"Since U Been Gone" is a song recorded by American singer Kelly Clarkson from her second studio album, Breakaway (2004). The song, written and produced by Max Martin and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, was released as the lead single from Breakaway two weeks before the album was released. An uptempo power ballad with alternative rock and indie rock influences, it mixes loud and soft pop rock, power pop, bubblegum, and pop-punk with electronic sounds. Martin originally wrote "Since U Been Gone" with Pink in mind, but she turned it down. It was then given to Hilary Duff, but she rejected the song because she could not reach its higher notes. The song was finally given to Clarkson after Clive Davis convinced the writers to give it to her. Clarkson decided to add heavier guitars and harder drums to the song after noticing that the demo had an obvious pop sound. Lyrically, the song is written from a woman's point of view where she expresses her sense of relief with the end of her troubled relationship.
"Since U Been Gone" received positive reviews from music critics who considered the song to be the highlight of Breakaway. Critics also felt that it was one of the best pop songs in the last decade. Rolling Stone ranked it at number 482 of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2010 and at number 93 in the revamped 2021 ranking, while Billboard ranked it as the fifth greatest pop song of all time. "Since U Been Gone" was a commercial success. In the United States, the song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. It topped the US Pop 100 for six consecutive weeks and the US Pop Songs for seven consecutive weeks respectively. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over one million copies sold. It was also the fourth-best selling song of 2005 in the US. "Since U Been Gone" was also a worldwide success, peaking in the top five in Austria, Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It also peaked in the top ten in Norway, Germany, and Switzerland. In November 2025, it became Clarkson's first song to achieve one billion streams on Spotify.
Clarkson performed "Since U Been Gone" at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards and at the 2006 BRIT Awards. It has been included on the set-list of Clarkson's many tours. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Alex De Rakoff, which shows Clarkson ruining her ex-boyfriend's apartment. The music video was nominated for three awards in the 2005 MTV Music Awards, winning two out of the three awards namely Best Female Video and Best Pop Video. At the 48th Grammy Awards, the song won the award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. "Since U Been Gone" was covered by many artists, notably the American rock band A Day to Remember, indie rocker Ted Leo as well as the Canadian indie rock band, Tokyo Police Club, and used in the musical & Juliet. Background and writing
In an interview for Blender, Martin and Dr. Luke revealed that they had originally intended Pink to sing "Since U Been Gone", however, she turned it down. Dr. Luke also explained that Hilary Duff's management was interested in the song but rejected it because Duff could not reach the song's higher notes. It was Clive Davis who convinced Martin and Dr. Luke to give the song to Clarkson, even though they were initially reluctant. Davis said, "Max was looking to move on from what he had done with Backstreet Boys, and I really spent time convincing them that an 'American Idol' winner could bring all the feeling and passion that was required to the song." According to MTV, Clarkson had already finished recording her materials for her second album, Breakaway in late 2004 when she was advised by her A&R to fly to Sweden to meet with Martin and Dr. Luke. Both Martin and Dr. Luke were associated with pop music, but they wanted to produce rock songs. Realizing that her record had more of a rock influence, Clarkson finally agreed to collaborate with them."
"Since U Been Gone" was inspired by indie rock of the early 2000s. In an interview with Billboard, Dr. Luke said: That was a conscious move by Max and myself, because we were listening to alternative and indie music and talking about some song – I don't remember what it was. I said, "Ah, I love this song,' and Max was like, 'If they would just write a damn pop chorus on it!' It was driving him nuts, because that indie song was sort of on six, going to seven, going to eight, the chorus comes ... and it goes back down to five. It drove him crazy. And when he said that, it was like, light bulb. 'Why don't we do that, but put a big chorus on it?" It worked.In Rolling Stone in 2011, Dr. Luke made more specific claims about what music had inspired the song:Either the first or the second thing we did was "Since U Been Gone". We were listening to the Hives and the Strokes, and Max was like, ‘Why can’t they just write a hit chorus?’ And that’s what we did.Despite these statements, the identity of the song is widely speculated to be the 2003 song "Maps" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. "Maps" and "Since U Been Gone" share a similar guitar line in its middle eight, and are both in the key of G major. The first significant observation of this was in a satirical 2005 medley of "Since U Been Gone"/"Maps" by Ted Leo, which went viral for using this part of "Since U Been Gone" to transition into "Maps". In 2006, Rolling Stone journalist Rob Sheffield told "Maps" songwriter Karen O about the similarity, to which she responded that it was "like getting bitten by a poisonous varmint" and that "if it wasn't [Kelly Clarkson], it just would've been Ashlee Simpson". The 2015 book The Song Machine by John Seabrook claimed that the song was based on "Maps" as if it was a confirmed fact. In 2025, the music critic Dave Moore speculated that "Hard To Explain" by The Strokes was a more likely candidate, arguing that the instrumental on the verses is almost identical, that Dr. Luke had cited The Strokes as an influence, and noting the song's similarity to "Stroke Of Genie-us" by The Freelance Hellraiser, a highly influential 2001 mashup of "Hard To Explain" with Christina Aguilera's "Genie In A Bottle".
