Wings - Music

Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Wings

Little-Mix - Wings

"Wings" Is The Debut Single By British Girl Group Little Mix. It Was Released On 24 August 2012 Through Syco Music And Columbia Records As The Lead Single From Their Debut Studio Album DNA. The Song Was Written By Group Members Leigh-Anne Pinnock Jesy Nelson Jade Thirlwall And Perrie Edwards With The Production Team TMS And Songwriters Iain James Erika Nuri Michelle Lewis Mischke Butler And Heidi Rojas. The Song Was Lyrically Inspired By The Hardships They Had Experienced While Contestants On The X Factor UK. Described As An R&B And Bubblegum Pop Track The Song's Production Is Mixed With Bombastic Brass That Was Inspired By Christina Aguilera's Album Back To Basics. "Wings" Was Acclaimed By Music Critics Who Found It Catchy Complimented Its Double Chorus And The Group's Vocal Performance And Considered It One Of The Best Introductions To A Band That Would Go On To Re-Define What A Girl Group Can Do Act And Sound Like. "Wings" Has Been Credited With Helping To Shape The Little Mix Brand With Messages Of Girl Power And Feminism. It Has Also Been Cited For Helping The Girl Band Renaissance In The UK During The Late 00s And Into The Early 10s. The Song Peaked At Number One In The UK Singles Chart Selling Over 106 000 Copies In Its First Week And Later Becoming The Group's Second Number-One In The UK. It Also Made Them Only The Third Winners From The X Factor UK To Follow Up Their Winner's Single With A Second Number-One Single. The Single Was Also A Success In Other Countries. It Topped The Irish Singles Charts And Reached The Top Ten In Australia Belgium And Japan And Charted In Nine Other Countries Including South Korea Canada And France. It Reached Number Seventy-Nine On The US Billboard Hot 100. A Japanese And Korean Version Of The Track Was Later Released. Little Mix Performed "Wings" At The One Love Manchester Following The Manchester Arena Bombing In 2017. It Has Been Performed On All Six Of The Group's Tours The Most Recent Being The Confetti Tour In 2022. Little Mix Wanted Their First Original Single After Winning The Eighth UK Series Of The X Factor To Be Instantly Recognizable When It Was Played On The Radio And Believed That Without Their Own Input The Track Would Misrepresent Their Sound. After Working With Producers For Around A Month And Being New To Group Writing The Band Struggled To Find A Song They Liked. Group Member Jesy Nelson Said "We Were Like 'We Want Our Sound To Be Nicki Minaj Mixed With Missy Elliott With A Bit Of En Vogue Put In A Blender.' I Think Everyone Got So Confused. We'd Hear Some Of The Songs And Were Like 'Oh My God We're Never Going To Get It.'" However When Production Team TMS Played Them A Backing Track Of "Wings" Nelson Recalled "my Hairs Stood Up On My Arms And I Was Like 'Oh My God!' And I Looked At The Girls And I Went 'That's Our First Single.'" The Band Wrote Most Of "Wings" With TMS And Songwriter Iain James In February 2012 But Writing Continued Until They Felt The Song Was Complete. Michelle Lewis Erika Nuri Mischke Butler And Heidi Rojas Are Also Credited As Songwriters. It Was Important To Little Mix For "Wings" To Showcase Their Vocals Individually And Have Complex Harmonies And Melodies. Eschewing Dance Music Popular At The Time It Was Composed As A Retro-Style Pop And R&B Song Influenced By Music By Beyoncé And Michael Jackson. Jade Thirlwall From The Band Said "It Was Really Important For Us To Bring Something Fresh And Different To The Table". The Lyrics Were Inspired By The Doubt And Negativity Little Mix Experienced As A Girl Band During The X Factor And Being The Favorites For Elimination During The First Week Of Live Shows. They Were Disheartened By Odds Overheard In The Show's Green Room And Paparazzi Predicting Their Elimination Interview On The British Daytime Television Program This Morning The Following Monday. "Wings" Was Also