thing)" is a song recorded by American recording artist Lauryn Hill for her debut solo studio album ''The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'' (1998). It was written and produced by Hill. The song was released as the lead single from ''Th ...

", as written and performed by

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

. * "Naked" samples the song " Summer Madness" written and performed by

Kool & The Gang Kool & the Gang is an American R&B/soul/funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964 by brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell, with Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West. T ...

. * "Coldplay" samples the song "

" performed by

, as written by

Guy Berryman Guy Rupert Berryman (born 12 April 1978) is a Scottish musician, songwriter and producer, best known as the bassist of the rock band Coldplay and electronic supergroup Apparatjik. Raised in Kirkcaldy, he began to play bass from an early age, ...

Jonny Buckland Jonathan Mark Buckland (born 11 September 1977) is an English-born Welsh musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Pantymwyn, he began to play guitar from an early age, being in ...

, and

Will Champion William Champion (born 31 July 1978) is an English musician and songwriter best known as the drummer and backing vocalist of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Southampton, he learned various instruments during his childhood, being influenced by ...

. * "Coldplay" samples the song "Sudden Death" performed and written by Quelle Chris & Chris Keys.

Personnel

Musicians

– vocals (all tracks),

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

(track 2) * Phoelix – bass, programming (1) *

Thomas Pridgen Thomas Armon Pridgen (born November 23, 1983) is an American drummer, best known for his role as the drummer of The Mars Volta from October 2006 until October 2009. He is touring with rapper Residente and is the drummer for hardcore punk band T ...

– drums (1, 8) * Nate Mercereau – electric guitar (1, 2, 8, 9, 11); acoustic guitar, bass, drums, piano (11) * Lemar Guillary – horns arrangement, trombone (1, 6, 8) *

Ricky Reed Eric Burton Frederic (born July 23, 1982), known professionally as Ricky Reed, is an American artist, music producer, singer, songwriter, and founder of Nice Life Recording Company. From 2005 to 2014, Reed was also known as Wallpaper. Early w ...

– programming (1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 12), bass (2, 6, 8); additional vocals, horns arrangement,

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

, guitar, synthesizer (2); instrumentation, keyboards (8, 9) * Michael Cordone – trumpet (1, 2, 6, 8) * Blake Slatkin – programming (2, 3), additional vocals (2); instrumentation, keyboards (3) * Chawntá Van – additional vocals (2) * Doshiniq Green – additional vocals (2) * Myke Wright – additional vocals (2) * Shelbeniece Swain – additional vocals (2) *

Victor Indrizzo Victor Indrizzo (born September 23, 1967) is an American session musician, primarily known for playing the drums, as well as a songwriter and producer. Indrizzo was born in Freeport, Long Island, New York. He has toured, recorded and worked wi ...

– drums, percussion (2, 8) * Jesse McGinty – saxophone, trombone (2) *

Terrace Martin Terrace Jamahl Martin (born December 28, 1978) is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dog ...

–

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

(2) *

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also ...

– instrumentation, keyboards, programming, vocals (3) *

Ilya Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah. ...

– instrumentation (3), programming (3, 4); arrangement, background vocals, bass, drums, guitar (4); additional programming (6) * Chris Keys - Instrumentation (12) *

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

– instrumentation (3, 6), programming (3, 4, 6); arrangement, background vocals, bass, drums, guitar (4) *

Rickard Göransson Rickard Göransson is a Swedish songwriter, producer, and musician. He was the lead guitarist for American alternative rock band Carolina Liar. He has written and produced for artists including Ariana Grande, Jessie J, Nicki Minaj, Avril Lavigne, ...

– bass, guitar (4) *

Peter Carlsson Peter Carlsson (born 13 April 1963) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. Career Carlsson was a quarter-finalist at the Tel Aviv Open in both 1985 and 1986. The Swede defeated Jason Stoltenberg in the opening round of the 1987 Aus ...

– drums, guitar (4) *

Pop Wansel Andrew "Pop" Wansel (born April 27, 1988) is an American record producer, musician and songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the son of Philadelphia soul musician Dexter Wansel, Pop grew up in the music industry and began writing and pr ...

– instrumentation, programming (3, 6, 8, 9); keyboards (6, 8, 9) * Johan Carlsson – organ, piano (4) * Jasper Harris – piano (5) * Daoud – guitar (6, 9); instrumentation, keyboards, piano, programming,

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

solo, saxophone (6) *

Ian Kirkpatrick Ian Andrew Kirkpatrick (born 24 May 1946) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. Described as "supremely athletic, fast, fearless and with an uncanny sense of anticipation", Kirkpatrick is widely regarded as one of the greatest flankers t ...

– instrumentation, keyboards, programming (6, 8, 9) * Donald Hayes – saxophone (6, 8) * Nick Movshon – bass (7) * Larry Gold – conductor, string arrangement (7) * Tommy Brenneck – guitar (7) *

Leon Michels Leon Marcus Michels is an American music producer, record executive, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist best known as the leader of the eclectic soul project El Michels Affair and co-founder of Truth & Soul Records and Big Crown Records. He ...

