Cheap Thrills (song)

"Cheap Thrills" was written by Sia and Greg Kurstin, and produced by Kurstin. It was originally intended to be performed by Rihanna for her album Anti (2016), but was rejected. It is a "bouncy", "reggae-tinged" synthpop and dancehall song. The song features "a constant tropical beat and electropop-style synth layers". "Cheap Thrills" is written in the key of F minor and set in a common time, time. The vocal range in the song spans an octave, from B3 to B4. For certain radio stations, instead of the lyric "turn the radio on", Sia sings the name or call sign of the radio station (in Canada, "Virgin Radio" is used for Bell Media owned stations using that format). In Australia, some stations, notably in the Nova Entertainment sphere, but especially prominent in the Sydney and Central Coast regions, adjust the same lyric to "turn the shower on" instead. ==Critical reception==

Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone called it a "bouncy party anthem", whilst The Guardian described it as "a perfectly serviceable party tune". Nick Levine of NME praised the track's production "and there's no denying this is another superior slab of on-trend ear candy from one of pop's finest songwriters." A CBS affiliate's critic wrote that the song was the No. 3 song that "saved 2016", calling it a "formidable hit". Year-end lists ==Chart performance==

In Australia, "Cheap Thrills" was eventually certified quadruple platinum for shipments of over 280,000 copies, and reached No. 6. In New Zealand, the song reached No. 3, and was certified double platinum for sales of over 30,000 copies. The song was awarded quadruple platinum in Sweden, quintuple platinum in Spain, and Double Diamond in Poland. In the UK, it peaked at No. 2 for four weeks, and has since been certified six-times platinum for shipments of over 3.6 million units. On September 25, 2017, the song received a Diamond certification in Italy, making Sia the first female singer to ever achieve such status. In the United States, "Cheap Thrills" debuted at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dating 5 March 2016. The next week, the single dropped to number 97, but steadily started to rise on the charts. On the chart dating 16 April 2016, the song jumped 32 positions from number 71 to number 39, becoming Sia's fifth top forty hit and Sean Paul's thirteenth. However, in its next week, the single dropped out of the top forty down to number 55. The single continued to climb however, re-entering the top forty once again at number 38 for the chart dating 28 May 2016, where from there on, the single continued its massive climb on the Hot 100, eventually entering the top ten at number eight on the chart dating 2 July 2016. On the issue dated 6 August 2016, the song finally reached the top of the charts, dethroning "One Dance" by Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla, which had previously spent nine consecutive weeks on the charts out of its ten total. The song became Sia's first number-one single in the country, and Sean Paul's fourth; he returned to the top 10 after 10 years. It stayed on top for four straight weeks until it was dethroned by "Closer" by the Chainsmokers featuring Halsey. The single spent 18 weeks in the top ten, and spent a total of 52 weeks (a whole year) on the Hot 100.. With "Cheap Thrills," Sia became the first woman over 40 to top the Hot 100 since Madonna topped the Hot 100 with "Music" in 2000. It sold 1.9 million copies in the US by May 2017. In 2022, It was certified octuple platinum for sales of over 8.000.000 copies. "Cheap Thrills" was the second best selling single of 2016 after "Can't Stop the Feeling!" by Justin Timberlake. On Spotify, "Cheap Thrills" became Sia's most streamed song on the platform with more than two billion streams (1.6 billion for the solo version and 600 million for the feat version). ==Live performances==

Sia has performed "Cheap Thrills" on various television shows and concerts, with a group of dancers usually led by either Maddie Ziegler or Stephanie Mincone dancing to the same choreography as in the music video, including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in January 2016, American Idol in March, Coachella in April, and YouTube's Brandcast event in New York City as well as the season finale of The Voice, both in May. ==Music videos==

A lyric video featuring Sean Paul performing a new verse was released on February 11, 2016. In the video, a faceless couple wearing wigs (two dancers Minn Vo and Stefanie Klausmann), which have become part of Sia's signature look, win a dance contest on a retro 1960s black-and-white TV show reminiscent of American Bandstand or The Buddy Deane Show, using visual effects to recreate the look of early 1960s television cameras. The video, directed by Lior Molcho, has been viewed more than 1.9 billion times as of February 2026. Sia and Daniel Askill directed a performance video featuring Maddie Ziegler dancing with two male dancers (Wyatt Rocker and Nick Lanzisera) to Ryan Heffington's choreography, which was released on March 21, 2016. A trio of dancers wear nude-coloured leotards, with black and blonde hairstyles and gloves in the half-and-half style used in most of Sia's videos for This Is Acting. They dance on a plain stage, with Sia at a rear corner in the background singing into a microphone while wearing a similar bobbed two-toned wig, a large hairbow and a white dress. Billboard wrote that "the video features the same type of intense, captivating choreography as some of [Sia's] other work. This time, Ziegler is backed by two other dancers, and the trio seems to blend as one". Teen Vogue said that Ziegler "delivers another powerful performance". The music video was nominated for Best Video at the ARIA Music Awards of 2016. ==Track listing==

Digital download • "Cheap Thrills" – 3:30 Digital download - featuring Sean Paul • "Cheap Thrills" (feat. Sean Paul) – 3:44 Digital download - Remixes EP • "Cheap Thrills" (Hex Cougar Remix) – 3:49 • "Cheap Thrills" (feat. Sean Paul) (Le Youth Remix) – 3:39 • "Cheap Thrills" (RAC Remix) – 4:09 • "Cheap Thrills" (Nomero Remix) – 4:11 • "Cheap Thrills" (Sted-E & Hybrid Heights Remix) – 5:35 • "Cheap Thrills" (Cyril Hahn Remix) – 4:45 • "Cheap Thrills" (John J-C Carr Remix) – 5:16 Digital download - Remix (featuring Nicky Jam) • "Cheap Thrills" (Remix) (feat. Nicky Jam) – 3:32 ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts Decade-end charts ==Certifications==