Song · Natalie Imbruglia
“Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia
Released 1998
“Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia appears on 21 radio countdowns from 14 stations between 1997 and 2025. It was first released in 1998. Its best result is #4 on the Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 1997. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #55 alternative song of 1998, #2,393 alternative song of all time and #363 of the '90s.
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Natalie Imbruglia made her entrance with "Torn", her debut single, and it arrived with a shrug and a bruise. Scott Cutler, Anne Preven and Phil Thornalley wrote it back in 1991, Preven supplying the words, and Thornalley produced the Australian singer's version.
It's alternative pop-rock at its most unfussy: loose strummed guitars, a loping groove, and Imbruglia's voice doing all the heavy lifting, cool and hurt in the same breath, with a chorus that sticks the first time you hear it. It went all the way to number one in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Spain and Sweden, topped three US Billboard charts, and sold more than four million copies around the world. "Big Mistake" followed it.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 4 | Virgin Radio United Kingdom | Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 1997 | 10 |
| 1998 | 57 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1998 | 107 |
| 1998 | 57 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1998 | 91 |
| 1998 | 64 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1998 | 106 |
| 1998 | 20 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1998 | 101 |
| 1998 | 51 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1998 | 100 |
| 1998 | 41 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 1998 | 103 |
| 1998 | 41 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 103 Songs of 1998 | 102 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 725 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 2001 | 139 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 500 |
| 2001 | 255 | WBRU | WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) | 500 |
| 2003 | 37 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio VR10x10 (April 2003) | 100 |
| 2004 | 67 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 500 |
| 2005 | 278 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 500 |
| 2006 | 155 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) | 500 |
| 2021 | 198 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s | 908 |
| 2022 | 110 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2023 | 110 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2024 | 66 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs | 850 |
| 2025 | 165 | WFPK | WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s | 500 |
| 2025 | 32 | Triple J | Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs (2025) | 100 |
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