"I'm Just Ken" is a song performed by Canadian actorRyan Gosling for the 2023 filmBarbie. It was written and produced byMark Ronson andAndrew Wyatt and appears on the soundtrack albumBarbie the Album. As of August 2023^[update], the song had over 100 million streams onSpotify^[1] and over 3 million views onYouTube.^[2] It wonBest Song at the29th Critics' Choice Awards and was nominated forBest Song Written for Visual Media at the66th Annual Grammy Awards andBest Original Song at the96th Academy Awards.

"I'm Just Ken" is described as a sentimental"'80spower ballad."^[3] Ahead of the film's release, marketing and promotional materials often contained the tagline, "She's everything. He's just Ken," an allusion to the song.^[4]

"I'm Just Ken" was one of the first songs written forBarbie the Album. ProducerMark Ronson was inspired to write the ballad after reading theBarbie script and sympathizing withKen's character.^[4]

I instantly had this idea for this lyric: "I'm just Ken / Anywhere else I'd be a 10." It just seemed funny. It felt a little bit emo, like, this poor guy. He's so hot, but can't get the time of day.

— Mark Ronson, on writing "I'm Just Ken" forBarbie the Album^[4]

Ronson recorded a demo of "I'm Just Ken" and sent it to directorGreta Gerwig, although he was not expecting it to be included in the film. Gerwig, however, loved the song and played it forRyan Gosling, who plays Ken.^[4] Gosling stated that it affected him "deeply"^[3] and asked if he could perform it in the film.^[5] Gerwig had to rewrite an important scene in the film to accommodate the new addition.^[4][6]

Ronson's colleague and fellow producer on the soundtrack,Andrew Wyatt, wrote the rest of the song before Ronson flew to London to record the vocals with Gosling at Eastcote Studios in March 2022.^[3][7] In an interview withVulture, Ronson stated, "In the studio with Ryan, it was really his performance that lifted the whole thing. All these lines that felt a little bit throwaway-ish, delivered by him, suddenly took on much more."^[6] Gosling only had two to three hours to record the track.^[7][8]

After Gosling recorded his vocals, Ronson sent the track toGuns N' Roses guitaristSlash, who found it "cool" and agreed to play guitar on the song.^[8] GuitaristWolfgang Van Halen andFoo Fighters drummerJosh Freese also played on the track.^[6][9]

Ahead ofBarbie's release,Warner Bros. released a clip of Gosling's performance of "I'm Just Ken" on July 10, 2023.^[10][11] A "behind-the-scenes" music video mixing rehearsal footage with clips from the actual musical sequence in the film was released on August 21, 2023.^[12]

Ken the EP
EP by Ryan Gosling andMark Ronson
Released	December 20, 2023 (2023-12-20)
Genre	Pop
Length	13:54
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Mark Ronson
Mark Ronson chronology
Barbie (Score from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2023) Ken the EP (2023)

On December 20, 2023, Gosling and Ronson released anextended play containing three additional versions of "I'm Just Ken" in addition to the original track. A performance video was released for theChristmas version, subtitled "Merry Kristmas Barbie", which features Gosling, Ronson, and Wyatt in the studio.^[13][14] The Christmas version was recorded and released within the span of a week.^[7]

Gosling performed the song live at the96th Academy Awards on March 10, 2024. The performance paid homage to the "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" sequence from the1953 film adaptation of the stage musicalGentlemen Prefer Blondes starringMarilyn Monroe, as well as the choreography ofBusby Berkeley. Gosling was joined by Ronson on bass, Wyatt on piano, andWolfgang Van Halen andSlash on guitar, as well as hisBarbie co-starsSimu Liu,Ncuti Gatwa,Kingsley Ben-Adir, andScott Evans. The performance was choreographed byMandy Moore, who also choreographed Gosling inLa La Land.^[39][40]

On the October 14, 2023, episode ofSaturday Night Live, comedianPete Davidson parodied the song as "I'm Just Pete" to mock his personal life.^[41][42]

On March 15, 2024, British comedianLenny Henry parodied the song as "I'm Just Len" as part of his final year as host ofComic Relief's annual Red Nose Day telethon.^[43]

All credits are adapted from the CD liner notes ofBarbie the Album.^[44]

• I'm Just Ken (Official Audio) onYouTube
• I'm Just Ken (Behind the Scenes) onYouTube
• I'm Just Ken (In My Feelings Acoustic) onYouTube
• I'm Just Ken (Merry Kristmas Barbie) onYouTube
• I'm Just Ken (Live from the Oscars 2024) onYouTube

• 2023 songs
• 2020s ballads
• Songs from Barbie (film)
• Ken (doll)
• Song recordings produced by Andrew Wyatt
• Song recordings produced by Mark Ronson
• Songs written by Andrew Wyatt
• Songs written by Mark Ronson

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