Written in the Stars (Tinie Tempah song)

Background

"Written in the Stars" was written by "iSHi", Mughal, Tempah, Turner and Charlie Bernardo and produced by iSHi and James Perolls. Tinie Tempah first revealed the song on 17 June 2010 performing it live on Sony Ericsson's Pocket TV along with "Frisky". Tempah said "Written in the Stars it is a real passionate track about the sort of struggle that I've had to face. You know I just really feel it as something to perform at festivals as well so I thought I might as well get my practice and start warming up now." The song was released on 27 September 2010, followed by Disc-Overy on 4 October 2010.

Critical reception

Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave the song a very positive review:

Tempah makes abundantly clear on single number three that success wasn't handed to him on a platinum dinnerware set marked 'Doulton'. Au contraire, it was an exhausting journey of "believing and praying" in a dream that, for a time, "wasn't going nowhere" – and with his ear-snagging rhymes cloaked in a stadium-sized chorus courtesy of US newbie Eric Turner, we're all going to hear about it whether we want to or not. Oh Tinie, we'll never doubt your work hard, play hard mentality again. .

Music video

The official music video was directed by Alex Herron and was released on YouTube by Parlophone on 13 August 2010, along with a 43-second trailer of the video three days before, with cameo appearances by Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman, Steve Carell, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore and Sandra Bullock, The video, shot in New York City, features Tinie Tempah standing and rapping on the roof while Eric Turner is sitting on the piano in a white room playing the chorus. The narrative scenes see a young boy whose life is shaped by the fact he and his mother are subjected to a financially insecure life and he is regularly bullied by his peers and how he is consumed with his book. After an interview with Virgin Media, the rapper claimed the boy 'not to be his younger self in the tennis courts' – he was trying to portray the life of a city boy. It made its US debut on 1 February 2011.

Chart performance

On 13 September 2010, "Written in the Stars" debuted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 22, beating "Pass Out", which peaked at number 33 on the chart in March 2010. It later peaked at number 16. The single also managed to chart in Switzerland, where it debuted at number 71 on 26 September 2010, Tempah's first single to make an impact in the country. On 3 October 2010, the track charted at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and UK R&B Chart, beating "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars and "Let the Sun Shine" by Labrinth, making "Written in the Stars" Tinie Tempah's second number 1 in the UK after "Pass Out". "Written in the Stars" sold over 115,000 copies in its first week alone, which at that point of the year was a first week figure surpassed only by "California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg (124,000) and the charity single "Everybody Hurts" by Helping Haiti (over 450,000). In the European Hot 100, the song debuted at number 5, the highest debut of the week. In January 2011, the single reached a peak position of number 34 and was certified Platinum in Australia. The song became Tinie Tempah's first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 91 for the week ending 5 March 2011 and peaking at number 12.

Track listings

1. "Written in the Stars" (Album Version) – 3:40

1. "Written in the Stars" (Album Version) – 3:39
2. "Written in the Stars" (Instrumental) – 3:39
3. "Written in the Stars" (The Arcade Southside Remix) (featuring Taio Cruz) – 3:33

1. "Written in the Stars" (Radio Edit) – 3:33
2. "Written in the Stars" (Album Version) – 3:40
3. "Written in the Stars" (Instrumental) – 3:39
4. "Written in the Stars" (Remix) (featuring Ryan Tedder) – 3:40

1. "Written in the Stars" (featuring Eric Turner) / "Miami 2 Ibiza" / "Pass Out" (featuring Labrinth) (Live from the BRITs) – 4:43

Parody version

In 2012, a parody of the video was made by the cast and crew of ITV soap opera Emmerdale in honour of the departure of character Aaron Livesy, played by Danny Miller, who is a big fan of the song. The role of Tinie Tempah was played by Adam Thomas, who plays Adam Barton (Aaron's best friend in the soap), and the role of Eric Turner was played by Kelvin Fletcher, who plays Andy Sugden. The video features many well-known Emmerdale actors such as Emma Atkins, Jeff Hordley, Lucy Pargeter, Sammy Winward, Nicola Wheeler, Charley Webb, Natalie Anderson, Sian Reese-Williams and veteran actor Freddie Jones.

Sports

The New York Giants used this song for their entrance for Super Bowl XLVI.

Covers

The Mend performed a mashup of "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" and "Written in the Stars" for their semi-final performance on Britain's Got Talent in 2012.

Karmin recorded a cover of "Written in the Stars" on their YouTube channel.