"E.T." is a song by American singer-songwriter Katy Perry from her third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010). She co-wrote the song with its producers Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Ammo, and recorded the song at Conway Recording Studios, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles. A remix version of the song features verses from American rapper Kanye West, and the remix version was later included on the reissue of Teenage Dream, Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection (2012). Musically, it is an electronic and hip-hop ballad which draws heavily from dubstep and techno, along with smaller amounts of drum and bass. According to Perry, the song lyrically speaks of "falling in love with a foreigner".
After her solo version was released as a promotional single on August 17, 2010, the remix of "E.T." was serviced to radio stations as the album's fourth single on February 16, 2011. The song charted at number one in Canada, New Zealand, Poland, and the United States, while reaching the top 10 in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Scotland, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. It was the fourth-best selling song of 2011 in the US. It has also been certified Diamond in Brazil as well as the United States, and received multi-platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, and Finland.
To promote the song, Perry and West performed on the tenth season of American Idol, the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, and at Madison Square Garden for Z100's Jingle Ball. Floria Sigismondi directed the song's music video, which depicts Perry as an evolving alien drifting in outer space before landing on an abandoned litter-covered Earth, interspersed with clips of large felines hunting game. The video garnered positive reviews from music critics. The single won Favorite Song at the 38th People's Choice Awards, and received three nominations at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards.
Background and release
Perry's decision to write "E.T." came after its beat was accidentally played during a recording session she had with Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Ammo. It was originally intended for American hip hop group Three 6 Mafia. However, after hearing it, Perry chose to work with the track. She told MTV News: "I heard it and I always knew I wanted to write this futuristic, alienistic song, and they pulled it up and I was like, 'Wait, I can wrap my head around this. I know this seems like a long shot, but I think I have the perfect material to put on top of this sound.' And I did, and it really worked out perfectly."
The solo version of the song was released as a promotional single from Teenage Dream, first in the United States on August 17, 2010, and six days later in Australia. In December 2010, Perry asked fans through Twitter to help her select the album's fourth single. On December 13, 2010, she tweeted, "Thanks for all your great suggestions for the next single today!" and "Your voice has been heard! We're on the same page." One month later, Perry announced via Facebook that "E.T." would be the record's fourth single. The announcement was accompanied with the single's artwork, which features Perry with "cat eye make-up, bangs, and a sequined top". Unlike the original, the single version features rap verses from rapper Kanye West.
The remix debuted on February 11, 2011, in Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, before worldwide release five days later. In the United States, this version appeared for digital download on February 18. The remix was issued to contemporary hit radio format in the United States, and Italy on March 1, and March 4, respectively. Furthermore, this version debuted on other American radio formats, such as rhythmic contemporary on March 1, adult contemporary, hot adult contemporary, urban contemporary, and urban AC on April 12, whilst the original impacted pop, rhythmic, and hot AC radios. To further promote the single, an additional set of remixes of the song were made available on digital retailers in March 2011, followed by physical releases in the United Kingdom and Germany. The version with West was later included on Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection.
Composition
Musically, "E.T." is an electronic and hip hop song, and draws heavily from dubstep and techno, along with smaller amounts of drum and bass. BBC Music described the song as a "rave-influenced quasi ballad". The song is written in the key of F minor and follows a slow tempo of 76 beats per minute in common time. Perry's vocal range spans from E♭4 to D♭5. Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times noted a "hip-hop diva's stutter" in the song similar to that of Rihanna. Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone found the song sounded similar to hard rock ballads by Evanescence. The song's production has been described as "a mishmash and bleeps and blips with a driving drum track". Darryl Sterdan of the QMI Agency noted the song uses the "stomp-stomp-clap" beat from Queen's song "We Will Rock You", while AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted similarities to productions helmed by Ryan Tedder.
According to Perry, the song is about "falling in love with a foreigner". James Montgomery of MTV News also noted that Perry sings about a "lover from different dimension". For its single release, the song was reworked to feature two verses from Kanye West, in which he raps about "extraterrestriality". "E.T." opens with the first rap verse by West containing the lines "I got a dirty mind / I got filthy ways / I'm trying to bathe my Ape in your milky way / They callin' me an alien / A big-headed astronaut". Then, using metaphors about extraterrestrials, Perry sings, "You're not like the others / Futuristic lover / Different DNA". The chorus has Perry addressing her lover: "Kiss me, kiss me / Infect me with your love and / Fill me with your poison", claiming to be "ready for abduction". West contributes a second verse to the track, before Perry's final refrain, with heavily auto-tuned vocals: "I know a bar out in Mars / Where they driving spaceships instead of cars". He finishes with a reference to the fictional animated character Shrek and lyrics about "alien sex": "I'mma disrobe you then I'mma probe you / See, I abducted you so I tell you what to do." Ben Kaplan from National Post noted West's presence on the track was similar to the work on his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008).
