"Doctor (Work It Out)" is a song produced by American musician

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

and sung by

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

. It is their first collaboration in ten years, after Cyrus featured on Williams's 2014 single "

Come Get It Bae "Come Get It Bae" is a song written, produced, and performed by American singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams, with guest vocals from Miley Cyrus, from the former's second studio album ''Girl'' (2014). "Come Get It Bae" was released on March 6, 2 ...

"; Williams previously produced four songs for Cyrus's fourth studio album ''

Bangerz ''Bangerz'' is the fourth studio album by the American singer Miley Cyrus. It was released on September 30, 2013. It was her first body of original work since leaving Hollywood Records after the release of her third studio album '' Can't Be Tam ...

'' (2013). "Doctor (Work It Out)" is a restructured and re-recorded version of a song recorded during the ''Bangerz'' recording sessions. They worked with songwriter Michael Pollack and released it on March 1, 2024.

Background and release

The song was initially written and recorded by Cyrus—with co-writing and production by Williams—for her fourth studio album ''

'' (2013) but did not make the final tracklist. Cyrus and Williams collaborated on four tracks that were released as part of the album, and the single "

" from the latter's second studio album ''

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. '' daughter'' or '' girlfriend'' regardless of age ...

'' (2014). A demo titled "Doctor" was leaked online in December 2017. Over a decade later, the track was reworked and re-recorded by 2023, and was previewed during the livestream of Williams's

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...

menswear fall-winter show during

Paris Fashion Week Paris Fashion Week (, commonly ) is a series of designer presentations held semi-annually in Paris, France, with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. Pa ...

, on January 16, 2024. In February, Cyrus's website and social media layouts were updated with new pictures from a Polaroid-themed photoshoot, which prompted speculation on new music. Later that month, Williams previewed the song via his social media and alluded to an official release, with his post captioned as "soon". On February 27, Cyrus announced the single's title as "Doctor (Work It Out)", shared a promotional image, and released a 30-second snippet via her social media. The picture featured Cyrus standing against a gray background and looking into the camera, styled with

big hair Big hair is a hairstyle that emphasizes large volume or largely styled hair, especially when those styles make the hair occupy a large amount of space above and around the head. The label "big hair" for such styles originated in the late 1970s, w ...

and wearing a blue fur coat. The title appears in pink at the top of the image. Pre-save links to the song were made available simultaneously. The day after, Cyrus released a preview of the song's music video of her dancing and singing along to the lyrics, and announced the release date as March 1, 2024. "Doctor (Work It Out)" is Cyrus's first collaboration with Williams in over a decade, after "Come Get It Bae", and their fifth, overall.

Critical reception

In a four out of five stars review, Roisin O'Connor of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' described the song as a "glam-pop-rock jam" with "funky bass hook". The writer assimilated its "melody and rhythm" to "

I Wanna Be Your Slave "I Wanna Be Your Slave" (stylized in all caps) is a song by Italian rock band Måneskin, from their second studio album, '' Teatro d'ira: Vol. I'' released on 19 March 2021 by Sony. Prior to its release as a single, the song managed to reach top-te ...

" by

Måneskin is an Italian Rock music, rock band formed in Rome in 2016. The band is composed of lead vocalist Damiano David, bassist Victoria De Angelis, guitarist Thomas Raggi, and drummer Ethan Torchio. Performing in the streets in their early days, Mån ...

and called the intro as "redolent of the one on "

Blurred Lines "Blurred Lines" is a song by American singer Robin Thicke featuring American rapper T.I. and American musician Pharrell Williams from Thicke's sixth studio album of the same name (2013). Solely produced by Williams, it was released as the a ...

", finding that "Cyrus elevates what could've been a forgettable bop, adding the thrills and spills with a gasp, a moan."

Music video

The music video for "Doctor (Work It Out)" is directed by

Jacob Bixenman Jacob Taylor Bixenman (born May 27, 1994) is an American model, photographer and director. He was born in Orange County, California. Career Bixenman entered a VMan modelling competition and was signed by Ford Models, who handles Naomi Campbel ...

. It premiered simultaneously with the release of the song, via Cyrus's

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

channel on YouTube.

Accolades

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Miley Cyrus songs 2024 singles 2024 songs Miley Cyrus songs Pharrell Williams songs Song recordings produced by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Michael Pollack (musician) Songs written by Miley Cyrus Songs written by Pharrell Williams American pop rock songs