Stuck with U

On April 30, 2020, Bieber tweeted "Special announcement tomorrow at 10 am pst ...". Sometime later, Grande chimed in the tweet saying "see u there everybody 🖤"" the next day, the artists took to their social media to announce the release of their song on May 8, 2020. It first premiered at 21:00 PST on May 7, 2020.[4] All net proceeds from the track will be donated to the "First Responders Children's Foundation".[1] The money will fund scholarships of children of frontline workers whose lives have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6]

During an ASCAP interview the song's co-writers Gian Stone & Whitney Philips revealed that the song was originally meant to be a Solo perfomance and that it was Grande's idea to turn it into a duet with Bieber.[7]

Musically, "Stuck with U" is a '50s-influenced retro pop ballad[8][9] that contains elements of R&B[10] and doo-wop music.[9] Lyrically, it is a "romantic" song about being grateful to spend time with a loved one.[8][9] "Stuck with U" was written in ⁶
₈ time in the key of A♭ major, with a tempo of 60 beats per minute.[11] Grande's vocal range spans three octaves and three notes, from E♭₃ to G#₆.

Anna Gaca of Pitchfork stated "Stuck with U" is "merely serviceable as a pop song" but "a big upgrade from that other product of rich-people lockdown culture: the celebrities singing 'Imagine'. Instead of a bad take on a hoary classic, Grande and Bieber offer a new song with a pleasantly retro doo-wop vibe. Instead of Pollyannaish optimism, they sound a note of resignation".[12] Thomas Bleach was more critical of the track, stating that "This is a track that you could vividly imagine what it sounded like before you even heard it. There wasn’t much room for surprise or collaborative experimentation. Instead they gave you exactly what you expected which was just a sweet ballad. By now I would expect more from these two superstars, that when they collaborate it would be something exciting, experimental and impactful. While they may have the heart and impact behind it, the excitement and experimental layers are missing. The sweeping doo-[wop] melody sounds like it could’ve easily come off one of Ariana’s last two albums. There isn’t much substance to the sonical layers and that’s what is disappointing. It feels quickly made and also feels like a quick cash grab. Luckily all the proceeds are going towards a good cause."[13]

"Stuck with U" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bieber's sixth and Grande's third number one single. The song is also both Bieber's and Grande's third song to debut at number one, tying both artists with Mariah Carey and Drake for the most songs that debuted at number one. Grande also became the first artist to have their first three number-ones debut at the top spot. The song sales was aided by a variety of physical/digital combination offerings during the tracking week, including copies autographed by Grande and Bieber. Consumers could also purchase cassette, CD and vinyl singles, each with a digital download. "Stuck With U" is also the third female-male duet in over a year since "Señorita" by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello and "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper to top the Hot 100.[2] The song also debuted at number one on the Digital Songs chart with 108,000 downloads, becoming the first song to crack over 100,000 downloads in the first week since "Me!" by Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie (193,000 downloads). The song is Grande's sixth chart-topper on the said chart, also Bieber's twelfth, surpassing Drake as the male artist with the most, and overall the third artist, behind Swift and Rihanna.[2][14]

"Stuck with U" debuted at number one on The Rolling Stone Top 100, becoming Bieber's first and Grande's second number one single. The song is also Grande's second song to debut at number one making her the first female artist to earn two number one debuts on the Rolling Stone 100 singles chart.[15]

On the same day as the release of "Stuck with U", rapper 6ix9ine, who had been incarcerated but had earlier in the month been released to home confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, released his comeback single "Gooba", which debuted at number one on the Billboard Streaming Songs chart, and ended up debuting at number 3 on the Hot 100 on the week ending May 23, 2020.[2] The rapper took to social media afterwards to accuse Billboard of "chart manipulation" and accuse both Grande and Bieber of "buying" their way to number one on the chart.[16] In an Instagram post, 6ix9ine alleged that the artists used six credit cards to buy 30,000 copies of "Stuck With U" without providing evidence.[17] Grande and Bieber both denied the allegations with Grande stating in an Instagram post, "OUR fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE). They are ride or die motherfuckers and I thank god every day that I have them in my life. [...] Sales count for more than streams. U can not discredit this as hard as u try".[18][16] Grande and Bieber's manager Scooter Braun would address 6ix9ine's claims that his streams didn't count, stating that "he [6ix9ine] is counting his global streams and this is a domestic chart so only domestic streams count". Braun also added that the last-minute disclosure of 60,000 units was the result of their team strategy to keep the numbers quiet until the end of the week, and pointed out that "using six credits card to buy 30K" is impossible by stating "the rules are clear one credit card can buy max 4 copies".[19][20][21] Bieber defended Grande by reposting Braun's Statement on Instagram stories adding that "this is my song with Ariana Grande and I'm honored to work with her to help raise money for a great cause. If you gonna say her name make sure you say mine because it's our song".[22][23]

6ix9ine made a subsequent video addressing Grande, in which he said he wasn't coming after her on a personal level but Billboard, despite his previous statements speculating against Grande and Bieber.[16]

Billboard released a statement on May 18, 2020, the same day 6ix9ine made the accusations, to explain the results. Billboard stated that 6ix9ine's "six credit cards" claim was inaccurate, as bulk purchases are recognized and removed from the final sales total. They also stated that the Hot 100 forecast he had referenced in an earlier Instagram post prior to the release of that week's chart reveal was not created by them and that they do not distribute any of their rankings to labels, management, or artist. About the discrepancy between YouTube's visible play count for "Gooba", over 180 million at that moment, and the number of streams Billboard counted for the song, 55.3 million, they explain "counts for a video on its YouTube page are for global plays, and absent any other auditing filters [...] Billboard counts only U.S. based plays for its charts."[24]

The accompanying music video was released on May 8, 2020, alongside the song's official release. It consists of clips sent in by young fans who would have attended prom in 2020 but are unable to do so due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as people who are stuck inside spending time with loved ones.[25] The video was directed Rory Kramer, Alfredo Flores, Grande, Bieber, and Braun. It also features shots of celebrities like Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Demi Lovato, 2 Chainz, Stephen and Ayesha Curry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chance the Rapper, Kate Hudson, Lil Dicky, Sheel Mohnot, Michael Bublé, Jaden Smith, Ashton Kutcher, and Mila Kunis, as well as Bieber with his wife Hailey Baldwin. Grande used the video to reveal her new relationship. She was spotted embracing a man towards the end of the video, and a couple of seconds later the man was revealed to be Dalton Gomez, a real estate agent.[26]

Bieber also posted a lyric video with an animation of the house drawn in the cover.[27] The video was created by Katia Temkin and the artwork of the house was made by Liana Finck.[27] A fan-made Prom Scenes video that shows prom scenes from movies was released on Bieber's YouTube channel on May 9.[28] On May 11, he released a Mother's Day Edition of the music video.[29]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[30]

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 2020
• List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 2020
• List of number-one digital songs of 2020 (U.S.)
• List of Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles of 2020
• List of UK top-ten singles in 2020
• List of number-one songs of 2020 (Malaysia)
• List of number-one singles from the 2020s (New Zealand)