Fly (Sugar Ray song)
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| “'Fly'” | |||||
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| Single by Sugar Ray from the album 'Floored' |
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| Genre | Rock, Ska Punk, Reggae | ||||
| Length | 4:52 | ||||
| Label | Atlantic Records | ||||
| Producer | David Kahne | ||||
| Sugar Ray singles chronology | |||||
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"Fly" is a song by rock band Sugar Ray. It appears on their 1997 album Floored twice: one version with reggae artist Super Cat (Track 4) and the other without (Track 13). The former was more prominent on the radio, but the more soft-rock format stations chose to play the latter. The band's frontman Mark McGrath remarked on the difference:
| “ | [Atlantic] figured that they might be releasing it to a pop radio station and this is sort of when you suck corporate cock- when they have ideas & they sort of stick to them. They thought that having the Reggae flavor on 'Fly' would turn off some Dubuque, Iowa pop station, so we have both versions available. | ” |
The song became the band's first hit, holding the #1 spot on the Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay for six consecutive weeks and also reaching the top of the Modern Rock Tracks (It was kept from the Billboard Hot 100 because guidelines at the time prevented non-singles to chart.) "Fly" was notable for not sounding anything at all like the rest of the tracks on the album. As a result of the success of "Fly", Floored sold extremely well and was certified double platinum. However, by the end of 1997, critics skeptical that Sugar Ray could put out another successful song labeled them a one-hit wonder. This assumption was noted and accepted by the band, who in a playful retaliation, named their next album 14:59 in an obvious reference to Andy Warhol's "15 minutes of fame"; that album became certified triple-platinum and outsold its predecessor.
| Preceded by "Push" by Matchbox Twenty |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single August 2, 1997 - September 20, 1997 |
Succeeded by "Walkin' on the Sun" by Smash Mouth |
| Preceded by "Foolish Games" by Jewel |
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay number-one single October 18, 1997 - November 22, 1997 |
Succeeded by "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba |
