Underneath It All

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"Underneath It All"
"Underneath It All" cover
Single by No Doubt
from the album Rock Steady
Released August 2002 (North America)
September 2002 (elsewhere)
Format CD single (global)
Genre Pop
Length 5:02 (album version)
Label Interscope
Writer(s) Gwen Stefani, Dave Stewart
Producer(s) No Doubt, Sly & Robbie
Certification Uncertified
Chart positions
No Doubt singles chronology
"Hella Good"
(2002)
"Underneath It All"
(2002)
"Running"
(2003)
Music video screenshot
Gwen Stefani removing her coat in the video.
Gwen Stefani removing her coat in the video.

"Underneath It All" is a pop song written by Gwen Stefani and Dave Stewart for No Doubt's fourth album Rock Steady (2001). The song features reggae production, vocals from deejay Lady Saw, and received mixed reviews from pop music critics. "Underneath It All" was released as the album's third single in mid-2002 (see 2002 in music) and was moderately successful. It received a Grammy Award for "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" in 2004.

Contents

[edit] Background and writing

The song was originally written by Gwen Stefani and Dave Stewart during Stefani's visit to then-boyfriend Gavin Rossdale in London. The two used backward string samples to write the song in only ten minutes. Producers Sly and Robbie later added guest vocals from dancehall artist Lady Saw.

[edit] Chart performance

"Underneath It All" peaked at number three on the U.S. Hot 100 chart and number two for ten non-consecutive weeks on the Adult Top 40 format. Although it was very successful in the U.S., reaction elsewhere was generally less enthusiastic. In Canada the song debuted on the singles chart at number thirty-six and descended from the top fifty the following week. It became No Doubt's second-least successful Canadian single after "Ex-Girlfriend" (2000).

In the UK "Underneath It All" debuted at number eighteen and fell off the chart five weeks later. This feat echoed in Australia, where it peaked at number twenty-eight, but saw more success by remaining on the chart for seven weeks. In New Zealand it peaked at number eight for two consecutive weeks and garnered substantial airplay.

The song reached the top thirty in Austria and Sweden, the top forty in Brazil and Germany, and the top sixty in Switzerland. It peaked at number eleven on the United World Chart for the week of November 23, 2002.

[edit] Music video

The song's music video was directed by Sophie Muller. It features the band bicycling and playing basketball. Stefani removes several pieces of clothing throughout the video, and in the last scene, she is jumping on a bed, in white undergarments and without makeup. A scene from the video was used for the cover of the song's CD single.

"Underneath It All" peaked at number two on MuchMusic's Countdown in late 2002.

[edit] Charts

Chart (2002) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 3
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 1
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 2
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 8
UK Singles Chart 18
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 28
Austrian Singles Chart 34
Canadian Singles Chart 36
Swedish Singles Chart 39
German Singles Chart 42
Brazilian Singles Chart 46

[edit] References