"I'm Too Sexy" is a song by British pop band

Right Said Fred Right Said Fred are an English pop band formed by brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass in 1989. They are best known for the hit 1991 song " I'm Too Sexy". History 1989–1991: Formation Prior to forming Right Said Fred, the Fairbra ...

, released in July 1991 by Tug Records as their debut single from their first album, '' Up'' (1992). The song was written by band members and brothers Fred Fairbrass and Richard Fairbrass with Rob Manzoli and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside the United Kingdom, it topped the charts in seven countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United States. James Lebon directed the music video for the song, featuring various clips of models walking on the

catwalk A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons. This is where ...

. In 2023, ''

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'' magazine ranked "I'm Too Sexy" among the 500 best pop songs of all time.

Composition and recording

The idea for the song came about when the Fairbrass brothers were running a gym in London where, according to Richard, there was "lots of narcissism and posing". One day, he took his shirt off and started singing "I'm too sexy for my shirt" in front of a mirror as a joke. The band originally recorded it as an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

song. It was rejected by multiple record companies before they played it to radio plugger Guy Holmes. He was initially unimpressed after playing it on his car stereo, but his passengers latched onto the song's "I'm a model, you know what I mean" hook and Holmes asked the band if they could rework it as a dance track. DJ TommyD, an acquaintance of Richard Fairbrass, programmed electronics around the original vocal, whilst guitarist Rob Manzoli added a riff borrowed from the

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

song " Third Stone from the Sun".

Release

The single was released on 15 July 1991. It equalled the record for the most weeks at number two on the UK Singles Chart without ever topping the chart, staying at number two for six weeks in a row while held back by

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

' "

(Everything I Do) I Do It for You "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Written by Adams, Michael Kamen, and Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the power ballad was the lead single for both the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves#Music, soundtr ...

" (this equalled the previous record set by Father Abraham's 1978 hit " The Smurf Song"). In May 1992, the song was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Best Selling 'A' Side. "I'm Too Sexy" was the act's first of several hits, particularly in the United Kingdom. They went on to have a number one single on the UK Singles Chart with " Deeply Dippy" in April 1992.

Chart performance

"I'm Too Sexy" was successful on the singles charts worldwide, becoming a hit on several continents. It made its way to the number-one position in Australia, Austria, Canada (''

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'' chart), Ireland, New Zealand and the US, where the single topped the ''

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as well as the ''Billboard''

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chart. The song reached the next best chart position, as number two in Canada (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 ...

'' Top Singles chart), Norway and the UK, where it peaked in its fourth week on the UK Singles Chart on August 11, 1991. It debuted on the UK chart as number 37 and was held off the number one spot by

' "

". "I'm Too Sexy" spent six weeks at the number two position, before dropping to 5, 7 and 9, and then leaving the UK Top 10 in October 1991. In the US, the song also peaked at number four on both the ''Billboard''

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 and the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 as well as number 28 on the ''Billboard''

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart. Additionally, it was a top 10 hit also in Belgium (3), Ecuador (5), Greece (5) and Sweden (8). "I'm Too Sexy" was certified

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in Australia (70,000), Austria (25,000), Canada (50,000), New Zealand (5,000) and the UK (470,000). In the US, the single received

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

status with a sale of 1 million units.

Critical reception

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editor Stephen Schnee described the song as a "humorous yet misunderstood swipe at self centered male bodybuilders and models." J.D. Considine from ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'' wrote, "With its prodding piano and insistently tuneful bass line, "I'm Too Sexy" is an insidiously catchy single - the sort that sticks in your memory whether you want it to or not. Fortunately, head Fred Richard Fairbrass handles the vocals with enough good humor that the single's annoyance factor remains relatively low. David Taylor-Wilson from ''

Bay Area Reporter The ''Bay Area Reporter'' is a free weekly LGBT newspaper serving the LGBT communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is one of the largest-circulation LGBT newspapers in the United States, and the country's oldest continuously published ne ...

'' called it "a campy send-up of the fashion world."

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

'' commented, "Thoroughly fun and goofy ditty recently heated up international dance floors and radio airwaves. Fred cheekily boasts about his physical attributes over a festive pop/house groove, which should have no trouble duplicating its success here." Andy Kastanas from ''

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. It is owned by Chatham Asset ...

'' stated, "This midtempo "

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

/house" beat has a catchy

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and unusual deep male vocals (a la

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on steroids) that'll put a meltdown on any ladies in the vicinity. You'll dance whether you like it or not and the lyrics are sure to give you some chucks when you sing along (and you WILL sing along)... "''I'm too sexy for my car, too sexy for your party, too sexy for this song, too sexy it hurts''" and on and on." 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 ...

