"Single White Female"
US promo and European single cover
Single by Chely Wright
from the album Single White Female
B-side"Let Me In"[1]
ReleasedMarch 1, 1999
GenreCountry
Length3:17
LabelMCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Chely Wright singles chronology
"I Already Do"
(1998)
"Single White Female"
(1999)
"It Was"
(1999)

"Single White Female" is a song by American country music artist Chely Wright. The song was written by Canadian country singer-songwriter Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Shaye Smith and produced by Tony Brown, Buddy Cannon, and Norro Wilson; fellow country artist Trisha Yearwood sings harmony vocals on the song. "Single White Female" was released on March 1, 1999 as the lead single to Wright's fourth studio album of the same name by MCA Nashville.

The song was a hit on the Hot Country Songs chart where it spent one week at number one, notably ending the record-breaking eight-week reign of country group Lonestar's single "Amazed".[2] It was also a success in Canada, topping the RPM Canadian Country Tracks and becoming the third most successful country song of 1999 in the country. To date, the song is Wright's only top ten hit on the US country charts.

Music video

The music video was directed by Deaton Flanigen and premiered in March 1999. It takes place entirely on a city bus, with Chely performing by herself in the back of the bus, and in another scene with two backup singers and two guitarists while standing on the bus. In the beginning, it shows many of the bus's patrons, before moving to a "single white female looking for a special lover". A man gets on and eventually leaves the bus (having been seated in the row next to her and behind her, respectively) before he comes on a third time and sits next to her, where they glance at each other. The man eventually gets up, accidentally leaving his book on his seat. The woman grabs it and returns it to him, then they both walk off smiling at each other.

Chart positions

"Single White Female" debuted at number 66 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 13, 1999, and peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it her highest peak on that chart as of April 2019.

Chart (1999) Peak
position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[3] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[4] 36
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1999) Position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[6] 3
US Country Songs (Billboard)[7] 12

References

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. pp. 476–477. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  2. ^ allmusic (((Chely Wright > Biography)))
  3. ^ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 8454." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. September 20, 1999. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  4. ^ "Chely Wright Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  5. ^ "Chely Wright Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  6. ^ "RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1999". RPM. December 13, 1999. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  7. ^ "Best of 1999: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 1999. Retrieved August 25, 2012.