Critical reception
Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly felt that Perry shows strength on the song, comparing its sound to a combination of American rock musicians Lita Ford and Trent Reznor. Kerri Mason from Billboard felt that "E.T." together with some other tracks from the albums is heavier sonically and lyrically, with a boom-boom-pow electro punch and Perry discussing more toxic relationships." Even though Robert Copsey from Digital Spy stated that West's contribution on the track was "needless", he felt that the track "is a quirky and assured slice of state-of-the-art pop". Ben Kaplan from The National Post lauded the track as a "great duet", praising the vocals of both performers. Speaking for West's contribution on the track Brad Wete from Entertainment Weekly noted that the song was improved from a male perspective. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic commented that Perry "replicates Ryan Tedder's glassy robotic alienation on 'E.T.', but tellingly avoids ripping off Lady Gaga".
Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine disliked the single's "inscrutability" and said that song's backing track was reminiscent of t.A.T.u.'s "All the Things She Said". Jason Richards from Now called the song "awkward" and Sputnikmusic's Rudy Clapper dismissed its attempt at a more mature sound, calling it "cheesy". PopMatters' staff writer Steve Leftridge called the song "neither strong nor edgy nor clever nor sonically interesting enough to lend any genuine credibility to Perry as a serious artist with anything to actually say". Amos Barshad of New York magazine felt West's alien metaphors went into jarring directions. Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club gave the song a C−, saying that while its lyrical content was "borderline-embarrassing", it did earn "a couple bonus points for showing a relatively darker side" of Perry, while A.V. Club editor Steven Hyden was more critical of both Perry's and West's lyrics, saying that "borderline-embarrassing" was too generous and that "the whole concept of the song is so beyond either side of sanity" that it was impossible to grade.
Commercial performance
One week before the official release of Teenage Dream, the solo version of "E.T." was released as a promotional single and debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 42, selling 64,000 digital copies. Following its single release featuring West, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on March 5, 2011, at number 28 with 110,000 copies being sold. In its fifth week, for the issue dated April 9, 2011, "E.T." topped the chart, giving Perry her fifth and West his fourth number-one single on the Hot 100. It ended the six-week run of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and made Teenage Dream the ninth album in history to yield four number-one singles. "E.T." spent five non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Hot 100 chart and was replaced one week by "S&M" by Rihanna featuring Britney Spears and later by Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." It was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and sold 10 million copies only in the United States, becoming her fifth song reach this status. It topped the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart for seven weeks, the longest since Eminem and Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie" in 2010. "E.T." is one of the best-selling singles worldwide, and is the second-highest-selling single of Perry's career. "E.T." was the fourth-biggest Billboard hit of 2011, and third best-selling digital song of 2011 in the United States with sales of 4.83 million.
It debuted the same week on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 13. In Australia, the song debuted at number 12 and peaked at number five for two weeks in February 2011. Since then "E.T." has been certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association. One week after debuting at number 17, "E.T." topped the New Zealand Singles Chart on January 31, 2011, becoming her sixth number-one in the country, and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand for sales of 15,000. As of July 20, 2011, it also became Perry's third single to be on New Zealand's Best Singles of All Time, just behind "Firework" and "California Gurls". On February 26, 2011, the solo version of the song entered the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart at number 36, and later topped it, becoming her sixth number-one on the chart.
On the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs), "E.T." set a record for most weekly plays in the 18-year history of the chart: for the tracking week of April 25 – May 1, 2011, Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems registered 12,330 plays over its 131 stations—an average of 94 plays per station. This figure rewrote Perry's previous record held with "California Gurls" in July 2010 (12,159). It went to set a new record the next week with 12,361 spins. That record was later broken yet again by Perry, when her single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" registered 12,468 plays for the week dated August 13, 2011. Meanwhile, on the Rhythmic Airplay Chart, she achieved her first number-one hit, a rare feat for female pop artists considering she was the third to ever do so.