Peak
2
Weeks
77
Score
16,770
Chart Year
2021
Scores & Rankings
Chart Performance
Peak Position2
Peak DateMay 22, 2021
Weeks at Peak1
Weeks Charted77
Weeks in Top 4072
Weeks in Top 1041
Weeks at #21
Weeks at #10
Scoring
Summary Calc8,208
Weekly Calc8,562
Total Score16,770
Rankings
Year Ranking#3
Decade Ranking#9
Billboard Year#2
Top 5000#10
Details
- Album
- Future Nostalgia
- Label
- Warner Records
- Genre
- Dance-pop
- Media Type
- DD
- Duration
- 3:23
- Composer(s)
- Dua Lipa;Clarence Coffee Jr.;Sarah Hudson;Stephen Kozmeniuk;DaBaby
- Entered Chart
- Oct 17, 2020
- Peak Date
- May 22, 2021
- Released
- 1 October 2020
- Recorded
- 28 August 2018Studio Sarm (London, United Kingdom)the Bunker at 13Sarm Music Village (London, Un
- Catalog #
- Warner Records
Music Video
From 25 August 2020 to 31 August 2020, Lipa held a contest on social media platform TikTok for fans to create visualisers for "Levitating", including dance, animation and make up, for a chance to be featured in the video, later revealed to be the video for the remix featuring DaBaby.[49] The challenge garnered 300,000,000 views and 150,000 video submissions, of which 16 creators were invited to be a part of the video.[131] Three creators, Andrew Wilson, Ramana Borba and Rikki Sandhu, helped as part of the crew. They animated Lipa's cosmic dance floor, helped with some of the dance routines and designed the cosmic make up on Lipa's dancers, respectively.[66] For the video, Lipa had a mood board consisting of Austin Powers, 1960s futurism and surrealism, Studio 54 and disco, thinking that "Levitating" was the perfect song to encapsulate these ideas.[132] The music video was directed by American director Warren Fu,[133] and took over 16 and a half hours to shoot,[134] with stylist Lorenzo Posocco being on Zoom for over 17 hours during it.[135] While filming, Lipa quickly decided that she did not like her look moments before going on camera, and within five minutes hairstylist Chris Appleton flipped her wig and gave her a whole new look. TikTok users Dexter Mayfield and Olivia Wong prepared for being on camera by vibing off everyone's energy and staying calm, respectively.[132] DaBaby was originally supposed to be dressed as an astronaut for his shots, but ultimately did not due to the video's "flow", so he could just party.[136] The visual premiered on YouTube at 13:00 BST (12:00 UTC) on 2 October 2020.[137] It was proceeded by the release of two teasers on TikTok, in which Lipa invites users to "The Levitating Experience" that takes one to an "intergalatic dance floor;" she also warns viewers not to mess with the system and informs them about how to get there, among other items.[138][139] An alternate animated music video was released on September 13, 2021, using the original version of the song without DaBaby. The music video was produced by Japanese animation group NOSTALOOK, in retro 1980s-1990s Japanese anime style, similar to Sailor Moon and Creamy Mami.
Notes
Over an elastic bassline and syncopated handclaps, Dua Lipa sings of riding into outer space with her lover. If you wanna run away with me, I know a galaxy And I can take you for a ride Dua Lipa's songs are often upbeat musically, but with downbeat lyrics about romantic difficulties ("Don't Start Now," "Break My Heart"). However, "Levitating" is an all-round euphoric jam. "It's about having fun and meeting someone and falling in love and thinking, 'You've probably met me at the perfect time, let's just go for it," Dua Lipa explained to Apple Music. "It's the feeling when love makes you feel like you're levitating. It's otherworldly." Dua Lipa wrote the song with Katy Perry and Camila Cabello collaborator Sarah Hudson, and with Clarence Coffee Jr. of The Monsters and The Strangerz production and songwriting team. The same people also penned her "Physical" single along with Jason Evigan. Production is courtesy of: Stephen "Koz' Kozmeniuk, who previously collaborated with Lipa on "Hotter Than Hell" and "IDGAF." Stuart Price, who has worked with Madonna, The Pet Shop Boys and The Killers. The song clocks in at 103 BMP, the same heart-thumpin' rhythm as the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive." Dua Lipa told the BBC this was the track that helped shape the Future Nostalga album and they got "so excited" in the studio that the recording session became a spontaneous party. "We ate so many doughnuts that we were literally levitating because we were so high on sugar," she said. The song finds Lipa trying her hand at faux-rapping reminiscent of Blondie's 1981 song "Rapture." "Things get quite Daft Punk-y here, but it's playful, and the middle eight is almost like my British version of Blondie's rapping," she told Apple Music about the track. "I felt like I needed to get my British side across as well on this record, because sometimes people don't actually know where I'm from." Dua Lipa planned to accompany the single release of "Levitating" with a "fun" club remix by DJ/producer The Blessed Madonna (not to be confused with the iconic singer). Madonna (this time we are referencing the Queen of Pop) heavily influenced Future Nostalga and Stuart Price, who co-produced her 10th studio album Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) also helmed "Levitating." In late June 2020, Lipa's manager, Ben Mawson, revealed in an interview with Music Week that they were hoping Madonna might want to contribute some vocals. Around the same time, Mawson was also reaching out by email to another of the English songstress' musical heroines, Missy Elliott. Lipa hoped at least one would say yes, but much to her excitement, both the "Vogue" hitmaker and the iconic rapper said that they would like to jump on the remix. The final version of the remix features Lipa and the actual Madonna frolicking over The Blessed Madonna's upbeat trance production before Missy Elliott steps in with a stylishly naughty verse. This marked the first time in 17 years that Missy Elliott and Madonna had worked together. Previously, Missy supplied a guest verse for Madonna's "Into the Hollywood Groove (The Passengerz Mix)," a track from her 2003 Remixed & Revisited album. Will Hooper filmed the dreamy video in mid-June 2020 at a London studio. The clip features Dua Lipa and Missy drenched in vivid blues and reds while the English pop princess's real-like boyfriend, Anwar Hadid, portrays her love interest. Dua Lipa dropped a second remix on October 2, 2020 featuring DaBaby. Their disco-rap collaboration is accompanied by a Warren Fu-directed video capturing the duo performing in a futuristic spaceship. Dua Lipa held a contest on TikTok to get animation and make-up ideas (and even dancers) for the clip. Rocking a '70s-inspired Valentino Haute Couture tasseled sequin gown, Dua Lipa gave the first televised performance of "Levitating" on the November 20, 2020 episode of BBC's The Graham Norton Show. She sang the song again two days later at the 2020 American Music Awards. Filmed at London's Royal Albert Hall in a custom-built set, Dua Lipa ended her performance by levitating towards the sky with the help of wires through a pulley system. Dua Lipa sings the song a cappella in a commercial for Evian called "Drink True." Lipa's performance of the song with no studio effects links with the campaign's celebration of "authenticity, transparency and honesty." Lipa sang this at the Grammy Awards in 2021 joined by DaBaby, who performed his hit "Rockstar" in the same segment. Future Nostalgia won for Best Pop Vocal Album at the ceremony. It never hit #1, but "Levitating" floated to the top of Billboard's 2021 year-end Hot 100 Songs chart. The song spent 41 weeks of the year in the Hot 100's Top 10, becoming the longest running Top 10 song by a female artist in the chart's history. Also, on the Billboard Hot 100 dated March 19, 2022, "Levitating" broke the record for the most weeks ever spent on the chart for a song by a woman. It surpassed the 69-week run of LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live" in 1997-98. The Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System brought legal action against Lipa, claiming "Levitating" copied their 2017 song "Live Your Life." The part in "Levitating" where Lipa sings "I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight" has a very similar vocal melody. A few days after Artikal Sound System's legal action, songwriters L Russell Brown and Sandy Linz brought their own copright lawsuit. They claimed "Levitating" ripped off two of their songs: 1979's "Wiggle And Giggle All Night," which they wrote for Cory Daye, and 1980's "Don Diablo," performed by Miguel Bose.
Let's go I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight I need you all night, come on, dance with me (I'm levitating) I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight I need you all night, come on, dance with me I'm levitating I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight I need you all night, come on, dance with me I'm levitating I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight I need you all night, come on, dance with me I'm levitating You want me, I want you, baby My sugarboo, I'm levitating The Milky Way, we're renegading Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I'm levitating Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I'm levitating You want me, I want you, baby My sugarboo, I'm levitating The Milky Way, we're renegading Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I'm levitating You want me, I want you, baby My sugarboo, I'm levitating The Milky Way, we're renegading Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Uh uh Let's go, left foot, right foot, levitatin' (c'mon) Pop stars (go), Dua Lipa with DaBaby Left foot, right foot, levitatin' If I ever slip, I fall into a better situation I'm levitating Left foot, right foot, levitatin' (c'mon) Pop stars (go), Dua Lipa with DaBaby Left foot, right foot, levitating I kept my head up Now baby stand up I'm levitating I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight I need you all night, come on, dance with me (I'm levitating) I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight I need you all night, come on, dance with me I'm levitating I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight I need you all night, come on, dance with me I'm levitating I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight I need you all night, come on, dance with me I'm levitating You want me, I want you, baby My sugarboo, I'm levitating The Milky Way, we're renegading Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I'm levitating Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah You want me, I want you, baby My sugarboo, I'm levitating The Milky Way, we're renegading Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I'm levitating You want me, I want you, baby My sugarboo, I'm levitating The Milky Way, we're renegading Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Uh uh Let's go, left foot, right foot, levitatin' (c'mon) Pop stars (go), Dua Lipa with DaBaby Left foot, right foot, levitatin' If I ever slip, I fall into a better situation I'm levitating Left foot, right foot, levitatin' (c'mon) Pop stars (go), Dua Lipa with DaBaby Left foot, right foot, levitating I kept my head up Now baby stand up I'm levitating (let's go)
Chart History (77 weeks)
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oct 17, 2020 | 73 | 53 |
| 2 | Oct 24, 2020 | 54 | 72 |
| 3 | Oct 31, 2020 | 47 | 79 |
| 4 | Nov 7, 2020 | 42 | 84 |
| 5 | Nov 14, 2020 | 29 | 97 |
| 6 | Nov 21, 2020 | 26 | 100 |
| 7 | Nov 28, 2020 | 20 | 106 |
| 8 | Dec 5, 2020 | 24 | 102 |
| 9 | Dec 12, 2020 | 26 | 100 |
| 10 | Dec 19, 2020 | 27 | 99 |
| 11 | Dec 26, 2020 | 27 | 99 |
| 12 | Jan 2, 2021 | 27 | 99 |
| 13 | Jan 9, 2021 | 10 | 116 |
| 14 | Jan 16, 2021 | 7 | 119 |
| 15 | Jan 23, 2021 | 6 | 120 |
| 16 | Jan 30, 2021 | 6 | 120 |
| 17 | Feb 6, 2021 | 5 | 121 |
| 18 | Feb 13, 2021 | 5 | 121 |
| 19 | Feb 20, 2021 | 8 | 118 |
| 20 | Feb 27, 2021 | 9 | 117 |
Weeks 1–20 of 77
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