"Anybody Seen My Baby?" is a song by English rock band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, released as the first single from their 21st British and 23rd American studio album, '' Bridges to Babylon'' (1997). It was written by band vocalist

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and guitarist

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

, and writing credits were added for k.d. lang and Ben Mink due to the similarities the chorus possesses with lang's 1992 hit " Constant Craving". "Anybody Seen My Baby?" peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart to become the band's 38th top-40 hit in their home country. It was more successful abroad, topping the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart in Canada and reaching the top 20 in several European countries, including Hungary and Spain. In the United States, it peaked at number three on the ''

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 advertis ...

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart and number two on the Adult Alternative Songs chart.

Background and composition

Written by

and

, the song also carries writing credits for k.d. lang and Ben Mink. The song is known for its chorus, which sounds strikingly similar to lang's 1992 hit song " Constant Craving". Jagger and Richards claimed to have never heard the song before, only having discovered the similarity prior to the Stones' release. As Richards reported in his autobiography ''Life'', "My daughter Angela and a friend were at Redlands and I was playing the record and they start singing this totally different song over it. They were listening to k.d. lang's 'Constant Craving.' It was Angela and her friend that recognized it." The two gave Lang credit, along with her co-writer Mink. Lang said she was "completely honored and flattered" by receiving the songwriting credit. Coincidentally, "Anybody Seen My Baby?" is reported to have been the title of a song written and recorded by

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

after leaving the Rolling Stones. "Anybody Seen My Baby?" would go on to be the only track from ''Bridges to Babylon'' to appear on the Stones' 2002 career retrospective '' Forty Licks''. "Anybody Seen My Baby?" features wide-ranging inspirations, including sampling of

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

artist

Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer who gained prominence during hip hop's golden age. He was particularly recognized for ...

, making it the only song by the Rolling Stones to include sampling. Bass and keyboards on the song are performed by Jamie Muhoberac. Waddy Wachtel plays acoustic guitar and Jagger, Richards, and Wachtel play electric guitars. The song has a distinctive R&B feel, driven by Muhoberac's bass.

Release

The song was a worldwide hit in 1997, reaching the top 20 in several European countries, number one on Canada's Top Singles and Alternative 30 charts, and number three on ''Billboard''s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States.

Critical reception

British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' rated the song four out of five, stating that "this is top-form Stones co-written, co-produced and part-played by non-Stones."

Music video

The accompanying

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

for "Anybody Seen My Baby?" features American actress

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

. She appears as a

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at private events. Modern forms of stripping m ...

who leaves mid-performance to wander New York City. Two versions of the video exist, with minor differences between them.

Personnel

Personnel adapted from CD liner notes The Rolling Stones *

– lead vocals, guitar *

– guitar, backing vocals *

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

– guitar *

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

– drums Additional musicians *

Blondie Chaplin Terrence William "Blondie" Chaplin (born 7 July 1951) is a South African singer and guitarist from Durban, where he played in the band the Flames in the mid to late 1960s. From 1972 to 1973, he was a member of the Beach Boys and contributed ...

– backing vocals, shaker * Bernard Fowler – backing vocals *

– rapping * Jamie Muhoberac – bass, keyboards * Waddy Wachtel – electric guitar, acoustic guitar *

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was (), is an American musician, record producer, music director, film composer, documentary filmmaker and radio host. Since 2011, he has also served as president of the ...

– keyboards

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1997 singles 1997 songs Music videos directed by Samuel Bayer The Rolling Stones songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Ben Mink Songs written by Jagger–Richards Songs written by k.d. lang Song recordings produced by Don Was Song recordings produced by Dust Brothers Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards Virgin Records singles