Boyfriend" is a song by Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber, taken from his third studio album Believe (2012). Bieber explained that the track would surprise people in different ways, since it is a musical departure from his previous material. A snippet of "Boyfriend" was previewed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on March 1, 2012, Bieber's 18th birthday. The song was announced as a single on the same day, and was released on March 23, 2012. The cover art was revealed on March 19, 2012.
Musically, "Boyfriend" is a R&B influenced song that features pop beats reminiscent of American record producer Pharrell Williams and boy band 'N Sync. The instrumentation is kept in a lower sound to highlight Bieber's vocals. However, critics dismissed the lyrics as immature and silly. "Boyfriend" was a commercial success, debuting at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 after selling a total of 521,000 digital units of the single. The song is the second-highest-ever debut digital sales week in the United States (after Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" which sold 623,000 in its first week), and has also charted at number 9 on the Pop Songs component chart. It also debuted at number one in Canada and number two in the United Kingdom.
