“Barbie Girl” is a song by Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua. It was released in April 1997 by Universal and MCA as the third single from the group’s debut studio album, Aquarium (1997). The song was written by band members Søren Rasted, Claus Norreen, René Dif, and Lene Nystrøm, and was produced by the former two alongside Johnny Jam and Delgado. It was written after Rasted saw an exhibit on kitsch culture in Denmark that featured Barbie dolls. The accompanying music video was directed by Danish directors Peder Pedersen and Peter Stenbæk.
The song topped the charts worldwide, particularly in European countries such as the United Kingdom, where it was a number-one hit for four weeks and remains one of the best-selling singles of all time. It also reached number two in the group’s homeland and peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100. It is Aqua’s most popular work and was also performed as the interval act in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. Mattel accused Aqua’s label of diluting the image of Barbie, leading to the controversial lawsuit Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc.. Twenty-five years later, Mattel licensed the song in the 2023 film Barbie and additionally sampled it for a new song, “Barbie World”. That same year, Billboard magazine ranked it among the “500 Best Pop Songs of All Time”.
