"Beautiful Life" is a song by Swedish bandAce of Base, released on 20 October 1995 from their second album,The Bridge (1995).[1] In North America, it was the first single released from the album; in Europe, it followed "Lucky Love" as the second single. Co-written by band memberJonas Berggren and produced by him withDenniz Pop andMax Martin, the single reached number 15 on both the USBillboardHot 100 and theUK Singles Chart in December 1995.[2] It reached number one on the CanadianRPM Dance/Urban chart andBillboard'sHot Dance Club Play chart. In 2017,BuzzFeed ranked "Beautiful Life" number 51 in their list ofThe 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s.[3]
"I was at the Canary Islands in Spain, and the last evening I just heard the song ‘Beautiful Life’ in my head. I have the ability to hear three different melodies in my head at the same time — it’s very helpful while composing songs. Melody, bass and a flute on a chorus for example. It was melancholic to leave the islands and it was a wonderful evening, with the mood and sunset. It was a beautiful life!"
—Jonas Berggren talking toIdolator about how the song was made.[4]
The song was written on January 1, 1994 by band memberJonas Berggren while he was in theCanary Islands. At the time, "The Sign" had reached number one on the USBillboard Hot 100 chart, which inspired him to write the song. On a late flight home he heard some chords, and started humming, and there the song was made. He had to record it swiftly so he wouldn't forget it. Berggren incorporatedgospel elements into the song and the roof-raising gospel singing toward the end was made by a four-piece female group that Denniz Pop had. They tracked those vocals many times over for maximum soulful impact.[5]
In a 2018 interview,Ulf Ekberg said thatMichael Jackson, after asking to meet the band when they performed "Beautiful Life" atWorld Music Awards inMonaco, told them that he thought that it was the best song that he had heard in many years.[6]
J.D. Considine fromThe Baltimore Sun described "Beautiful Life" as "techno-tinged", adding that it "tempers its impetuous pulse and seemingly happy message with a memorably sad melody."[7]Larry Flick fromBillboard deemed it a "jaunty, incredibly catchy li'l ditty that indulges inEuro-NRG dance rhythms while continuing to mine theABBA-esque pop melodies". He stated that "even the act's detractors will find it impossible to resist the sugar-coated confection, with shoulder-shaking percussion and sing-along chorus."[8] Steve Baltin fromCash Box called it "ridiculous",[9] noting that "for this track, the quartet has jumped into this decade with a rocking dance beat that embodies the group's European heritage."[10] The Daily Vault's Michael R. Smith declared it as a "high-octane techno gem".[11] Dave Sholin from theGavin Report commented, "Those asking the musical question—can Ace Of Base repeat? The answer is Yes! Yes! Yes!"[12] Pan-European magazineMusic & Media said the song has a "hyper-kinetic rhythm topped off by a killerhook that's part of your system before you realise it."[13] A reviewer fromMusic Week rated it three out of five, noting the band's "switch from lightreggae to pureEuropop" and describing it as "uplifting but unremarkable."[14]
Neil Strauss fromThe New York Times felt it is "pure treacly pleasure, with bubbling keyboards and a fast, chirpy rhythm that will inspire most listeners to forget that the 70's ever ended and accept the chorus – "It's a beautiful life"—for one night ofdisco-era hedonism."[15] Bob Waliszewski ofPlugged In (publication) viewed it as "a joyful admonition to hang tough when times get hard."[16] J.D. Considine forSpin magazine noted in a writeup aboutThe Bridge that "the real genius of Ace of Base lies not with perky singing... but with the ability to make melancholy sound so damned appealing." The evaluation continues to narrow in scope as he continues to say "even the cheerfully titled 'Beautiful life' dampens its club-savvy stomp with a heartbreakingminor key chorus."[17] A reviewer fromPeople Magazine opined that it "offers a blast of jumpy techno".[18] Chuck Campbell fromScripps Howard News Service said that it is "contagious" and "a high-energy dance song that rings with unbridled optimism (and eschews the reggae cadence of the group's previous American hits)." He added that "the Berggren sisters sing in ABBA-esque exclamation points on the song."[19]
"Beautiful Life" was very successful worldwide, reaching number-one both on theRPM Dance/Urban chart in Canada and theBillboardHot Dance Club Play chart in the United States. In Europe, it made it to the top 10 in Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary and Lithuania, as well as on theEurochart Hot 100 andMTV'sEuropean Top 20, where it hit number nine and eight. Additionally, the single was a top 20 hit in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Scotland and the United Kingdom. In the latter, it peaked at number 15 in its second week at theUK Singles Chart, on January 28, 1996.[20] Outside Europe, "Beautiful Life" also reached number three on theRPM Top Singles chart in Canada, number 11 in Australia, number 15 on theBillboard Hot 100 and number ten on theCash Box Top 100 in the US. It earned agold record in Australia, with a sale of 35,000 singles.
The accompanyingmusic video for the song was directed by British directorRichard Heslop, who would go on to direct the band's later video for "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry". The video was shot on YFO Studios inGothenburg in October 1995.[21] The music video includedcomputer-generated bubbles which whisked the band from place to place. According to music channelVH1 in theUnited States, the band's record label,Arista Records, insisted the bubbles be removed from the video, leading to a somewhat strange-looking U.S. video, with the band members looking at (and reacting to) bubbles that were no longer there. In Europe, both versions of the video were released. In addition to the two alternate videos, remix videos were also created, and VH1 released aPop-Up Video version of the video in 1998. "Beautiful Life" was uploaded toYouTube in January 2015. As of February 2025, the video has amassed more than 159 million views.[22]
In 2015, the American dance-pop trio Punch !nc recorded a reimagined version of the song, titled "Heaven (Beautiful Life)." This version has reached number six on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart.[65]
Russian metal cover project Even Blurry Videos released their version of the song on YouTube in November 2019.
The Colombianlatin pop singerSara Tunes produced a new version of the song with a more electronic sound which has a rhythm similar tohouse music ordubstep, originally included on her second studio album, titled "XOXO".
In the episode "The Eye of the Kong" of the web seriesGame Grumps, aMIDI version of the song is played as part of a montage.[66]
The song appeared on the episode from the TV showHindsight, "Auld Lang Syne".
The song featured on the soundtrack for Russian TV seriesOlga onTNT.
The song is featured in the episode from theNetflix original seriesEverything Sucks!, "I Just Wanna Be Anybody".
WrestlersLJ Cleary, Nathan Martin and Darren Kearney, better known as More Then Hype, use this as an entrance theme when they come to the ring.
