"The Middle" is a song by Russian-German record producer
Zedd
Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...
, American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
singer
Maren Morris, and American musical duo
Grey. It was written by Zedd & Grey alongside
The Monsters and the Strangerz &
Sarah Aarons with production handled by the former three. The song was released commercially for
digital download and
streaming on 23 January 2018 by
Interscope Records. It reached the top ten of the charts in the US, the UK and several other countries. It was nominated for
Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...
,
Song of the Year, and
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the
61st Annual Grammy Awards.
Background and development
Release
The song was first revealed in an accompanying interview of Zedd's cover shot for ''
Billboard'', published on 10 August 2017. Zedd played interviewer Chris Martins unreleased material in a studio, one of which was "The Middle", which featured co-writer
Sarah Aarons as a demo singer.
On 11 January 2018, Zedd teased the song on
social media
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
, saying: "Hey guys, it's that time again. I wanted to show you a preview to my brand new song. Check it out," after which he played a short snippet of the song. The collaboration was officially announced via social media on 19 January 2018, along with the single artwork, which Zedd teased a day earlier without a title on it.
Collaboration
Zedd explained in a press release that they "worked really hard on this record to get it just right". He also opened up about the opportunity to work with both collaborators, saying that working with
Maren Morris was "super fun because she is clearly an amazing singer and very talented musician", and that he loves working with Grey because they strive to "make the best music possible".
Morris added: "Zedd was so great to work with and so easy-going, it felt like we'd been working together for years. The sound is reflective of my many influences as an artist – a little bit country, little pop, little R&B, relatable, emotional and catchy as hell. There are no limits with this song and I can't wait to see how the fans react." She revealed in a statement that she recorded her vocal for the song with Zedd in Nashville "several weeks ago" before the song's release. Grey admitted that they faced a few obstacles during production, but they "kept fighting for it" because the song was special.
Vocal demos
Demi Lovato,
Camila Cabello,
Anne-Marie,
Carly Rae Jepsen,
Tove Lo,
Bishop Briggs,
Bebe Rexha,
Lauren Jauregui,
Daya,
Charli XCX
Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...
,
Elle King
Tanner Elle Schneider (born July 3, 1989), known professionally as Elle King, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her musical style is influenced by Country music, country, Rock music, rock, and blues. She signed with RCA Records to ...
,
Elley Duhé and
Lennon Stella all recorded demos of the song before Morris' version was selected.
Stefan Johnson, one-fifth of production team The Monsters and the Strangerz, stated that "it was a super long process." Jordan Johnson of the same team added: "We never lost the feeling for that song. Even a year later, I, as a creator hadn't gotten tired of it. It was special."
The first iteration of the song (before Zedd and Grey were attached) was intended to be a single for Lovato, but she passed after deciding the song was "too pop" and opted to release "
Sorry Not Sorry" instead. She had already released a song with the same name on her 2008 album
Don't Forget
''Don't Forget'' is the debut studio album by American singer Demi Lovato. It was released on September 23, 2008, by Hollywood Records. She started working on the album in September 2007, while filming the Disney Channel original movie '' ...
.
Once Zedd and Grey were brought on board, Cabello's version was selected but she pulled out two weeks prior to the song's release in order to focus on promoting "
Havana".
After Cabello backed out, Anne-Marie's version was chosen but she had to back out due to conflicts stemming from the release of "
Friends".
After plans to release Anne-Marie's version fell through, the production team discovered that Morris has recorded a version but that it was never reviewed when initially submitted for consideration.
Once the production team heard Morris' version, it was selected for the final cut.
Rexha's demo leaked online in 2018, Cabello's demo leaked in 2020 while Lovato's, XCX's and Briggs' demos leaked in 2021. Sarah Aarons' original demo leaked online in 2022, including the demo of her second rendition have also leaked in 2023. Anne-Marie's full demo leaked online in 2023.
Critical reception
Kat Bein of ''Billboard'' opined that the song is "relatively sparse with cute, lively flourishes", writing that it has "definite sonic similarities" to Zedd's previous song "
Stay".
