When scrolling through your playlist, how many of the songs are collaborations? From Charli XCX’s hit “Talk Talk” with Troye Sivan, to Chase & Status teaming up with Stormzy on “Backbone”, collaborations seem to be everywhere. Charli XCX has also appeared on social media with Billie Eilish and Guess, further highlighting the trend.
In fact, four of the top 10 songs in the UK Singles Chart are collaborations, and this phenomenon is far from a temporary fad. According to the Official Charts Company, nearly half of the 100 biggest tracks since 2020 have featured more than one artist. This is more than double the number of collabs in the charts from the late 2000s, and the rise in collaborative tracks has been evident over the past 30 years.
Pop-punk legends Fall Out Boy have long been known for their collaborations with big names like Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, and Jay-Z. Frontman Patrick Stump reveals that these partnerships usually come together in a “pretty simple” way—someone just asks.
He admits that he had considered stepping back from collaborations for a while, but when Taylor Swift personally emailed him, that changed. “My manager was like, ‘maybe you should do this one, huh?'” Patrick laughs. The result was Fall Out Boy’s appearance on Taylor’s track “Electric Touch”, featured on her chart-topping album Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), released last year.
Patrick notes that every collaboration is unique. While some involve being in the studio together, others are done remotely. He also emphasizes the importance of authenticity, saying he doesn’t want to collaborate just for marketing purposes. He recalls when Brendon Urie from Panic! at the Disco featured on Fall Out Boy’s song “20 Dollar Nose Bleed” in 2008, a collaboration that happened simply because Brendon was hanging out with them that day. “That’s when collaboration feels really good,” Patrick adds, contrasting it with the more formal “manager-to-manager” setups that can feel forced.
Frequent collaborator Ella Henderson shares her enthusiasm for working with other artists, as it allows her to “learn our craft” and explore new genres. After rising to fame on The X Factor in 2012, alongside James Arthur, Ella has collaborated with top names like David Guetta, Tom Grennan, and Becky Hill. She describes these collaborations as an “amazing process.”
“Not only do you get to open your horizons to a different genre of music,” Ella says, “but you also get to learn about their heritage in music.” Through collaborations, she believes she has grown as an artist, noting that working on her own projects all the time can become “a bit stale.”
Ella explains that sometimes it takes an outside perspective to realize the potential of a song. She reflects on “Crazy What Love Can Do”, a track she might have discarded if David Guetta hadn’t recognized its potential. “Not everything is to never be heard. It could actually be something really magical,” she concludes.
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