‘I’m Just Ken,’ Ryan Gosling’s ‘Barbie’ ballad, has hit the charts — Ken you believe it?
Ryan Gosling Ken do it all.
The Kenadian actor made his debut Thursday on the Billboard Hot 100 chart thanks to his hit “Barbie” ballad, “I’m Just Ken,” which launched at No. 87. (But anywhere else it’d be a 10.)
Ken’s musical lament from the blockbuster comedy ranked higher than other new releases by Zach Bryan, Luke Bryan, NewJeans, Burna Boy & Byron Messia, and Rylo Rodriguez. It even surpassed Taylor Swift’s re-recording of “Enchanted,” which stands at No. 89 after peaking at No. 19.
For those who haven’t seen Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie, Gosling’s Ken anthem is a dramatic expression of the life-size doll’s woes as a second-class citizen in Barbieland — where Barbies are everything and Kens are just Kens.
From ‘beach-off’ to dream ballet, The Times has just #Kenough guidance to help you make sense of the ‘Barbie’ movie’s climactic musical number.
“I’m just Ken,” Gosling sings on the track. “Anywhere else I’d be a 10 / Is it my destiny to live and die a life of blonde fragility? / I’m just Ken / Where I see love, she sees a friend / What will it take for her to see the man behind the tan and fight for me?”
Penned by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt — who co-wrote the Oscar-winning tune “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” — “I’m Just Ken” has been hailed as a highlight of “Barbie,” due in large part to Gosling’s emphatic, showstopping performance.
“Ken sang that song,” Gosling told The Times last month. “I never sang like that in my life. I don’t know why or how that happened.”
Star Ryan Gosling and director Greta Gerwig open up about Ken’s journey to toxic masculinity and back in their comedy based on the iconic Mattel toys.
Don’t let Gosling’s modesty and impressive commitment to the bit fool you — this Ken is no stranger to song and dance. He famously performed multiple musical numbers — solo and opposite Emma Stone — in the Oscar-winning film “La La Land.” Before that, he recorded music as half of the rock duo Dead Man’s Bones.
As a child actor, Gosling was also a cast member of “The Mickey Mouse Club,” where he sang and danced alongside the likes of Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.
“When I was a kid, I was working and I was dancing at the mall or singing at weddings,” Gosling told The Times in July.
“That kid worked really hard and got me here. I owe everything to him, but I thought I had let him retire. Like, he’d worked enough and I could take it from here. But it was time to pull him out of retirement one more time for one last heist.”
Ryan Gosling — bare-chested and in his feelings as Ken in the ‘Barbie’ movie — belts out ‘I’m Just Ken’ in a teaser for the Greta Gerwig-directed film.
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