Close to Me (Ellie Goulding, Diplo and Swae Lee song)
"Close to Me" is a song by English singer Ellie Goulding, American record producer Diplo, and American singer Swae Lee, released on 24 October 2018. It was premiered by Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1 as the "Hottest Record in the World". It was included on Goulding's fourth studio album, Brightest Blue.
Background
Goulding told Billboard that the song came about when she and co-writer Savan Kotecha were in a Los Angeles studio where they came up with the guitar melody and Goulding sang what would become the first line of the pre-chorus, "don't let me down", which they decided to keep in the song. Goulding, feeling that the song was "missing something", eventually sent it to Diplo who sent his version back to her within a short amount of time. Diplo suggested adding Swae Lee as a featured guest vocalist.
Goulding wiped her social media accounts and began promoting the track on 22 October 2018, first sharing a cartoon image of hers, Diplo and Swae Lee's arms locked in a triangle, displaying their tattoos against a cheetah print background, captioning it "CLOSE TO ME". She then later confirmed this would be the title, and along with posting an audio clip of the track, announced the release date and time.
Other versions
In April 2019, Goulding released another version of the song featuring Korean girl groupRed Velvet to replace Swae Lee's verse in the song.
Live performances
Goulding performed an acoustic version of the song during On Air with Ryan Seacrest on 16 November 2018. She later performed the song during BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge Month on 28 November. Her first televised performance of the song was on the final of The X Factor on 2 December.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
Certifications
Release history
Red Velvet remix
On 5 April 2019, a remix was released which removed Swae Lee's verse and Korean girl group Red Velvet was featured, singing a verse in Korean and sang their own version of the chorus in Korean. Their chorus was written by Red Velvet's Wendy & Yeri. It has won a "Choice Electronic / Dance Song" award at the 2019 Teen Choice Awards.
