"Rehab" is a song by English singer–songwriter Amy Winehouse from her second studio album, Back to Black (2006). Written by Winehouse and produced by Mark Ronson, it was released as the album's lead single in the United Kingdom on 23 October 2006. The lyrics are autobiographical, describing a protagonist's drinking habits and refusal to enter rehabilitation clinics.

The song received widespread critical acclaim and enjoyed commercial success in Winehouse's native England and abroad. The tune won the 2007 Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song. "Rehab" won three Grammy Awards in 2008, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Winehouse's subsequent public battle with substance abuse and the song's popularity contributed to its numerous appearances in the mainstream media. Several artists have covered the song, both in official releases and live. The official remix features rapper Jay-Z.

Background and release

"Rehab" was produced by Winehouse and Mark Ronson and released as the album's lead single in October 2006 in the UK and January 2007 elsewhere. The song was written about Winehouse's refusal to attend an alcohol rehabilitation centre after her management team encouraged her to go. "I asked my dad if he thought I needed to go. He said no, but I should give it a try. So I did, for just 15 minutes. I went in said 'hello' and explained that I drink because I am in love and have screwed up the relationship. Then I walked out." Winehouse later changed her management company. In November 2006, an early demonstration version lacking the horn section and originally played on Mark Ronson's East Village Radio show was released to iTunes.

Music video

The music video was directed by Phil Griffin and released in September 2006. It features Winehouse's band playing their instruments while she sings to the camera. The band members are dressed in gowns throughout the video. It begins with Winehouse rising from bed and then moving to the bathroom. For the second verse, Winehouse is on a chair in a psychiatrist's office, presumably explaining herself to an unseen psychiatrist. In contrast to the lyrics, the video ends with Winehouse in rehab, sitting on a bed in a white-tiled clinical ward room with her band around her. On 31 May 2007, "Rehab" debuted on Total Request Live and later peaked at number one on 7 June.The music video was also nominated for Video of the Year at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to Rihanna's "Umbrella" music video.

Response

Critical

Critical response to "Rehab" was glowing. Rolling Stone called it a "must hear song" and a "Motown-style winner with a banging beat and a lovesick bad girl testifying like Etta James." People magazine called the track "instantly memorable." Billboard remarked that Winehouse's vocals on the song were "Shirley Bassey-meets-Ella Fitzgerald" and called the track "a better buzz than a double-gin martini." This song was ranked number seven on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.No byline (11 December 2007). [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17601363/the_100_best_songs_of_2007/2 "The 100 Best Songs of 2007"] ''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved 2008-02-13 This song was also ranked number ninety-two on ''[[MTV Networks Asia|MTV Asia]]'''s list of Top 100 Hits of 2007. Time magazine named "Rehab" at number one on The 10 Best Songs of 2007. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised Winehouse for her confidence, opining, “What she is is mouthy, funny, sultry, and quite possibly crazy” and, "It's impossible not to be seduced by her originality. Combine it with production by Mark Ronson that references four decades worth of soul music without once ripping it off, and you've got the best song of 2007."

The song won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song for songwriting on 24 May 2007. In July 2007, the track was shortlisted for the Popjustice £20 Music Prize. The prize recognizes the best British pop singles over the past year. The track competed against singles by Robbie Williams, Girls Aloud, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and Jamelia among others. "Rehab" won the award, making Winehouse only the third act to win the award, after Girls Aloud and Rachel Stevens. The single also won Song of the Year at Village Voice's Pazz & Jop. On 10 February 2008, "Rehab" won three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Commercial

On 22 October 2006, based solely on download sales, the Ronson-produced "Rehab" entered the UK Singles Chart at number nineteen and when the physical single was released the following week, it climbed to number seven, at the time making it Winehouse's highest chart position by more than fifty places. By 25 October the album was approaching five-time platinum in the UK, making it the best-selling record of 2007.

The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number ninety-one on the chart dated 31 March 2007 without an official single release. Winehouse's current single at the time, "You Know I'm No Good", entered one spot above, at number ninety, in the same week. After lingering in the bottom portions of the Hot 100 for several months, the song suddenly jumped 38 spots to number ten on the 23 June chart, mainly due to digital sales following Winehouse's live performance of the song on the MTV Movie Awards on 3 June 2007; sales of the official remix featuring rapper Jay-Z also had a small effect on the chart position, peaking in the seventies on the iTunes Top 100 in the United States. After a change of rules in the UK allowing all digital downloads to be counted for the singles chart, "Rehab" re-entered the chart at number twenty for the week ending 13 January 2007, whilst "You Know I'm No Good" occupied the number-forty spot as a new entry on downloads alone.

In mainland Europe the song peaked in Norway and Hungary and reached the top twenty in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, and Finland, attaining a peak position of number twenty-three on the European Hot 100 Singles. As of March 2008, the single has sold 357,943 copies in the UK commercially and on downloads. Between October 2006 and June 2007, the single spent 34 consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and has since re-entered the charts, giving the single a total of fifty-seven non-consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart to date, an amount bettered by only four other singles in the whole of chart history. It also became her first top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number nine. The RIAA certified "Rehab" gold on 13 December 2007 with sales of over 500,000 copies.

The song, despite an October 2006 release date, was an enduring hit throughout 2007; with UK sales of 131,415 in 2007 alone, it finished the year as the UK's fifth-sixth biggest-selling single. It is Winehouse's longest-running UK chart hit, but her Ronson collaboration "Valerie" has proven to be her biggest seller to date.

