"I'm Outta Love" is a song by American singer

Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. Her first two studio albums, '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001), achieved chart success with the singles " I'm Outta Love", " Not That Ki ...

, released as her debut single. Written by Anastacia, Sam Watters, and Louis Biancaniello and produced by the latter two, it was released on February 29, 2000, as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from her debut album, ''

Not That Kind ''Not That Kind'' is the debut studio album by American singer Anastacia. It was released on June 16, 2000, by Epic Records and Daylight Records. The album features production by Sam Watters, Louis Biancaniello, Ric Wake, Evan Rogers, Carl St ...

'' (2000). The song became a major hit in Europe and Australia, reaching number one in

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

, Australia, and New Zealand; it was the most successful song of 2000 in the latter two regions. It additionally reached the top five in several others, including France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Background and recording

Following a short-living dancing career on television shows such as

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's '' Club MTV'' and work as a

backup dancer A backup dancer also known as background dancer is a performer who dances with or behind the lead performers in a live musical act or in a music video. Their movements (especially where there are many moving together) improve the visual aesthetic ...

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 ...

s, including rap group

Salt-N-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (sometimes stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa) is an American hip-hop, hip hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (rapper), Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (rapper), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). ...

's clip for " Get Up Everybody (Get Up)", in 1993, Anastacia relocated from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in hopes of launching a singing career. Soon after, she signed a production deal with

Cece Peniston Cecilia Veronica "CeCe" Peniston (; born September 6, 1969) is an American singer and former beauty queen. In the early 1990s, she scored five number one hits on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play. Her signature song " Finally" re ...

manager O.G. Pearce, but failed to arrange a recording contract. In 1997, Anastacia met

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

–based music executive Lisa Braudé, who signed her with Braudé Management and encouraged her to join MTV's '' The Cut'', a talent series for unsigned acts, the following year. Her appearance on the show led to a meeting with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

A&R executive David Massey who offered a recording contract with his own label

Daylight Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sunlig ...

, a custom label of

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

company, in March 1999. For the sound of her debut album ''

'', Anastacia envisioned "something in a

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 ...

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul music, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel music, gospel, and R&B, becam ...

" style. While Massey felt that it would be hard to find a song that stood up to her massive voice, he consulted Sam Watters from Epic's R&B group Color Me Badd to work on "a great song for a big voice, kind of "

I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, ''Love Tracks (Gloria Gaynor album), Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Pe ...

" but with a little more substance." Within three or four days, Watters presented a demo of "I'm Outta Love" in its earliest form. After listening to the demo, Anastacia agreed to further work on it alongside Watters and co-producer Louis Biancaniello. In an interview discussing the development of the song, Anastacia revealed that they had adopted Massey's approach while writing it, aiming for a song "like " It's Raining Men" and "I Will Survive", one that makes you move and makes you happy." Answering a question on British music show '' Later... with Jools Holland'' regarding if this song was about anybody in particular, Anastacia later replied, "It's about a lot of people in particular, not just one but probably many in my life who I wanted to have a love thing with but it wasn't there."

Composition

Written in the key of B♭

Dorian mode The Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek music, Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the mediev ...

with a tempo of 119 beats per minute, "I'm Outta Love"'s instrumentation features a

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

bass, guitar and keyboards. Its main chord sequence of B♭m–F–A♭–E♭ starts 19 seconds into the song, after an introduction of different rhythmic keyboard and synth sounds, which is omitted in the

radio edit In music, a radio edit, or a "clean version," is a modification, typically truncated or censored, intended to make a song more suitable for airplay. It may be censored for profanity, vulgarities, or subject matter; or adjusted for length, instr ...

. This chord progression forms most of the song except the final line of the verses and chorus, in which it changes to B♭m–F–G♭–F. Throughout the song, Anastacia uses a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

-like voice and uses various

ad-libs In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The roughly synonymous phrase ('in acc ...

in the second and third choruses. The song ends on a fade-out.

