“Shut Up” is a song recorded by American hip-hop group the Black Eyed Peas for their third studio album Elephunk (2003). Lyrically, it is about a disastrous courtship with the chorus consisting of the lines “Shut up, just shut up, shut up”. The song was released as the second single from Elephunk on September 8, 2003, by A&M Records and Interscope Records. “Shut Up” was not commercially successful in the United States but became a hit internationally, topping the charts of Australia, New Zealand, and 12 European countries. It was Europe’s second-biggest hit single of 2004.
“Shut Up” became an international success, reaching number one in Australia, Austria, Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Sweden, and Switzerland. The single also reached number two in Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom and peaked at number five in Hungary. At the end of 2004, it was ranked as Europe’s second-highest-selling single according to the Eurochart Hot 100, on which the song peaked at number one. As of August 2014, it was the 47th best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 400,000 units sold.
In Germany, it is the second-best-selling single of the band behind “I Gotta Feeling”, selling 300,000 copies to reach platinum status. The song peaked at number one on the German Singles Chart and stayed there for five weeks, becoming the band’s longest run at the pole position. In the United States, the song never charted on the Billboard Hot 100 despite appearing at number 30 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 in November 2003.
