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"How Long" is a song recorded and produced by American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth. He wrote the song with Jacob Kasher and DJ Frank E. It was released on October 5, 2017, by
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
as the second single from Puth's second studio album, ''
Voicenotes ''Voicenotes'' is the second studio album by American singer Charlie Puth. Almost entirely produced by Puth himself, the album was released by Artist Partner Group and Atlantic Records on May 11, 2018. Five singles have been released from the alb ...
'' (2018). Commercially, it has reached the top 10 in Belgium, Israel, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Philippines, Scotland, and the United Kingdom as well as the top 20 in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, Spain, and Switzerland. The song peaked at number 21 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.


Background

Puth teased the song in September 2017 on social media. He tweeted two photos in a row, which were captioned "how" and "long" respectively. In October 2017, he posted photos and video clips with the captions, "has", "this", "been" and "going". On October 4, 2017, he posted a video of the voice note recording behind the song with the caption "on", eventually spelling out "how long has this been going on" altogether, as one of the lines in the song's lyrics.


Composition

The song is composed in the key of C♯ minor with a tempo of 108-112 beats per minute.


Critical reception

Chris Malone of ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' felt the song "opens with a slinky bassline '
Attention Attention is the behavioral and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete aspect of information, whether considered subjective or objective, while ignoring other perceivable information. William James (1890) wrote that "Atte ...
'", featuring a catchy chorus and representing "a slight stylistic shift from the more straight forward pop sound that filled his debut album '' Nine Track Mind''", and that Puth took "the funkier R&B-leaning direction" with "How Long". James Dinh of
iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
deemed it "a fitting follow-up to 'Attention' as the 25-year-old tackles yet another vulnerable narrative from the romance department", and expected it to enter the top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Mike Wass of
Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
wrote that the song "picks up where 'Attention' left off". He described the song as "instantly addictive and could well turn out to be an even bigger hit". Katrina Rees of CelebMix regarded the song as "Charlie's latest infectious offering", and wrote that it "has a slick yet fairly stripped back vibe which showcases the singer's vocal range".


Chart performance

"How Long" reached the top 10 on seven charts, including the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. It debuted at number 60 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the week of October 28, 2017. It eventually peaked at number 21, holding that position for five consecutive weeks. On April 3, 2018, the single was certified
platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) for sales of a million digital copies in the United States.


Music video

The official music video was released on October 19, 2017, on Charlie Puth's official
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel. It features Puth dancing in the street, walking on walls and defying gravity.. The music video has over 650 million views as of April 2022.


Live performances

Puth performed the song live for the first time on ''
Sounds Like Friday Night ''Sounds Like Friday Night '' is a music entertainment programme that began airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 27 October 2017. Presented by broadcaster Greg James and rapper A.Dot (credited as Dotty), the programme features both emerg ...
'' on October 27, 2017. He later performed the song live on ''
The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...
'' on November 29, 2017.


Track listing


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References

{{authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Atlantic Records singles Charlie Puth songs Funk songs Songs written by Charlie Puth Songs written by DJ Frank E Songs written by Jacob Kasher