"Moves like Jagger" is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5 featuring American singer Christina Aguilera. It was released on June 21, 2011, as the fourth and final single from the re-release of the group's third studio album Hands All Over (2010). The song was written by band frontman Adam Levine, Ammar Malik, and producers Benny Blanco and Shellback. "Moves like Jagger" is an electropop song with modern disco style elements and is backed by synths and electronic drums. The lyrics refer to a male's ability to impress a love interest with his dance moves, which he compares to those of Mick Jagger, the lead singer of the Rolling Stones.
"Moves like Jagger" garnered generally favorable reviews by music critics, who praised the song's chorus. Praise also went to the vocals of Christina Aguilera. The song was a commercial success, going on to top the charts in over 20 countries. In the United States, "Moves like Jagger" became the band's second (after 2007's "Makes Me Wonder") and Aguilera's fifth number-one single and is among the best-selling singles of all time. The song also made Aguilera the second female artist to score a number-one hit in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, which in turn made her the fourth woman to score number-one singles in three different decades.
The music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund. The video features old video footage of Jagger and his iconic dance moves. "Moves like Jagger" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards but lost to "Body and Soul" by Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse. The song was first performed in June 2011 on an episode of The Voice (where Levine and Aguilera both served as coaches).
Internationally, the song was the ninth-best-selling digital single of 2011 with sales of 7 million copies. After Wham!'s "Last Christmas" topped the charts in 2021, "Moves like Jagger" became the UK's biggest-selling single that never topped the charts. The song was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2021.
Contents
Background and development
"Moves like Jagger" was written and produced by Benjamin Levin, also known as Benny Blanco, and Shellback, while additional writing was done by Adam Levine. The initial concept for the song, including the phrase "moves like Jagger" and characteristic whistle, was originated by Shellback. Shellback sent a demo to Blanco, who then played it to Levine; Levine loved the song and decided to finish and record it. When asked about the song, Levine said, "It was one of those songs that was definitely a risk; it's a bold statement. We've never really released a song like that. But it's exciting to do something different, do something new. I'm just happy everyone likes it." Some media outlets noted that Levine looked outside his own band for songwriting assistance which Levine responded to saying, "What I've learned from the recent few months is that it's OK to collaborate with other songwriters [...] I was always kind of staunchly opposed to it in the past, I think almost to a fault. I think I've got a lot to offer as a songwriter, but everybody hits a wall". He went on to praise Mick Jagger, the inspiration for the song saying,
"Jagger has the moves like Jagger. That being said, if there was ever someone to aspire to, I don't think anyone could claim to have the moves like James Brown, or the moves like Michael Jackson, or the moves like Prince [...] There's something about the way [Jagger] moves that is uniquely his own and hard to imitate, but also accessible and silly and fun, and not taking itself too seriously".
On adding Christina Aguilera to the song, Levine stated that "there's a lot of bravado in this song" and that their idea was that "if [they] could share vocals with a female, it would kind of curb the cockiness a little bit in a way that was more welcoming". Levine went on to say praise Aguilera stating that, "Christina is an incredible singer. There aren't many people out there that can sing like she can. And that was definitely like, well, let's just - let's have her really knock this out. And she did it in two seconds".
Composition
"Moves like Jagger" is a disco, electropop, and dance-pop song. It features a "throbbing" synth, fast-paced beat and electronic drums. Robbie Daw from Idolator wrote that "Moves like Jagger" slightly echoes The Rolling Stones' chart-topping 1978 classic "Miss You", and added that "Levine's voice is distorted via Auto-Tune on the chorus." The song is introduced by a whistle melody and light, funky guitar in the key of B minor with a tempo of 128 beats per minute. Levine tries his best to impress his female interest with dance moves like The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger singing, "I don't need to try to control you / Look into my eyes and I'll own you / With the moves like Jagger / I got the moves like Jagger / I got the moves like Jagger."
Aguilera appears during the song's bridge, playing her role as a tease with a self-written verse, "You want to know how to make me smile / Take control, own me just for the night / But if I share my secret / You gonna have to keep it / Nobody else can see this." Aguilera's contributions to the song consists of two interchangeable verses directly referencing her own song "Genie in a Bottle" from her debut album, Christina Aguilera (1999) with the lyrics, "Rub me right". Some critics panned the song for Aguilera's verse being too short comparing it to her 2001 effort on "Lady Marmalade".
