What was the only Arctic Monkeys song to chart in the US?
Britain has a history of punching above its weight in the music world, consistently producing some of the best bands the world has ever seen. Arctic Monkeys are the most notable group this century to have stepped off the production line. Although they are hugely successful on an international scale, only one of their songs has charted in the United States.
While Arctic Monkeys’ rise in the United Kingdom happened rapidly, it was a different story in the US. Despite their household name status following their record-breaking debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, it took numerous records before they began to gain popularity in the States. Although they weren’t playing arenas, Arctic Monkeys continued to relentlessly tour the country, and after five albums, they finally made it.
On February 8th, 2014, Arctic Monkeys completed their journey to superstardom in the US when they performed to a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York. Just two years earlier, selling out this iconic venue was a pipe dream for the group, and while they were edging closer to their goal, it still seemed so far away. It was their consistent touring in the US that laid a foundation for their success, but they were still waiting for a song to elevate their career to a superior level. Then, Arctic Monkeys released ‘Do I Wanna Know?’, a track which introduced them to a mainstream audience in the United States and is their only song to trouble the charts in America.
The song was selected as the lead single from the band’s fifth album, AM, and has been streamed over three billion times on YouTube and Spotify combined. In the United Kingdom, ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ reached number 11 in the chart, and while it didn’t reach a similar height in the US, it did peak at 70 on the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, it climbed to the top spot on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and stayed there for ten weeks.
Speaking to Q (via SongFacts) about the song, frontman Alex Turner said: “We had this idea for a record where you take the compositional perspective of an R&B producer and apply that to a four piece rock ‘n’ roll band. Manipulating our instruments to make building blocks for the song in a way I’d imagine Timberland or someone constructs music. That’s one way of looking at it. The other way is we just made it up! I had this tune in my head like (sings the opening riff of ‘Do I Wanna Know?,’ including drums) you know what I mean? We got a good end of that bargain, I think.”
After ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ became a massive hit for the band internationally, AM also went stratospheric. To date, the album has sold over 1.4 million copies in the US alone. In the years which followed the album, Arctic Monkeys have consolidated their position as superstars in the United States, even if they’ve never had another track infiltrate the Billboard Hot 100.
