Miss Independent

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“Miss Independent”
“Miss Independent” cover
Single by Kelly Clarkson
from the album Thankful
Released May 2003 (2003-05)
Format Digital download
Recorded 2003
Genre Pop, R&B
Length 3:35
Label RCA Records
Writer(s) Rhett Lawrence, Kelly Clarkson,[1] Christina Aguilera, Matt Morris
Producer Rhett Lawrence
Certification Gold
Kelly Clarkson U.S. singles chronology
"Before Your Love"/"A Moment like This"
(2002)		 "Miss Independent"
(2003)		 "Low"
(2003)


Kelly Clarkson UK singles chronology
"Miss Independent"
(2003)		 "Low"
(2003)

"Miss Independent" is the second single (first in Australia and the United Kingdom) from pop rock singer, Kelly Clarkson's multi-platinum debut album, Thankful.

Contents

[edit] Song information

In this rhythmic pop number, Clarkson describes a woman ("Miss Independent") who lets down her emotional barriers to fall in love.

The single was co-written by Rhett Lawrence, Kelly Clarkson[1] Christina Aguilera, and Matt Morris and produced by Lawrence. The release of the song sparked some controversy. The producer and co-writer of the track, Lawrence, had originally given the chorus to Destiny's Child. After they did not record it, Aguilera was offered the chorus, and she incorporated verses written by Matt Morris and continued to co-write with Lawrence. Lawrence was later informed that Aguilera was not going to finish and use the song on her Stripped album because she had found another rock style song that she preferred ("Fighter"). Two years later, Lawrence played the song for Clarkson. They finished the lyrics and made new additions to the song, eventually using it as the first single from her upcoming long-delayed album Thankful. The producer was pleased because he had long believed that his song would be a hit when combined with a great singer (Destiny's Child, Aguilera, Clarkson). Although Lawrence was never in any way asked, informally or officially, to hold or save the song for Aguilera, Aguilera was not pleased that the track had been given to someone else, and at one point there was talk of a possible lawsuit. Fortunately, the matter was able to be settled. In an interesting turn of events, the rock style song Aguilera preferred two years earlier, entitled Fighter, was released in the United States as a single the same time as "Miss Independent," with "Miss Independent" becoming the more successful single in the U.S while "Fighter" gained more international success. Clarkson has stated, discussing her battle with her label over her album My December, "They didn't think this album was good enough, but they didn't think a lot of things weren't good enough. Like 'Miss Independent'. They didn't feel that was good enough to be released, but I said, 'we should release it and see what happens.'"

[edit] Chart success

"Miss Independent" performed strongly on the Billboard charts, and managed to peak at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. Moreover, it should be noted that the single came out at the time that the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay was changing to include fewer top-forty stations, and more R&B and rhythmic stations. The single also did not have a commercial release on vinyl or CD-single forms to give it a boost on the charts. The single was released as a digital download, and became a hit, peaking at number two on Hot Digital Tracks. However, digital downloads would not count towards the chart until 2005, thus they did not help her Hot 100 position. The song was a smash on top-forty radio formats, and peaked at number one for six weeks on Top 40 Mainstream and an equal six weeks on the Top 40 Tracks.

Internationally, the song was also a hit. In Canada, it reached a peak of number six, a ranking it also attained in the United Kingdom. In Australia, the song peaked at number three on the charts. "Miss Independent" is tied with "Since U Been Gone" as Clarkson's highest-peaking single in Australia to date.

[edit] Music video

The music video of "Miss Independent" shows Clarkson singing at a house party. Some believe that the storyline of the song is not translated into the video, and the video was met with some criticism. Some fans were also not pleased with the fact that Clarkson had been forced to change her "girl next door" Texan image to become sexier for her first official video. However, due to its puzzling concept, the video appeared on the yearly MuchMusic program, Fromage (French for "cheese"). On this countdown composed of "cheesy" music videos, "Miss Independent" finished second to Britney Spears's single, "Me Against the Music".

Another video was believed to have been made for the United Kingdom. This video, however, is in fact a T4 performance edited to look like a video. In it, Clarkson is shown performing on top of a building with a cityscape background. The same U.S. video was used to promote the single in the UK and Europe.

[edit] Track listing

US single

  1. "Miss Independent"
  2. "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman"
  3. "Miss Independent" [Mauve Mix]

UK single

  1. "Miss Independent"
  2. "Respect"
  3. "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman"

[edit] Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
United States May 2003 RCA Records Digital download
Australia August 4, 2003 Digital download

[edit] Comprehensive charts

Chart (2003) Peak Position Year End
Position
UK Singles Chart 6 -
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 3 53[2]
Austrian Singles Chart 39 -
Canadian Singles Chart 6 -
Irish Singles Chart 11 -
World Chart Show 7 -
Billboard Hot 100 9 44
Billboard Top 40 Tracks 1 14
Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 1 -
Billboard Adult Top 40 14 31
Billboard Adult Contemporary 28 -
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 1 5
Sweden Singles Chart 25 -
Swiss Singles Chart 44 -
United World Chart 16 -
Dutch Top 40 9 80[3]
v • d • e
Kelly Clarkson
Albums
Singles
Other charted songs
Related articles

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b [1] Retrieved September 26, 2007
  2. ^ ARIA 2003 YEC
  3. ^ NL YEC 2003