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"XO" is a song by American singer Beyoncé from her fifth studio album, ''Beyoncé'' (2013). Columbia Records released the song as the lead contemporary hit radio single from the album in the US and Italy on December 16, 2013. Ryan Tedder co-wrote and co-produced "XO" with Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Beyoncé, with additional production handled by Chauncey "Hit-Boy" Hollis and HazeBanga Music. A pure midtempo pop love song, "XO" is complete with electronic musical instrumentation, synthesizers and drums. Musically, it was compared to Beyoncé's own song "Halo" and was noted for having several music hooks including its call and response chorus. Upon its release, "XO" was acclaimed by music critics, who praised the singer's raw and low vocals and applauded the song for its pop appeal; many of them further hailed it as a highlight of the album. However, the usage of an audio sample from Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster at the beginning of the song was criticized by the families of the lost crew, NASA, and some media. Beyoncé released a statement saying that the song was intended to help people who have lost loved people in their lives and that the sample was included as a tribute to the ''Challenger'' crew. "XO" managed to appear on many music charts across Europe and Oceania and it peaked at number 45 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. A music video for the song directed by Terry Richardson was filmed in Coney Island in late August 2013. It was made available on iTunes with the release of the album on December 13, 2013 and was released online three days later. It received positive reviews from critics who described it as a suitable accompaniment for the song, praising its positive atmosphere. Beyoncé performed the song during the last stops of the North American leg of The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in December 2013 and later during the tour's second European leg in early 2014. To further promote "XO", she performed it at the 2014 BRIT Awards and later at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. Haim and John Mayer covered the song in 2014, with the latter releasing it as a single. ==Production and release== "XO" was written by Beyoncé, Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Ryan Tedder while the production was helmed by the aforementioned group as well as Chauncey "Hit-Boy" Hollis and HazeBanga. Ramon Rivas engineered the song, with assistance from Justin Hergett. Beyoncé's vocals were recorded by Stuart White and Bart Schoudel while all instrumentation and programming was carried out by Tedder. The song was finally mixed by Andrew Scheps. "XO" was recorded in four studios: Jungle City Studios and Oven Studios, both in New York City, Trackdown Studios in Sydney and Tritonus Studios in Berlin.〔 During an interview with Australian radio station Nova in November 2013, Tedder revealed that he had collaborated with Beyoncé on a song for her then-upcoming album along with The-Dream, further saying, "Personally the song we did I like more than 'Halo'. I think it's a bigger, better song". However, he acknowledged that he did not know when the singer planned to release new material for her fifth album. The previous month, it was reported by a source to the ''Daily News'' that Beyoncé planned to release a new single and video on December 3, 2013. The publication further speculated that the single was expected to be the song whose music video was filmed in August of the same year – "XO". Later, when ''Beyoncé'' was released, ''Billboard'' reported that "Blow" would be released as the contemporary hit radio single both in the US and worldwide, and "Drunk in Love" would be sent to urban radio in the US only; "XO" was scheduled to be released as the second worldwide radio single in 2014. However, radio programmers reportedly pushed back against the release of "Blow" to mainstream stations, finding its lyrics to be very explicit for the format and proposing that "XO" be released in its place. The release of "Blow" was therefore scrapped and "XO" impacted contemporary hit radio in Italy and adult contemporary radio in the US on December 16, 2013. It was also sent to US mainstream, urban and rhythmic radio on December 17. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「XO (song)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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