"What's Up?", the 1993 single by 4 Non Blondes, entered the chart this week at No. 182, an impressive first-time appearance more than three decades after its release. The song originally dropped on March 11, 1993, as the second single from the band’s album Bigger, Better, Faster, More! — and while it’s been a staple of cafes, karaoke nights and road-trip playlists for years, it has never before cracked Spotify’s global elite.
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And that brings the song’s story full circle, because Perry wrote it from a place of frustration and emotional turbulence.
Perry explained the origins of the song this way: “I wrote that song, and we went into a studio for a day. We recorded eight songs really fast… The song I wrote was based out of frustration with what was going on in the world. I had no money. Everything seemed hard, and desperate, and challenging. I wrote this song that seemed to fit the mood, not only for myself but for the world.”
Eventually, she grabbed the band, went to The Plant in Sausalito with one reel of tape, and rebuilt the entire song:
She never received a producer credit, but she’s clear about what happened: “I did save the song.”
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The song also has a surprising connection to another era-defining ’90s hit.
"I remember sitting in a room with this other songwriter who worked down the street — she was a waitress — and she came up and sat on the bed and we played each other some songs and I realized years later that the songs we played each other had sold 17 million records… it was [4 Non Blondes singer and mega-producer/songwriter] Linda Perry. She sang me a song called 'What's Going On?' and I sang her this song called 'Semi-Charmed Life.'"
Three decades after its release, the song is finding an entirely new life with a new generation. Between its emotional scream-along chorus, its TikTok virality, and a massive global Spotify debut, the track remains as cathartic and universal as ever.
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