Reception
Critical reception
Upon release, the song received generally positive reviews. Bill Lamb from About.com gave the song a positive review, giving the single four-and-a-half out of five stars. Lamb wrote that, "The funky, whistle driven melody here is loose, light, and irresistibly funky. The punchy guest vocal from fellow judge Christina Aguilera is simply icing on the cake. There is a real vocal chemistry between Aguilera and Levine." Lamb called the song an "outstanding summer song", writing that "It is light, danceable, and would sound great in the car with the top down." He went on to say, "An infectious whistle melody kicks things off with light, funky guitar and we're on our way to a great summer song. Maroon 5's Adam Levine guides us into the song with a trademark blend of soulful and slightly aloof. Later the throaty sound of Christina Aguilera grounds "Moves like Jagger" making it all a near perfect summer of 2011 audio treat".
Robbie Daw from Idolator wrote that "It takes a full two minutes and 15 seconds for Christina's soulful pipes to begin trilling on "Moves like Jagger." But once she does, she immediately steals the show." Daw concluded by writing that "this is the best thing from either of these two in years."
Rolling Stone noted that, "The Voice judges [...] start off the song as an easygoing R&B-inflected pop tune before Aguilera showed up near the end to kick it all into high gear with her brassy, super-charged voice. As on the show, the two singers have a terrific chemistry, with Levine's chill vibe acting as the perfect counterbalance to the diva's fiery intensity". While naming the song "a contender for 2011's song of the summer",
James Dinh from MTV Newsroom wrote that "Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera have turned their friendly rivalry on NBC's The Voice into some studio chemistry." Robert Copsey wrote for Digital Spy: "Take me by the tongue and I'll know you/ Kiss me till you're drunk and I'll show you," Ad insists over a funky, finger-clicking bassline and an irresistible whistle hook that immediately burrows deep into the recesses of your brain. "If I share my secret/ You're gonna have to keep it," Christina says on her short, sweet and perfectly formed cameo. We've already got your number, love, but our surprise is still 100% genuine."
Jagger himself acknowledged the song in an interview, calling the concept "very flattering." The song was ranked number three on BBC Radio 2's most played songs of the 2010s. In 2022, Billboard and American Songwriter ranked the song number three and number four, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Maroon 5 songs. British Journal of Psychology named the song a classic earworm.
Commercial performance
On July 9, 2011, "Moves like Jagger" debuted at number eight on the United States Billboard Hot 100, and topped the chart on September 10, 2011, as the greatest airplay gainer for the third consecutive week. It spent 10 weeks in the top three. For Maroon 5, the song became their first number one and top 10 on their chart since "Makes Me Wonder" in 2007. For Aguilera, the song became her fifth number one, and was her first since "Lady Marmalade" in 2001. Aguilera joined Janet Jackson, Madonna and Britney Spears as the fourth female artist to top the Hot 100 over three decades. During the week of October 1, 2011, the song advanced to number one on the Hot 100 Airplay. By March 2013, it had sold over 6 million digital copies in the United States.
On August 1, 2011, "Moves like Jagger" reached number two on the Australian ARIA Charts, making it Aguilera's highest-charting single since "Candyman" in 2007, and held the runner-up spot for ten straight weeks. On the week of August 20, 2011, the song topped the Canadian Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's second number-one single and Aguilera's third number-one single, her first in almost nine years (the last one was the 2002 hit "Beautiful").
"Moves like Jagger" made its debut on the UK Singles Chart at number three and sold 56,000 copies on the issue dated August 21, 2011, becoming Maroon 5's fourth top 10 hit and Aguilera's fifteenth top 10 hit in the UK. Starting at the issue date September 10, it peaked at number two for seven consecutive weeks, equaling the all-time UK record held by All-4-One's "I Swear" for the longest stay at number two by a hit not to reach number one.
On October 5, 2011, the song reached number one in the mid-week chart update but failed to reach the number-one spot the following Sunday due to the mid-week release of Rihanna's new single "We Found Love" which debuted at number one keeping "Moves like Jagger" away from the number-one position. In the first six of these weeks, it was held off the top of the chart by six different number-one singles consecutively, each of which debuted directly ahead of it; this after having already been held at number three behind two different pairs of new entries in its first two weeks on the chart.
After spending seven straight weeks at number two in the singles charts without ever managing to claim the number-one spot, it ironically peaked at number two in the year-end chart of 2011's bestselling singles as well, outselling all the songs that had kept it off number one. It became the biggest-selling song not to peak at number one in 2012. As of September 2017, "Moves like Jagger" has sold 1,536,000 copies in the United Kingdom, in an uninterrupted 52-week run in the chart.