Notable appearances in the media

On 12 March 2007, Winehouse performed the song live for her American television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman.

As a result of the song's popularity and acclaim, it made several appearances in the popular media in 2007 and 2008. During the fourth season of House M.D., episode trailers featured the song, as the theme tied into a plotline. During Australian Idol 2007, the judges heavily criticized the eventual winner, Natalie Gauci, for performing this song, saying she sang it in "Disney style". On the October 6, 2007 episode of Saturday Night Live, Seth Rogen and Kristen Wiig performed a nearly unrecognizable version of the song during a sketch. The song was also performed by a show choir in the pilot episode of the Fox musical comedy series Glee, which first aired May 19 2009. The song appeared somewhat unexpectedly after choral chants of "Ohio", and was sung in a satirically upbeat manner.

Covers

Several musicians have released covers and alternate versions of the song. English girl group Girls Aloud performed their version of the song on Radio 1's Live Lounge (with Jo Whiley) on 10 November 2006, and a studio version later appeared as the B-side to their single "Call the Shots". In October 2007, Seether covered the song for Yahoo! Music with an alternative rock arrangement. Canadian indie rock band Hot Hot Heat also made a cover of the song, which they released for free download to their MySpace page.. Frankmusik has also covered the song.

During live performances, Taking Back Sunday often includes the chorus of a popular song in "A Decade Under the Influence" and the breakdown of "Cute Without the 'E' ", and, beginning in 2007, "Rehab" has been used. During his world tour in Zürich, Switzerland, in August 2007, pop singer Justin Timberlake sang the song's chorus in the third-person feminine after performing "Cry Me a River", an action that was widely reported to allude to Britney Spears. Besides, on 18 July 2007, pop-R&B singer Fergie performed the song during a concert at Anaheim's House of Blues.

Track listings and formats

UK CD 1

1. "Rehab" (Album Version) – 3:36
2. "Do Me Good"

UK CD 2

1. "Rehab" (Album Version) – 3:36
2. "Close to Front"
3. "Rehab" (Desert Eagle Discs Vocal Mix)

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Finnish Singles Chart	15
Irish Singles Chart	21
UK Singles Chart	7
UK R&B Singles Chart	3
Chart (2007)	Peak position
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)	10
Canadian Hot 100	10
Czech Airplay Chart	49
Dutch Top 40	17
European Hot 100 Singles	23
French Singles Chart	11
Hungarian Airplay Chart	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	12
Norwegian Singles Chart	1

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Romanian Top 100	31
Slovak Airplay Chart	77
Swiss Singles Chart	11
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	9
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles	19
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	10
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	32
Chart (2008)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	35
Austrian Singles Chart	19
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)	24
German Singles Chart	23
Spanish Singles Chart	3
Swedish Singles Chart	51

Certifications

{| class="wikitable"

References

1. Amy Winehouse Gets Rap Makeover From Jay
2. Wine, Woman and Song The Sun 27 October 2006. Accessed 15 November 2006
3. Wine and Poses The Glasgow Daily Record 27 October 2006. Accessed 15 November 2006
4. ATRL - TRL Recap (June 2007)
5. Hoard, Christian (2007-02-22), "Back to Black". Rolling Stone (1020):76
6. Arnold, Chuck (2007-11-26), "Amy Winehouse". People. 68 (22):48
7. Taylor, Chuck (2007-05-12), Rehab. Billboard. 119 (19):38
8. MTV Asia. "Top 100 Hits List". Retrieved 2007-12-27
9. Tyrangiel, Josh; "The Best Top 10 Lists of the Year"; "The 10 Best Songs"; Time magazine; 24 December 2007; Page 39.
10. Time magazine's Top 10 Songs of 2007 at time.com
11. Winehouse wins best contemporary song ninemsn 2007-05-27. Accessed 2007-05-27
12. The Envelope Please Los Angeles Times 6 December 2007
13. Amy Winehouse - I Told You I Was Trouble - Documentary & Live Concert DVD ilikemusic.com 25 October 2007
14. Katie Hasty, "Fergie Scores Second 'Glamorous' Week At No. 1", Billboard.com, 22 March 2007.
15. Amy Winehouse - "Rehab" Live on David Letterman
16. "Top 8 Performance: Britpop". Australian Idol. 7 October 2007. No. 22, season 5.
17. "Seth Rogen/Spoon". Saturday Night Live. 6 October 2007. No. 2, season 33.
18. "Rehab: Pepsi Smash Exclusive Performance" Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2008-04-04
19. Hot Hot Heat's Myspace page MySpace.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-25
20. [1]
21. Streeter, Leslie Gray (11 August 2007), "Projekt [sic] Revolution Crowd Rocks with Humor, Energy". Palm Beach Post :2C
22. Gornstein, Leslie (13 June 2007), Answer Bitch EOnline Retrieved 2008-04-01
23. YouTube - Justin Timberlake Singing Rehab (for Britney?)
24. Fergie singing "Rehab"

External links

• Lyrics at Yahoo! Music
• Amy Winehouse - "Rehab" Live on David Letterman

Country
Certifier
Certification
Sales
Belgium
IFPI
Gold
25,000
New Zealand
RIANZ
Gold
7,500
Spain
PROMUSICAE
2× Platinum
80,000
United States
RIAA
Gold
500,000