“Rich Girl,” the reggae infused single by Gwen Stefani featuring Eve released on December 14, 2004 has become certified Gold in the UK. The track was issued the certification by the British Phonographic Industry on Friday November 10, 2023 for selling 400,000 units in streams and sales as measured by the Official Charts Company.
The song was the second single from Gwen’s debut solo studio album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004) and is Produced by Dr. Dre who suggested that Stefani do a remake of British reggae duo Louchie Lou & Michie One’s 1993 song of the same name, which also interpolates Fiddler on the Roof song “If I Were a Rich Man”.
With such a rich reggae and classical theatre history, Gwen said she panicked at the thought of singing over the song but she rose to the challenge and did the research necessary. “There’s actually like a kind of underground dancehall version from the late ’70s,” she told Vh1. “I ended up panicking, like, What am I gonna make this about? I got to write the verses! I ended up going to see the musical (Fiddler on the Roof) on Broadway, just to get inspired. It was incredible, because it had an incredible message,” she said.
Her interpretation of the song is, “If you don’t have love, you don’t have anything. Even if you’re poor and you have love, you’re rich,” she said.
“Rich Girl” debuted at No.4 on the U.K.’s Official singles Chart where it stayed for one week March 25, 2005. However, three months earlier, it debuted number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 on Christmas Day, 2004, and peaked 10 weeks later at number seven, remaining on the chart for 27 weeks. The song also did well on pop-oriented charts, reaching number three on the Billboard Pop 100, number four on the Mainstream Top 40, and number 16 on the Adult Top 40. The single had little crossover success on the urban charts, only reaching number 27 on the Rhythmic Top 40 and number 78 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. “Rich Girl” was helped on the Hot 100 and Pop 100 charts by its strong digital downloads, peaking at number two on the Hot Digital Songs. The song was first certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 29, 2005.
At the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration but lost to Jay-Z and Linkin Park’s “Numb/Encore”. Both Gwen and Eve performed “Rich Girl” at the 48th annual Grammy awards in 2005 where and it received a nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
The David LaChapelle directed music video for “Rich Girl” has surpassed 170 million views on YouTube and the video is inspired by a late-1990s Vivienne Westwood ad campaign, opens with four Japanese schoolgirls playing with a toy pirate ship and two Bratz dolls of Stefani and Eve, while the girls discuss what they would do if they were a “rich girl”.