Written As An Uplifting Message For The Group's Fans To Relate To. The Band However Did Not Want The Song To Sound "cheesy" Or As Though They Were Preaching Instead They Wrote It With A Theme Of Maternal Advice Using The Line "Mama Told Me Not To Waste My Time". The Track Was Recorded At The Music Shed In London. Little Mix First Announced The Single's Release On Twitter On 30 May 2012. The Following Day Its Cover Art Was Revealed On Facebook Featuring A New Group Logo And Signature Icons For Each Member. On 1 June 2012 The Single Was Made Available For Pre-Order From The ITunes Store And A Short Excerpt Was Played During The Group's Appearance On The British Television Show Alan Carr Chatty Man. On 2 July 2012 "Wings" Premiered On BBC Radio 1's The Greg James Show And A Lyric Video Was Shared On Vevo. To Promote The Single Little Mix Embarked On A Radio Tour In July 2012 They Visited Over 20 UK Radio Stations And Did Meet And Greets As Part Of A Social Media Competition For Their Fans. The "Wings" Release However Was Then Postponed Twice Resulting In Purchasers Of Initial Pre-Orders Having To Pre-Order The Single Again. The Release Was To Coincide With Their Performance On The British Television Game Show Red Or Black? But Was Postponed Because The Episode Aired Later Due To Filming Issues With A Contestant On The Show. Syco Music First Released The Single As A Digital EP In Ireland On 24 August 2012. In The UK The Song Was Released Two Days Later In Digital EP And CD Single Formats. In Australia The Single Was Released As A Digital EP And CD Single On 5 And 30 October 2012 Respectively. The Same Month The Group Traveled To Australia To Promote The Track In A Series Of Radio And Television Appearances. On 5 February 2013 Columbia Records Released "Wings" As Little Mix's Debut Single In The US. It Was Sent To Contemporary Hit Radio Playlists There Two Weeks Later. To Promote The Single In The US They Embarked On A Radio Tour And Met Fans At Shopping Malls In March And April 2013. In September 2012 "Wings" Debuted At Number One On The UK Singles Chart With First-Week Sales Of 106 766 Copies Becoming Little Mix's Second Consecutive Number-One Single In The UK. They Became The Third Winner Of The X Factor UK After Leona Lewis And Alexandra Burke Followed Up Their Winner's Single With A Second Number-One Single. It Also Made Them The Final Winners From The Show To Sell Over 100 000 Copies In Its Opening Week With Their Debut Single. The Track Dropped To Number Four In Its Second Week Selling 59 355 Copies. It Spent 25 Weeks On The Chart And Placed At Number 40 In The 2012 Year-End Chart And Was Certified Platinum By The British Phonographic Industry BPI . According To The Official Charts Company "Wings" Has Sold Over A Million Copies As Of 2022. It Has Racked Up 548 000 Downloads And 112 Million Streams And Ranks As The Group's Eighth-Best-Selling Single In The UK. The Song Also Topped The Irish Singles Chart In Its First Week Making It Little Mix's Second Successive Number-One Single In Ireland. "Wings" Became The Band's Highest-Charting Single In Australia Where It Peaked At Number Three On The ARIA Singles Chart. It Was Certified Triple Platinum By The Australian Recording Industry Association ARIA For Sales Of 210 000 Copies. The Track Also Reached Number 15 On The New Zealand Singles Chart. In The US "Wings" Peaked At Number 79 On The Billboard Hot 100 And Spent Nine Weeks On The Chart. It Was Certified Gold By The Recording Industry Association Of America RIAA For Selling 500 000 Copies. In Canada The Song Charted At Number 69 On The Canadian Hot 100 And Received A Gold Certification From Music Canada For Sales Of 40 000 Copies. "Wings" Also Became Little Mix's Highest-Charting Single In Japan Where It Climbed To Number Seven On The Japan Hot 100 And Ranked At Number 46 In The 2013 Year-End Chart. In Brazil The Song Was Certified Gold By Pro-Música Brasil For Selling 30 000 Units.