Critical reception

"I'm Outta Love" has been lauded by contemporary music critics. William Ruhlmann of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

called the song an "aggressive dancefloor item," and added: "The minute she opens her mouth she starts reminding you of other singers, especially

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

." Michel Paoletta, editor for ''

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 ...

'' magazine, declared "I'm Outta Love" a "sonic joyride ..which moves and grooves with a spirit all its own." Less impressed, MTVAsia.com editor Tricia Boey wrote that this song "could very well have been sung by

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

or a whole ''

'' chart-full of other divas."

Chart performance

"I'm Outta Love" was first released in the United States, where a promo-only

12-inch The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

single was issued to club DJs in November 1999. Officially released to radio and retailers on February 29, 2000, the song debuted on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the week of April 1, 2000. It spent three weeks on the chart, peaking at number ninety-two. As of 2016, the single remains Anastacia's only entry on the chart. "I'm Outta Love" fared better on several of the ''Billboard'' component charts, reaching number eleven on the

Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales The Dance Singles Sales was a record chart released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling Dance music, dance singles in the United States. Its previous names include Hot Dance/Disco 12-inch Singles ...

chart and number two for eight consecutive weeks on the

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart. "I'm Outta Love" also reached number eleven on the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian music charts are a collection of record charts reflecting the music consumption of people in Canada. '' RPM'' and '' Billboard'' are the biggest publications to have published Canada's official charts for decades. However, the first ...

. The single was released to greater international success in Australia and Europe, where Daylight Records and the Epic label had planned to develop a platform first and promotion through affiliates took off much quicker than in North America. In Australia, the track debuted at number six on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

, a month later reached number one and stayed there for five consecutive weeks. The song eventually became the highest-selling single of the year, and was certified double platinum by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA) for selling over 140,000 copies. In New Zealand, the single spent seven consecutive weeks at the top of the charts, and after shipping over 15,000 units to retailers, the

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

(RIANZ) certified it platinum. Like in Australia, the song ended up the highest-selling single of the year in New Zealand. The track reached the top ten in most European countries in which it charted. "I'm Outta Love" spent three consecutive weeks at number-one in the

region of Belgium and was ranked eighth on national year-end chart. It also reached the top five in Austria, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, and Switzerland, and it entered the top ten in Denmark, Germany, Spain, and the

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

region of Belgium. In the United Kingdom, "I'm Outta Love" peaked at number six and was certified silver by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI) on October 1, 2000.

Music video

The

for "I'm Outta Love", directed by

Nigel Dick Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is an English music video director and filmmaker. Originally from Catterick, North Yorkshire, he is based in Los Angeles, California. He has directed music videos for artists such as Britney Spears, Toto, Ba ...

and choreographed by

Robin Antin Robin Antin is an American dancer and choreographer. In 1995, she founded the modern burlesque troupe the Pussycat Dolls. By 2005, she diversified into various media including a pop recording group with international hits, a Las Vegas nightclub ...

, was filmed on location at the Park Plaza Hotel in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Dick had previously shot the video for

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

's "

Welcome to the Jungle "Welcome to the Jungle" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured as the opening track on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). It was released as the album's second single initially in the UK in September 1987 ...

" (1987) at the same location. In 1999, "I'm Outta Love" earned Anastacia her first

MTV Europe Music Award The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

nomination in the Best New Act category at the 2000 awards ceremony. The song also spawned an official remix video for the

Hex Hector Hex Hector (born Héctor Ortiz) is an American music producer and remixer. Early life Hector was born Héctor Ortiz in Manhattan, New York, of a Puerto Rican mother and Cuban father. Career Hex Hector's interest in music began at an early ...

Radio Mix, which included some new and extended scenes.

Synopsis

The video starts out with Anastacia walking through a tunnel with her coat on and cuts to a dressing room where she and her singers are preparing for a performance on stage. Intercut scenes of her female singers are shown in-between alongside Anastacia singing in the crowd. During the performance, a man who admires Anastacia neglects his girlfriend in favor of the performance. After the girlfriend confronts him and leaves, the man writes his phone number on a letter for Anastacia. After the performance, the man finds Anastacia backstage talking with her friends and gives her the letter with his number. She quickly reads it and walks away from the man, disgusted by his actions.

