“Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson

"Since U Been Gone" was the lead single from Kelly Clarkson's second album, Breakaway, and it's pop with its fists up. Max Martin and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald wrote and produced it, and it very nearly went to somebody else: Pink passed, Hilary Duff couldn't reach the high notes, and Clive Davis finally talked the writers into handing it to Clarkson.

She heard the demo as too pop and pushed for heavier guitars and harder drums, and Serban Ghenea's mix makes the most of it, swinging from hush to roar. It's a breakup song about pure relief at getting out, and it won her the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance; Rolling Stone later placed it at 93 on its 2021 list of the 500 greatest songs.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.