'' deemed it an "eccentric" and "amusingly muttered 121.7bpm pop rattler". Clark and Devaney from '' Cashbox'' said, "Here is a fun, tongue-in-cheek dance tune that should get lots of club play." They concluded that the group "have put together a clever dance/club put-down of what could only be the whole fashion-model "poser" attitude that's so much in vogue." David Quantick from ''

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

'' stated, "'I'm Too Sexy' is a great record, not least because it's a piss-take of people who fancy themselves sung by people who fancy themselves." A reviewer from ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''Peopl ...

'' described it as a "dopey dance tune mocking fashion models and voguers—but it'll keep you moving." ''

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'' wrote, "This

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 ...

, along with its video, is the most inescapable assault on mass consciousness since " Gypsy Woman". Prepare to be impaled on a throbbing slice of masculinity courtesy of three roughnecks who've already had

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 ...

down on all fours (they were once his trainers). Lie back and enjoy it."

Music video

A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by James Lebon. In a 2017 interview, Fred Fairbrass told that they had borrowed 1,500 pounds to make the single and then another 3,000-4,000 pounds to make the video for the song. In the video, the group performs while humorously posing as models on a runway set, surrounded by female photographers wearing bikinis. In between, there are clips of real models walking the

at different

fashion show A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons. This is wh ...

s. James Muretich from ''

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'' described the video as "campy". In the clubs, many people would imitate the band's "catwalk" dance as seen on the video, which was released in January 1992.

Impact and legacy

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' ranked "I'm Too Sexy" number 15 in their list of "Singles of the Year" in December 1991. In 1993, the song was awarded one of BMI's Pop Awards in the category for Most Performed College Radio Song of 1992. In June 2007, it was voted No. 80 on

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's list of "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s". In April 2008, the song was rated No. 49 on "The 50 Worst Songs Ever! Watch, Listen and Cringe!" by ''

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''. In April 2011, it was voted No. 2 on VH1's "40 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '90s". In 2017, ''

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

'' ranked it No. 90 in their list of "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s", adding, "Yes, this song is cheesy as hell, but it doesn't ever try to be anything other than what it is: a fun, catchy, campy

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

song." In 2019, ''

'' listed the song at No. 210 in their ranking of "Billboard's Top Songs of the '90s". Four years later, in October 2023, the magazine ranked it at No. 475 in their "Best Pop Songs of All Time" list.

Track listing

*UK 7" (SNOG 1) / cassette (CA SNOG 1) #"I'm Too Sexy" #"I'm Too Sexy" (instrumental) *UK 12" (12 SNOG 1) #"I'm Too Sexy" #"I'm Too Sexy" (7" version) #"I'm Too Sexy" (12" instrumental) *UK CD (CD SNOG 1) #"I'm Too Sexy" (Betty's mix) #"I'm Too Sexy" (7" mix) #"I'm Too Sexy" (12" instrumental) #"I'm Too Sexy" (Italian version) *US single #"I'm Too Sexy" (7" version) #"I'm Too Sexy" (Extended Club Mix) #"I'm Too Sexy" (Betty's Mix) #"I'm Too Sexy" (Instrumental) #"I'm Too Sexy" (Catwalk Mix) #"I'm Too Sexy" (Tushapella) #"I'm Too Sexy" (Spanish version)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Covers and adaptations

*In 2009, English girl group

Sugababes The Sugababes are an English girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by Ron Tom, the manager of All Saints, ...

included an interpolation of the song in their single " Get Sexy". * In 2016, Cody Marshall released a sequel to

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...

's " Achy Breaky Song" titled "I'm Too Sexy Song." In the song, Cody describes his annoyance with "I'm Too Sexy" and his preference for listening to

Yanni Yiannis Chryssomallis (; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthand that he developed as a child, blending jazz, clas ...

play the flute and country music by artists such as

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Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In t ...

Lonestar Lonestar (formerly known as Texassee) is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Drew Womack (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (key ...

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

Sawyer Brown Sawyer Brown is an American country music band. It was founded in 1981 in Apopka, Florida, by Mark Miller (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard (keyboards, vocals), Bobby Randall (lead guitar, vocals), Joe "Curly" Smyth (drums), an ...

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, and

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

. *In 2017, American singer-songwriter

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

released her single " Look What You Made Me Do", which interpolated "I'm Too Sexy" in the chorus. It marked Swift's fifth chart topper on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. *In 2021, Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

released the song " Way 2 Sexy" with American rappers

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and

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...

, which samples and interpolates the track. The song also topped the Hot 100. *In 2022, American singer

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

released the song " Alien Superstar" as part of her seventh studio album ''

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'', which interpolates the track.