Lush Life (Zara Larsson song)

"Lush Life" was written by Emanuel Abrahamsson, Marcus Sepehrmanesh, Linnea Södahl, Fridolin Walcher, Christoph Bauss, and Iman Conta Hultén, during a writing camp in Stockholm, and was personally chosen by Larsson to record after the track "really stood out" to her. and features electropop production, written in the key of G minor with a tempo of 98 beats per minute. Larsson explained the lyrical content of the song in an interview with Genius in 2017, describing the first part of the chorus ("I live my day as if it was the last / live my day as if there was no past / Doin' it all night, all summer / Doin' it the way I wanna") as being about "just [living] in the moment and [trying] to enjoy it as much as possible" and "[living] the lush life all summer". On 27 August 2021, in celebration of the song surpassing 1 billion streams on Spotify, Larsson revealed that the released version of "Lush Life" was a remix, and she later released the original version of the song under the name "Retro Version". ==Critical reception==

(pictured) in 2006.|upright Many critics noted that "Lush Life" had similarities to the music of Barbadian singer Rihanna. Nolan Feeney of Time described the song as a potential "song of the summer" for 2015, and praised the track's "island-pop" sound, comparing it to earlier works by Rihanna. Writing for The Guardian, Tim Jonze described "Lush Life" as a "brilliant Rihanna-sounding single", while Rick Pearson of The Standard described the track as incorporating the "dancehall-inspired grooves of Rihanna". Following the release of the song's parent album So Good (2017), multiple reviewers of the album offered further praise to the track. Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian described "Lush Life" as having a "rubbery bounce" and being "naggingly catchy". Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic commended the track as being an "effective dose of tropical pop" that has a "playful whistle and undeniable bounce". Writing for Rolling Stone Australia in 2025, Cyclone Wehner described "Lush Life" as a "trop-house banger" that became a "streaming smash" and augured her "blockbuster international debut" with So Good. ==Music videos==

Three music videos were released for "Lush Life". The first was released in Sweden and was directed by Måns Nyman, who had previously directed the video for Larsson's song "Bad Boys". The music video shows Larsson dancing in front of a white background, along with scenes of her reclining while wearing sunglasses and dialing a telephone. The second version is a recut version of the first with coloring and visual effects added, which was released to international markets and was directed by Mary Clerté. The international version of the video reached 100 million views on YouTube in March 2016. The third version was made for the US release of "Lush Life". Also directed by Mary Clerté, the music video premiered on 5 July 2016. The video shows Larsson dancing in pastel-hued sets. Some scenes from the video feature backup dancers and a love interest played by British model and media personality Eyal Booker, who would eventually become a contestant in the fourth series of the UK dating reality show Love Island in 2018. This version is listed as an "Alternate Version" on YouTube, and has since garnered 68 million views as of January 2026. ==Live performances==

Europe in 2019|upright Larsson's first live performance of the song was at Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm in May 2015, where she performed the original version of the song (later released in 2021 as the "Retro Version"). In the summer of 2015, Larsson performed "Lush Life" on the TV shows Allsång på Skansen and Sommarkrysset. In June 2016, Larsson performed the song during the Capital Summertime Ball 2016 at Wembley Stadium in London. At the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards, Larsson performed "Lush Life" during the ceremony, where she also won the awards for Best New Act and Best Swedish Act. At the 2016 BBC Music Awards, she performed the song as a medley with "I Would Like". In December 2017, Larsson performed "Lush Life" at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. United States In the United States, Larsson performed the song on the Today Show in November 2016. At the 2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards, Larsson performed "Lush Life" during the pre-show festival. In August 2017, she performed the song at her US festival debut, at Lollapalooza 2017. Larsson performed "Lush Life" during her debut concert shows in the US, on her Don't Worry Bout Me Tour in 2019, and most recently on the North American leg of her Midnight Sun Tour in 2026. ==Commercial performance==

In Sweden, "Lush Life" topped the Sverigetopplistan chart for five weeks, becoming Larsson's second number-one single in her native country, and has spent 121 weeks overall on the chart. It later became the 20th best-selling single of all time in the country, and was certified ten times platinum. Additionally, the track entered the top forty on US pop radio, peaking at number 39 during the chart week ending 13 August 2016. "Lush Life" has since been certified triple platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, denoting sales of three million units in the country. In the United Kingdom, "Lush Life" debuted at number 88 on the UK Singles Chart in January 2016. It eventually peaked at number three during the chart week ending 24 March 2016, and became the sixth biggest song of 2016 in the country, moving 1.16 million combined units that year. "Lush Life" has spent 79 weeks overall on the UK Singles Chart, Additionally, "Lush Life" topped the charts in Mexico Subsequently, the song reached number one for the first time in Austria, and the United Arab Emirates (number 12). ==Track listing==

• James F Reynolds – mixing • Chris Gehringer – mastering • Björn Engelmann – mastering ==Charts==

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