Music video
Background
The music video for "Moves like Jagger" was directed by Jonas Åkerlund and filmed in the Los Angeles Theater, Los Angeles, California on July 8, 2011. On July 9, Aguilera posted an image of herself from the video shoot via Twitter, saying, "Always great to see Jonas Akerlund. He created the perfect feel for the song. Expect a fun video." The image showed Aguilera performing with a band in front of a background of the American flag. Four shirtless images of Levine from the shoot were also released online the same day. The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger made an appearance in the video "via archive footage". The video features an incorrect, simplified version of the Union Flag as a backdrop for parts of the song. For Levine and his bandmates, the song and video are all about exposing a new generation to the rock legend. "We were lucky enough to get Mick's endorsement [for the video], as far as him giving us access to a bunch of different footage that's so cool," Levine told MTV News when they visited the video's set last month. "Not many people have seen [it], especially a newer generation of people that don't know so much about how incredible he was." The video premiered on August 8, 2011, on E! and was released the following day on Vevo. That same month, the band also released three versions of the same music video from their YouTube channel, those being an explicit version, a non-Vevo banner version and a band edit version, respectively.
Synopsis
The video opens with black-and-white footage of the theater, shots of work crews assembling lighting and equipment onstage and groups of extras getting into costume, warming up for a shoot. This is followed by classic footage of Jagger, during which Michael Parkinson asks The Rolling Stones frontman how long he plans to make music. "I don't know. I never thought I'd be doing it for two years even," a young Jagger says, as the opening whistles of the Maroon 5 song kick in, throughout which a slew of Jagger look-alikes are shown dancing up to a central microphone, interlaced with archival footage of Jagger himself and shots of the Maroon 5 members James Valentine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Matt Flynn. When frontman Adam Levine eventually appears, he is shirtless, tattooed and wearing tight black pants. The video is mostly a mash-up of people trying to move like Jagger, including Levine. When Aguilera makes her brief appearance, she is dressed for a retro look with mascara-heavy lashes and a floppy hat.
Reception
The Huffington Post commented "We weren't sure whether Levine and Aguilera would be able to bring it like Mick, but then again, no one can ever touch the original. The best they can do is try to imitate Jagger's greatness—and Levine and Aguilera do a pretty solid job of that."
Live performances
"Moves like Jagger" was performed for the first time with Aguilera on June 21, 2011, during The Voice, a talent competition show on which both she and Levine were coaches. Maroon 5 performed this song without Aguilera on America's Got Talent on August 3, 2011, in the results show of the fourth week of the Hollywood performances and the morning talk show The Today Show on August 5. The band later performed this song on Hands All Over Tour and the 2011 Summer Tour. On September 8, 2011, the song was performed live at the NFL pre-show on Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, before the start of the 2011 NFL season.
The song was also played during the band's appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (September 21) and Saturday Night Live (November 5). On October 1, the band played the song at the Rock in Rio concert in Rio de Janeiro. In November 2011, Maroon 5 performed "Moves like Jagger" for the 2011 American Music Awards with Aguilera (the latter two along with a live performance of Gym Class Heroes's "Stereo Hearts" featuring Levine) and the 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. On November 13, 2011, Maroon 5 performed the song live at the Carnival Cruise Line, after the arrival of cruise ship Carnival Magic in Galveston, Texas. In June 2012, the band played "Moves like Jagger" at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, as part of the Live on Letterman concert series.
On February 3, 2019, Maroon 5 performed the song as the closing number of the Super Bowl LIII halftime show in Atlanta, Georgia. In September 2023, the band performed "Moves like Jagger" for the first edition of The Town Festival in Brazil. In July 2026, Maroon 5 played the song and serving as headliner for the 2026 BST Hyde Park concert at Hyde Park, London.
Mac Miller remix
The song's official remix features both Aguilera and Pittsburgh-based rapper Mac Miller. It was first made available on September 29, 2011, via hip hop website HipHopDX.com, before being released officially via iTunes on October 4. The remix remains largely unchanged from the original song, with Miller's two verses each coming at the beginning of the track and prior to Aguilera's refrain respectively. Miller was asked to appear on the remix of "Moves like Jagger" by producer Benny Blanco, following consultation with Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine. Blanco noted that,
"We were listening to [the song] and I was like, 'Yo, who could we put on this song?', because we were trying to get someone to do a remix. I was like, 'I know exactly who', because I just put Mac on another remix".
Miller later said that he hoped to be involved in an official music video for the track, but no video was announced, and any possible plans were shelved after his death in September 2018.