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
''s Brittney McKenna deemed the song "an infectious earworm" in which Morris "strays from her country roots". She felt that the "Nineties R&B-indebted, vocoder-driven chorus" recalls the sound of "Stay", and that Morris "deftly occupies the new, poppy space". Hugh McIntyre of
Fuse found Morris' appearance on the track surprising, "considering the genres she primarily works in", as he praised Morris for "supplying vocals perfectly". He felt that it "leans a lot more pop than electro", which makes the song more appealing to a broader variety of listeners. Regarding the song "an easy-to-love electronic smash" and "a slightly reductive mix" of "Stay" and "
Starving", he noted that it is "not entirely original" due to its "reminiscence of what the musicians have delivered before". Similarly, Madeline Roth of
MTV News called the song "a poppy earworm" and a combination of "Stay" and "Starving", which is "catchy as hell and practically destined for radio domination". Mike Nied of
Idolator wrote that the song "blends elements of country and EDM" and praised Morris for providing "impassioned vocals". Billy Dukes of Taste of Country described the song as "an unlikely combination of EDM, '90s pop and modern country music".
Music video
The song's music video, directed by
Dave Meyers, was premiered via
Target's commercial space during the
60th Annual Grammy Awards.
On 25 April, Zedd released a
vertical video on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. The dancing was choreographed by
Nadine "Hi-Hat" Ruffin, with 50 dancers featured including
Lele Pons,
Jade Chynoweth, and
Willdabeast Adams. More than 400 extras worked on the video.
Live performances
On 28 April 2018, Zedd and Maren Morris performed the song live for the first time at the Omnia nightclub in Las Vegas. On 20 May 2018, all three artists performed the song at the
2018 ''Billboard'' Music Awards. Morris performed the song with
Taylor Swift at the Arlington stop of Swift's
Reputation Stadium Tour on 5 October 2018. On 26 October 2019,
Jess Moskaluke and The Hunter Brothers performed the song at the opening ceremonies of the
2019 NHL Heritage Classic in
Regina, Saskatchewan, located roughly midway between the home cities of the participating
Calgary Flames and
Winnipeg Jets along the
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...
.
Awards and nominations
Commercial performance
The song reached No. 5 on ''Billboard''
Hot 100. As of February 2019, it had sold 771,000 copies in the United States.
In January 2021, "The Middle" surpassed 1 billion streams on
Spotify, the first song to do so for all three artists.
Track listings
*Digital download
#"The Middle" – 3:04
*CD single
#"The Middle" – 3:05
#"The Middle" – 3:02
*Digital download - Remixes
#"The Middle (Marc Benjamin Remix)" - 3:45
#"The Middle (Bougenvilla Remix)" - 3:54
#"The Middle (Curbi Remix)" - 4:11
#"The Middle (UNKWN Remix)" - 3:01
#"The Middle (Maliboux Remix)" - 3:53
Personnel
Credits adapted from
Tidal.
*
Zedd
Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...
– production, mixing
*
Grey – production, mixing
*
The Monsters and the Strangerz – production
*
Tom Norris – mixing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
Certifications
Release history
See also
*
List of number-one songs of 2018 (Singapore)
*
List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 2018 (U.S.)
*
List of ''Billboard'' Mainstream Top 40 number-one songs of 2018
*
List of highest-certified singles in Australia
This is a list of highest-certified singles in Australia according to the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Since 1983, ARIA certifies a single Platinum for shipment of 70,000 copies across Australia. Single figures can include "qu ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Middle, The
2018 songs
2018 singles
Zedd songs
Maren Morris songs
Interscope Records singles
Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director)
Number-one singles in Singapore
Songs written by Sarah Aarons
Songs written by Zedd
Song recordings produced by the Monsters & Strangerz
Songs written by Jordan Johnson (songwriter)
Songs written by Stefan Johnson
Songs written by Marcus Lomax
APRA Award winners