“Flowers” is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus, taken from her eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation (2023). Columbia Records released it as the album’s lead single in January 2023 worldwide. Cyrus wrote “Flowers” with Gregory Aldae Hein and Michael Pollack, while Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson handled the production. A pop song with disco, rock, and funk influences, its lyrics express an ex-lover’s acceptance of being independent after no longer feeling the need to rely on someone else to be complete.
The song’s chorus is a paraphrase of Bruno Mars’s “When I Was Your Man” (2012). Editors of Billboard noted that the songs only feature similar lyrical elements and ideas, meaning that the writers of “When I Was Your Man” are not required to be credited as co-writers of “Flowers”. Following its release, several publications suggested that “Flowers” was supposed to be a response song directed at Cyrus’s ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, as it was released on Hemsworth’s birthday and the lyrics refer to their Malibu, California home which burned down in the November 2018 Woolsey Fire. Additionally, Hemsworth had reportedly dedicated “When I Was Your Man” to Cyrus in the past.
“Flowers” received positive reviews from music critics and was a massive commercial success, breaking many records. It was the best selling global single of 2023, earning 2.7 billion subscription streams equivalents globally, according to the IFPI, making it Cyrus’s most successful single worldwide to date. In the United States, the single debuted at number one and spent eight non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard in addition to becoming Cyrus’s second number-one song on the chart since “Wrecking Ball” (2013). “Flowers” became the longest-running number one-song in the history of the Billboard Adult Comtemporary chart, with 46 weeks at the top.
The song was also a commercial success worldwide, debuting atop the Billboard Global 200 chart and staying at the summit for thirteen non-consecutive weeks. It topped the charts in 37 other countries including in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and the United Kingdom. It also broke a string of records on streaming services, including the Spotify record for the most-streamed song in a week (during both its first and second week) and the fastest song in Spotify history to surpass one billion streams (doing so in 112 days).
Jacob Bixenman directed the music video for “Flowers”, which features Cyrus performing dances in several locations, including an outdoor pool, a backyard, and on the roof of her house. Photography took place in Los Angeles with scenes shot at Elysian Park. In promotion of the song, Cyrus performed the song live on the album’s accompanying documentary concert special, and at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. At the latter ceremony, “Flowers” won Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, and also received a nomination for Song of the Year, marking Cyrus’ career-first set of Grammy wins. It also won Best International Song at the Brit Awards 2024.
