“I’m Just Ken” Charts on the Billboard Hot 100: A Look at the Making of an Instant Classic

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has added another accolade to its already sublime list of achievements: A fifth entry on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’m Just Ken,” performed by Ryan Gosling. The song currently sits at #78 for the week of August 5 with an updated chart expected in the coming days.

“I’m Just Ken” isn’t the only song from the Barbie soundtrack to find a place on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart this week, as Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice and Aqua’s “Barbie World” currently sits at #8 (having peaked at #7), Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night” is at home at its peaking position of #12, Billie Eilish’s contribution “What Was I Made For?” currently sits at #18 and Charlie XCX’s “Speed Drive” broke into the chart at #73.

“I’m Just Ken” has become a fan favorite moment in Barbie and is widely considered to be a strong contender for an Oscar nomination, but the song is not an official single from the soundtrack album, titled “Barbie: The Album” — at least not yet — making its charting status all the more impressive. The song is performed by a heartbroken Ken, accompanied by a number of other Kens, as he laments playing second fiddle to Barbie, who doesn’t exactly return his affections.

If the song is nominated for Best Original Song at the 2024 Academy Awards, it could pose an interesting challenge for Warner Bros. as Gosling has a history of passing on opportunities to perform original songs at the ceremony, having deferred the performance of the Oscar-winning “City of Stars” at the 2017 ceremony to La La Land co-star John Legend, who also tackled the Oscar-nominated “Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” which was performed in the film by Emma Stone. Of course, “Barbie: The Album” boasts a number of stars who could readily take over performing duties at the Oscars should Gosling again sit out the opportunity, including Dua Lipa, who has a small role in the film, and past Oscar winners Billie Eilish and Sam Smith.

Like several other songs on “Barbie: The Album,” “I’m Just Ken” was co-written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt who were inspired by ’80s power ballads, though the writers didn’t realize that the song would become a musical moment within the film when they first put pen to paper. In fact, Ronson told Vanity Fair that when he recorded a demo of the song, he felt there was a chance Gerwig and her Barbie co-writer Noah Baumbach would laugh off his submission — specifically, he was worried about the line “Is it my destiny to live and die a life of blond fragility?”

“When I sent the demo, I kind of mumbled that line, because I was like, if they don’t like it, I don’t want Greta and Noah to think that I’m trying to provide the funny,” Ronson told the outlet. The filmmakers weren’t the only fans of the song, however, as Gosling himself asked to perform the song in the film. Gerwig agreed to Gosling’s request — he has another musical number in the film in the form of Matchbox 20’s “Push,” not to mention has a rich musical background including an Oscar-nominated turn in La La Land, musically-inclined roles in Song to Song and Blue Valentine and, of course, famously getting his start as a Mouseketeer alongside Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christine Aguilera.

Gerwig rewrote the scene in order to accommodate Gosling’s request to perform the song in the movie and even asked Ronson and Wyatt to write a score leading into the song, which would lead to the duo, best known in Hollywood for co-writing and winning an Oscar for “Shallow” with Lady Gaga for A Star Is Born, eventually scoring Gerwig’s entire film.

When Ronson met with Gosling to record the vocals, the musician was surprised by Gosling’s adeptness behind the mic, not needing any key adjustments to accommodate what Ronson called his “subdued baritone.”

“He really got [that] it had to walk this line of not being funny or parody,” Ronson recalled of Gosling’s performance while recording. “But obviously, the song is also kind of ridiculous at times. So he was really amazing, and when he really did start hitting the big notes, I was like, this dude is a vocal powerhouse!”

With the vocals recorded, Ronson decided to “take it all the way” behind the scenes, telling Variety that it took “about a year” to arrive at the final product, which features heavy hitters like Slash from Guns N’ Roses and Wolfgang Van Halen (son of Eddie) on guitar and on drums, John Freese, known for his work with Foo Fighters, Devo and The Vandals, among others.

Fast forward to 2023 and the song has charted on the Billboard Hot 100 despite not (yet) being released as a single. Even more impressive, the chart is currently dominated by country music with Jason Aldean, Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs occupying the top three spots — a far cry from Gosling’s musical moment. “Barbie: The Album” continues to forge its own path on the charts, however, with the soundtrack hitting no. 2 on the Billboard 200 and has spawned a deluxe edition, known as the “Best Weekend Ever Edition,” featuring Gosling’s cover of “Push” and a cover of Indigo Girls’ “Closer to Fine” performed by Brandi Carlile and Catherine Carlile.