Official Charts Flashback 2008: Beyoncé – If I Were A Boy
Quote:
If Beyoncé knows how to do one thing, it’s surprise her audience. Having previously relied on bangers like Crazy In Love and Deja Vu to introduce the world to her previous two albums, Bey tried a different approach for the third. For the launch of her third album I Am… Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé decided one lead single simply wouldn’t do, so she unleashed two.
Along with instant earworm and expertly choreographed masterpiece Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), she also released the bittersweet ballad If I Were A Boy. The track was something of a departure for Beyoncé. While she’d never been shy of dishing out punishment to useless blokes in storming putdowns, this was the first time Beyoncé mixed anger with a little bit of sorrow and vulnerability on a single.
The song’s message was simple: boys, think about what it’s like to be a girl and then maybe stop acting like a jerk (or perhaps something stronger). The formula worked and If I Were A Boy became Queen B’s fourth Number 1 single as a solo artist.
The song’s popularity was helped by Beyoncé making some faultless promo appearances in the UK. A couple of weeks after the song was Number 1, it enjoyed a resurgence in popularity thanks to Beyoncé performing the track on The X Factor. She also made a young soon-to-be popstar’s dream come true when she performed a rousing version of her Dreamgirls signature song Listen with finalist Alexandra Burke. We still can’t watch that without some serious blubbing going on. (Watch that very clip at the end of this article, because it's got all the feels.)
If I Were A Boy is Beyoncé’s best-selling single, and has shifted 746,000 copies and spent over a year in the Top 200 of the Official Singles Chart. Over 400 people bought it just last week!
Its close relation Single Ladies may have peaked at Number 7, but it’s racked up impressive sales too, shifting over 704,000 copies. Beyoncé has only been back at Number 1 once since, with her Lady Gaga collaboration Telephone in 2010.
"If I Were a Boy" sells around 500 downloads per week; "Single Ladies" around 650.
The DVD debuts at No. 1 in the United Kingdom. It's her first British chart-topper DVD ever. Live at Roseland & I Am... World Tour respectively peaked at No. 8 & 5.
The DVD debuts at No. 1 in the United Kingdom. It's her first British chart-topper DVD ever. Live at Roseland & I Am... World Tour respectively peaked at No. 8 & 5.
yesss
Belgium Music DVD Chart #10
Dutch Music DVD Chart #4
French Music DVD Chart #30
UK Music DVD Chart #1
Beyonce's Life Is But A Dream enters Top Music Videos at #1, just ahead of two other new arrivals. Black Sabbath's Live…Gathered In Their Masses opens at #2. Barbra Streisand's Back To Brooklyn bows at #4. Life Is But A Dream, which Beyonce directed, aired on HBO in February. This is Beyonce's fourth #1 on this chart, following Live At Wembley (five weeks on top in 2004), I Am…Yours: An Intimate Performance At Wynn Las Vegas (eight weeks in 2009-2010) and I Am…World Tour (nine weeks in 2010-2011). In addition, she had a #1 video with Destiny's Child's Live In Atlanta (two weeks in 2006).
Well, it's not that surprising. Plus, 4: The Remix (EP) has sold a total of 4K.