Track listings

* US CD single # "I'm Outta Love" (album version) – 4:02 # "I'm Outta Love" (

radio mix) – 3:50 # "Baptize My Soul" – 4:13 * US maxi-CD single # "I'm Outta Love" (radio edit) – 3:57 # "I'm Outta Love" (Hex Hector radio edit) – 3:51 # "I'm Outta Love" (Matty's Soulflower mix) – 5:56 # "I'm Outta Love" (Hex Hector main club mix) – 7:59 # "I'm Outta Love" (

Ron Trent Ronald "Ron" Trent (born May 23, 1973) is an American house music Disc Jockey, DJ and record producer. Music career After experimenting with beat machines and a small Keyboard instrument, keyboard in 1986, he began recording the track "Altered S ...

's club mix) – 8:35 # "Baptize My Soul" – 4:13 * US 7-inch and cassette single :A. "I'm Outta Love" (album version) – 4:02 :B. "Baptize My Soul" – 4:13 * UK CD single # "I'm Outta Love" (radio edit) – 3:57 # "I'm Outta Love" (

Rhythm Masters Rhythm Masters are an English house music duo composed of DJs Robert Chetcuti and Steve Mac, a.k.a. Steve McGuinness. Biography They began mixing together around 1993 after meeting in Malta, doing remixes for, among others, Todd Terry, Michae ...

vocal mix) – 6:47 # "I'm Outta Love" (Ron Trent's club mix) – 8:33 # "I'm Outta Love" (multimedia video version) * UK cassette single # "I'm Outta Love" (radio edit) – 3:57 # "I'm Outta Love" (Rhythm Masters radio mix) – 3:53 * European CD1 # "I'm Outta Love" (album version) – 4:02 # "I'm Outta Love" (Matty's Too Deep mix) – 9:28 * European CD2 # "I'm Outta Love" (album version) – 4:02 # "I'm Outta Love" (Matty's Too Deep mix) – 9:28 # "I'm Outta Love" (Hex Hector Main club mix) – 7:59 # "I'm Outta Love" (Hex Hector radio mix) – 4:02 * Australian CD single # "I'm Outta Love" (radio edit) – 3:57 # "I'm Outta Love" (Hex Hector radio edit) – 3:51 # "I'm Outta Love" (Matty's 2 Deep mix) – 9:29 # "I'm Outta Love" (Hex Hector main club mix) – 7:59 # "I'm Outta Love" (Ron Trent's club mix) – 8:35 # "Baptize My Soul" – 4:13

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Not That Kind'' booklet. Studios * Recorded and mixed at Homesite 13 (

Novato, California Novato (Spanish language, Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, situated in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

) * Mastered at Gateway Mastering (

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, US) Personnel * Anastacia – writing, background vocals * Sam Watters – writing, background vocals, drums, production * Louis Biancaniello – writing, keyboards, drums, programming, production, mixing * Vernon Black – guitars * David Frazer – mixing *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Usage in media

* In 2001, the song was featured on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

's legal drama television series ''

Ally McBeal ''Ally McBeal'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series created by David E. Kelley that originally aired on Fox from September 8, 1997, to May 20, 2002. It revolves around Calista Flockhart in the title role as a lawyer working ...

'', in the episode "The Getaway." * Country singer Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough performed a Cha-cha-cha dance to "I'm Outta Love" on the eighth season of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' in 2009. * "I'm Outta Love" was featured in the dance

rhythm video game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to press ...

'' Just Dance 2022.''

References

{{Authority control 2000 debut singles 2000 songs Anastacia songs Daylight Records singles Epic Records singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Music videos directed by Nigel Dick Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand Songs written by Anastacia Songs written by Louis Biancaniello Songs written by Sam Watters Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles