Beverly Hills (song)

"Beverly Hills" is a song by American rock band Weezer. It is the first single from the band's fifth album, Make Believe. "Beverly Hills" was released to radio on March 29, 2005.[2] The song features Stephanie Eitel of Agent Sparks on the chorus on backup vocals, performing the "gimme, gimme" hook.

"Beverly Hills"
Single by Weezer
from the album Make Believe
ReleasedMarch 29, 2005
Recorded2004
Genre
Length3:18
Label
Songwriter(s)Rivers Cuomo
Producer(s)Rick Rubin
Weezer singles chronology
"Keep Fishin'"
(2002)		 "Beverly Hills"
(2005)		 "We Are All on Drugs"
(2005)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help
Music video
"Beverly Hills" on YouTube

Inspiration

Rivers Cuomo's story behind "Beverly Hills": "I was at the opening of the new Hollywood Bowl and I flipped through the program and I saw a picture of Wilson Phillips. And for some reason I just thought how nice it would be to marry, like, an 'established' celebrity and live in Beverly Hills and be part of that world. And it was a totally sincere desire. And then I wrote that song, Beverly Hills. For some reason, by the time it came out—and the video came out—it got twisted around into something that seemed sarcastic. But originally it wasn't meant to be sarcastic at all."[3]

Chart performance

The song is the band's most commercially successful single. It topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for a week, spending months near the top of the Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at number 10) and being certified gold on June 6, 2005; it was also the band's first song to chart there since "Undone – The Sweater Song" at number 57 in 1994 after 11 years since the rest of Weezer's other hits from the past had only managed to chart only on the Hot 100 Airplay or the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. As of September 2018, it is still the band's highest-charting Hot 100 single. As of January 2006, the digital single has been purchased over 962,000 times on iTunes. It also did very well on other Billboard charts, such as Adult Top 40 (number eight peak), Mainstream Top 40 (number two peak), Hot Digital Songs (number one peak) and Mainstream Rock Tracks (number 26 peak).

The song also made the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number nine, and remaining on the chart for five weeks. The song was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, the first ever nomination for the band. The video for the song was nominated at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Rock Video. The song won College Song of the Year at the 54th Annual Broadcast Music Incorporated Pop Awards.[4] "Beverly Hills" stayed at number one on the Modern Rock charts for one week. It was the first number one for Weezer, but this record was later met with "Perfect Situation," Make Believe's third single, which held the pole position for four weeks. The song was the third highest selling digital download of 2005 in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan.[5]

Legacy

Lead singer Rivers Cuomo stated that "Beverly Hills" and its solo, third verse, and last chorus of "Falling for You" (from Pinkerton) are his proudest musical achievements: "It's incredibly fun: a great beat, guitar riffs, catchy vocal style. Besides that, I think the lyrics are incredible in a very understated way. I might as well enjoy my life and watch the stars play. I love it! With this one song we were able to transcend our little niche and connect with all kinds of people, young and old, from all kinds of backgrounds."[6] "Weird Al" Yankovic included the song in his polka medley "Polkarama!" from his 2006 album, Straight Outta Lynwood.

Music video

The music video for this song, directed by Marcos Siega, was filmed at the Playboy Mansion (which is actually not located in Beverly Hills, but the neighboring community of Holmby Hills), with Hugh Hefner making a cameo appearance at the beginning.

Versions
  1. Album version – 3:18
  2. Video version – 3:30
  3. Single version – 3:22
  4. Radio Disney edit – 3:19

Personnel

Charts

References
  1. "CD Reviews > "The Red Album" – Weezer". The Press Democrat. June 7, 2008. p. D4.
  2. "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  3. "Make Believe: Track By Track". Weezer.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2007.
  4. http://www.wjbq.com/rftp/nmc/news/10323.html Wjbq.com
  5. Welte, Jim (January 5, 2006). "Weezer, Gwen top digital sales". mp3.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  6. "Rivers Cuomo Fan Interview 2006". Weezer.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2006. Retrieved October 2, 2007.
  7. "Austriancharts.at – Weezer – Beverly Hills" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  8. "R&R Canada CHR/Pop Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1624. September 16, 2005. p. 50. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  9. "R&R Canada Rock Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1615. July 15, 2005. p. 57. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  10. "Offiziellecharts.de – Weezer – Beverly Hills". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  11. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Weezer". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  12. "Charts.nz – Weezer – Beverly Hills". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  13. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  14. "Weezer Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  15. "Weezer Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  16. "Weezer Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  17. "Weezer Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  18. "Weezer Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  19. "Weezer Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  20. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2005" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  21. "Billboard Top 100 – 2005". Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  22. "2005 The Year in Music & Touring – Hot Modern Rock Songs" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 117 no. 52. December 24, 2005. p. YE-70. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
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