– keyboards (7) *

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

– keyboards, string arrangement (7) *

Ian Hendrickson-Smith Ian Hendrickson-Smith is an American jazz saxophonist. He is best known for being a former member of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings from 2004 to 2010 and playing with The Roots on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. Early life Hendrickson-S ...

– saxophone (7) * Raymond J. Mason – trombone (7) *

Dave Guy Dave Guy is an American trumpet player and member of The Dap-Kings. Over his more than two decade career, he has been part of the groups Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Menahan Street Band, The Budos Band, and Lee Fields & The Expressions, among oth ...

– trumpet (7) * Jonathan Kim – viola (7) * Yoshihiko Nakano – viola (7) * Blake Espy – violin (7) * Chris Jusell – violin (7) * Emma Kummrow – violin (7) * Gared Crawford – violin (7) * Luigi Mazzocchi – violin (7) * Natasha Colkett – violin (7) *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', ''Rock with You'', ...

– horns arrangement (10) *

Jordan Johnson Jordan Johnson may refer to: * Jordan Johnson (fighter) Jordan David Johnson (born November 18, 1988) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championshi ...

– instrumentation, keyboards, programming (10) *

Stefan Johnson The Monsters & Strangerz are an American production and songwriting team from Miami, Florida. The team features The Monsters: Alexander " Eskeerdo" Izquierdo, Stefan Johnson, Jordan K. Johnson and Oliver "German" Peterhof and The Strangerz: Marcu ...

– instrumentation, programming (10) * Michael Pollack – keyboards (10) *

Dan Higgins Dan Higgins (born January 28, 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American saxophone and woodwind player. He has worked with such artists as John Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, Maroon 5, Kenny Loggin ...

– saxophone (10) *

Andy Martin Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona, usually known as Andy Martin (born 1945), is an American perennial candidate who has never been elected to office, running as both a Democrat and a Republican. He has filed over 250 political lawsuits nationwide. ...

– trombone (10) *

Wayne Bergeron Wayne Bergeron (born January 16, 1958) is an American jazz trumpeter. Bergeron rose to prominence as a member of Maynard Ferguson's band in the 1980s. Since then, he has worked on over 400 TV and motion picture soundtracks. As a lead and studio ...

– trumpet (10) *

Kid Harpoon Thomas Edward Percy Hull (born 20 April 1982), known professionally as Kid Harpoon, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Career Already a fixture at local venues in his hometown of Chatham, Kid Harpoon first emerge ...

– drum programming,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, pianosynthesizer (11) *

Quelle Chris Gavin Christopher Tennille (born October 19, 1984), known as Quelle Chris, is an American record producer, rapper and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. He has released over 15 albums as a solo act and with his collaborative projects. He has bee ...

– additional vocals (12) * Jon Kubis – string arrangement (12) *

Ray Chew Ray Chew is an American musician who specializes in keyboards and contemporary and orchestral arranging. He is the music director of ABC's Dancing with the Stars (2014–present). Chew was music director for Fox's American Idol from 2010 to 20 ...

– string arrangement (12) * Adrianne Woods – cello (12) * Ryan Cross – cello (12) * Chris Woods – viola (12) * Jarvis Benson – viola (12) * Jonah Sirota – viola (12) * Leah Katz – viola (12) *

Charlie Bisharat Charlie Bisharat is an American violinist known as a member of Shadowfax and for his work in film and with other New Age Jazz artists. He was born in Inglewood, CA in 1963 to parents who immigrated to the United States from Palestine in the 1950 ...

– violin (12) * Daphne Chen – violin (12) * Jenny Takamatsu – violin (12) * Marissa Kuney – violin (12) * Melissa Reiner – violin (12) * Radu Pieptea – violin (12) * Richard Adkins – violin (12) * Songa Lee – violin (12)

Technical

* Michelle Mancini – mastering *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

– mixing (1, 2, 7–12) *

Serban Ghenea Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attended ...

– mixing (3–6) * Ricky Reed – mixing (7) * Bill Malina –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

(1, 2, 6, 8, 12) * Patrick Kehrier – engineering (1–9, 12), engineering assistance (10, 11) * Benny Blanco – engineering (3) * Ilya – engineering (3) * Damien Lewis – engineering (6, 8, 9) * Ian Kirkpatrick – engineering (6, 8, 9) * Jacob Ferguson – engineering (7) * Jeff Chestek – engineering (7) * Jens Jungkurth – engineering (7) * Stefan Johnson – engineering (10) * Jeremy Hatcher – engineering (11) * Bryce Bordone – mix engineering (6), mixing assistance (3–5) * Andrew Hey – horns engineering (10) * Anthony Vilchis – mixing assistance (1, 2, 7–12) * Trey Station – mixing assistance (1, 2, 7–12) * Zach Pereyra – mixing assistance (1, 2, 7–12) * Chad Gordon – engineering assistance (1) * James Kirk – engineering assistance (2) * Piéce Eatah – engineering assistance (2) * Trey Pearce – engineering assistance (2) * Nate Ramer – engineering assistance (11) * Tom Peltier – engineering assistance (11) * Ira Grylack – engineering assistance (12)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Lizzo 2022 albums Atlantic Records albums Lizzo albums Albums produced by Ricky Reed Albums produced by Max Martin Albums produced by Ilya Salmanzadeh Albums produced by Benny Blanco Obscenity controversies in music