"Starving" is a song by American singer

Hailee Steinfeld Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hailee Steinfeld, various accolades, including a Peabody Award, and nominations for an Academy Award ...

and American duo

Grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

, featuring Russian-German producer

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (russian: Антон Заславский; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a Russian-born German disc jockey, DJ, record producer, and songwriter. Zedd grew up and began his musical journey in Kaise ...

. The song was written by Grey members Michael Trewartha and Kyle Trewartha, Robert McCurdy, Christopher Petrosino, and Asia Whiteacre. It was released on July 22, 2016, through

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

and

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. "Starving" is included on the Japanese edition of Steinfeld's debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, '' Haiz'' (2015). It serves as the record's third and final single.

Background

In an interview with ''Nylon''s Irina Grechko, Steinfeld said "'Starving' is a song about sort of knowing someone, or getting to know that certain someone, to the point where even though you were somebody before that person came along, they have given you this whole new outlook on yourself and on life. It's this idea that since you came into my life everything is different, and I didn't know that it could be this different since you came into my life."

Critical reception

Katherine Barner of

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 ...

called the song "a dreamy, teen romance anthem." ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since ...

''s Isis Briones said that the song "has a soft guitar start and builds up to a mellow dance tune, perfect for a low-key summer night with your best friends. Thanks to the catchy lyrics and Zedd's smooth transitions, you'll instantly pick up on all the words to the song after just listening to it a few times. There's no doubt this single will soon top the charts, so get on it early and add it to your playlist ASAP."

Chart performance

"Starving" debuted at number 96 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated December 3rd, 2015. The song rose 31–24 on the chart dated October 15, 2016, making it Steinfeld's highest-charting single to date (ahead of the number 30-peaking " Love Myself"). It reached a peak position of 12 on the chart dated December 17, 2016. "Starving" is Steinfeld's second top 40 single, Grey's first, and Zedd's fifth. On the

Pop Songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

chart, "Starving" debuted at number 32 on the chart dated August 13, 2016 and reached a peak position of 5 on the chart dated January 14, 2017. The song became Steinfeld's first top 10 on the chart in November 2016. In Canada, "Starving" debuted at number 86 on the ''Billboard'' Canadian Hot 100 chart dated August 27, 2016. The song reached a peak position of 9 on the chart dated January 14, 2017, earning Steinfeld her first top 10 single in that country. The song also charted well internationally, earning Steinfeld her first top 10 on multiple record charts. "Starving" peaked at number 5 in Australia, number 8 in Denmark, number 8 in Ireland, number 8 on the Netherlands'

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

chart, number 5 in New Zealand, number 3 in Scotland, and number 5 in the United Kingdom.

Music video

A music video directed by Darren Craig was released on September 27, 2016. It features Steinfeld dancing with four shirtless male back-up dancers, as well as a cameo appearance by

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles Republic Records singles Island Records singles Hailee Steinfeld songs Zedd songs Songs written by Asia Whiteacre