"Get the Party Started" is a song by American singerPink, released on October 16, 2001, as thelead single from her second album,Missundaztood (2001). The song was originally intended forMadonna's 2000 albumMusic, but when her team turned it down, it was later given to Pink.[1]
"Get the Party Started" received positive reviews and became an international success, reaching the top 10 in many countries and topping the charts of Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Romania, Spain, andWallonia. In 2003,Q ranked the track at number 185 on their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[2]About.com rated the song number one in their list of "The Top 100 Best Party Songs of All Time" in 2019.[3]
"Get the Party Started" is adance-pop,[4]pop rock,[5]electro andboogie song,[6] composed by former4 Non Blondes frontwomanLinda Perry. She said that the process of making the song was unlike her. She was going through a "weird phase" during which she wanted to learn how to program drums.[7] She programmed her first beat, started playing abass, and, in her words, "did what the beat was asking me to do." She decided to put "every wrong instrument" in the song, and consequently added in a horn sample. "I was doing the music, the melody was already coming to me in what I wanted the song to be," she said.[7] She then decided to write lyrics containing "every catch phrase you possibly could imagine", before laughing at the realization that she had written a potential hit single and her firstdance song. "You create something in your bedroom or your house, and it's just a fun thing that you're doing," she said. "Then all of a sudden, you hear that song that you started in your house, and it's on the radio. And people are now acknowledging it. It's just trippy."[7]
Some listeners thought the song made a reference to ecstasy, the drug of choice for ravers: "I can go for miles if you know what I mean. I'm comin' up so you better get this party started."Pink toldQ Magazine in a 2017 interview: "You'd have to ask Linda Perry if it's about ecstasy. I don't know what she meant with it. I still don't know if it's 'I'm coming out...' Or 'I'm coming up...' I don't even know what I sang."
AllMusic highlighted the song and added: "This record bubbles over with imagination, as hookypop songs like the title track rub shoulders with glitzy dancefloor anthems like "Get the Party Started."[8] Jim Farber was favorable: "The single "Get the Party Started" has the tricky synth hook of a perfectnew-wave hit from the '80s."[9]NME was less positive, saying it "displays the kind of clod-hopping attention-seeking on single 'Get the Party Started' that makes you assume you're listening to aGeri Halliwell record."[10] Jason Thompson described this song and praised: "the dance inducing "Get the Party Started". Again, even this isn't really in the mold of current dance tracks. Instead, it feels more like the kinds of grooves that were coming out in the early Nineties, whenalt-rock was influencing the discos as well as the college charts. In fact, it sounds a little likeApollo Smile who had an album out back in '91 or so. "Get the Party Started" also echoes the good time vibe that other hits likeDeee-Lite's "Groove Is in the Heart" had that won over many fans. This track should do just the same thing. It did for me, anyway."[11]
Slant Magazine called this song "retro-dippeddance-pop."[12]Sputnikmusic marked it as a highlight and added: "It is not all slow and serious going though, as 1st single 'Get The Party Started' proves. As the song title suggests, this is thedance-oriented party-starter that the artist'sdebut album lacked."[13]Stylus magazine called the song "near perfection."[14] Max Mohenu ofEspresso said that the song felt "fun and imaginative, and challenged what it meant to be a successful pop artist who didn't have theBritney Spears look."[15]
"Get the Party Started" reached number four on the USBillboard Hot 100 on December 29, 2001, becoming one of Pink's biggest solo hits in the US with "Most Girls" also reaching number four on theBillboard Hot 100 in 2000 and "So What", "Raise Your Glass", and "Just Give Me a Reason" (featuringNate Ruess) reaching number one in 2008, 2010, and 2013 respectively, and "Fuckin' Perfect" that reached number two in America. The single's success was spurred by heavy airplay in the US, which prompted the song to also peak at number four onBillboard'sRadio Songs chart.[16] The song peaked at number two in the UK, where it was certified platinum for sales and streams exceeding 600,000 units. The song reached number one in Australia and number two in many European countries, including Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.
Themusic video was shot by directorDave Meyers inLos Angeles. It was filmed from September 22–24, 2001.[17] The video uses an abbreviated version of the song, cutting out the last chorus as well as the instrumentals. Perry has a brief cameo as a bartender.
In the video, Pink is getting ready to go out, trying on different outfits. One of her friends picks her up, and they drive in a car bobbing their heads to the music. However, the car runs out of fuel, so they get out and steal two skateboards from two boys. Pink falls off her skateboard because men in a car are whistling at her. The women arrive at the club but are refused entry, so to get in they use a scaffold to reach the top of the building. Inside the club, Pink changes her clothes and starts to party; in the end Pink dances with two other dancers (Kevin Federline and Georvohn Lambert).
Pink teamed up withRedman andRockwilder for a remix of "Get the Party Started" using elements of theEurythmics song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", titled "Get the Party Started/Sweet Dreams". It is included as theB-side on several single releases. Pink performed the remix during herI'm Not Dead Tour in 2006 and 2007.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Shirley Bassey recorded a cover for aspy-themed 2006Marks & Spencer Christmas television advertising campaign.[103] Her version became acult hit[102] and was included on her 2007 album, also titledGet the Party Started.The Guardian wrote, "Bassey is the only singer alive who could take the bouncing, enthusiasticR&B of the original 'Get the Party Started' and turn it into a grand, imperious swoop worthy of aBond theme; it's a terrific cover version, even if it perhaps didn't quite merit the album attached to it."[102]
^Cite error: The named referenceslantmagazine2 was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).
^Roman, Stephanie (October 28, 2014)."Pink and City and Color mesh well for You+Me".The Pitt News. RetrievedNovember 8, 2025....but Moore's history with in-your-face pop-rock songs like "So What" and "Get the Party Started" belies a tenderness hinted at in her collaborative hit "Just Give Me a Reason."
^Sarig, Roni (November 2, 2004). "Pink". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.).The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York:Simon & Schuster. p. 637.
^Get the Party Started (UK cassette single sleeve). Pink. Arista Records. 2001. 74321 91337 4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Get the Party Started (UK CD2 liner notes). Pink. Arista Records. 2001. 74321 91338 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Get the Party Started (European CD single liner notes). Pink. Arista Records. 2001. 74321 90462 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Get the Party Started (Australian CD single liner notes). Pink. Arista Records. 2001. 74321912852.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Missundaztood (US CD album booklet). Pink. Arista Records. 2001. 07822-14718-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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