"Since U Been Gone" was the last track that Clarkson recorded for Breakaway; it was recorded in Sweden. At first, Clarkson was not fully convinced by the prospect of recording the song saying, "It didn't have any lyrics and the melody really wasn't finalized ... the track was done on a computer, there was no band on it. My record label was freaking out about it and I was, like, why?" Clarkson also explained that when she first heard "Since U Been Gone", she felt that it sounded a little bit pop for her direction, and she decided to tweak the song musically by incorporating drums and guitars. Clarkson told MTV that the song is about a relationship turned sour although it was going well at the very beginning. The song was officially released to mainstream radio stations in the United States on November 16, 2004, as the lead single of Breakaway.
Composition and lyrics
"Since U Been Gone" is a pop, pop rock, power pop, bubblegum, and pop-punk breakup power ballad that contains elements of alternative rock and indie rock, and was written and produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke. The song, which is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 132 beats per minute, is written in the key of G major. Popdose staff noted that the song contains an "electronics-enhanced sheen" over "alt-rock's soft/loud dichotomy". The song also incorporates ringing guitars with plaintive lyrics and a huge chorus. It has a chord progression of G-Am–Em–F, and Clarkson's vocal range in the song spans two octaves from the low note of G3 to the high note of G5. Film Laureate of Blogcritics praised "Since U Been Gone" for its "high energy, vocally powered, pop/rock jam with a hook that is infectious". The same opinion was echoed by Entertainment Weekly staff who thought that the song highlighted Clarkson's "sublime" vocals and praised the song for its "addictive" hook. Dave Donnelly of Sputnikmusic compared the musical arrangements of "Since U Been Gone" to Clarkson's "Behind These Hazel Eyes". He opined that the two songs allow the melodies to represent themselves because the tight musical arrangements complement Clarkson's vocals.
The song's narrative is in first person, from the point of view of a woman who is relieved with the end of her relationship. Steve Lampiris of ZME Music lauded Clarkson's vocals as the heart of the song. He praised the way Clarkson sings the chorus, which implies that she was the one who ended the relationship. He also thought that the line "I can breathe for the first time/ I'm so moving on, yeah yeah" was believable "that either her ex is a total prick or she's deserves [sic] an Oscar nom." In an interview with Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly, it was noted that Clarkson sang "So together but so broken up inside/ 'Cause I can't breathe" in "Behind These Hazel Eyes", but in "Since U Been Gone", she sang "But since you been gone/ I can breathe for the first time." When asked whether she was a bipolar asthmatic, Clarkson responded that "Behind These Hazel Eyes" is about a dipstick who is unhappy because she has completely screwed up, and "Since U Been Gone" is an expression of relief because her ex is now miserable.
Response
Critical reception Upon release, the song received universal acclaim from music critics. In his review for Breakaway, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of MSN considered "Since U Been Gone", "Walk Away", and "You Found Me" as the spine of the album. He added that the songs sound mainstream and youthful. Rohin of Blogcritics gave a positive response to the song, emphasizing that "it is almost one of the best pieces of throwaway pop in recent history". He also thought that the song was a song "that you can roll down the windows of your car and proudly headbang your way through a yellow light somewhere on a suburban side street." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine thought that Clarkson did a good impression of Pat Benatar in "Since U Been Gone". He concluded his review by emphasizing that Breakaway proves that Clarkson has successfully dodged the sophomore slump but "Since U Been Gone" helped her establish her success. The staff of Slant Magazine later ranked "Since U Been Gone" at number thirteen in their list of Best Singles of the Aughts, writing that the song proves Clarkson's powerful ability as a vocalist as well as her versatility as an artist.
Stephen Thompson of NPR Music called the song "one of the decade's finest pop anthems" which is infused with energy, charisma and full-throated intensity. Steve Lampiris of ZME Music opined that the song is "one of very few perfect pop songs released in the last ten years," stating that it is hard to determine the principal reason that makes the song very successful. Gary Trust of Billboard thought that "Since U Been Gone" is a defining song of the 2000s. He commented on its status as a blueprint for female pop songs, as seen in song productions by artists such as Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Pink. In 2014, Ryan Kailath of NPR Music argued that the song succeeded by borrowing from musical trends that preceded it, such as 1990s R&B and alternative rock. In 2015, Gary Trust of Billboard wrote that "Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone", co-written by Max Martin, especially helped lead to pure pop's reemergence, and the breakthroughs of Rihanna, Katy Perry, [Taylor] Swift and Lady Gaga would soon follow (as well as [Britney] Spears' own revival)", stating that the song "began to erode hip-hop's early '00s reign, with women at the forefront of turning the tide."
Awards and recognition