"Ruby" is a song by English indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs. It was released in the United Kingdom on 5 February 2007 as the lead single from their second studio album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob (2007). It became the band's first British number-one single on 25 February 2007 and ended 2007 as the year's 10th-biggest-selling single in the UK, with total sales of 313,765.[2] As of September 2016, it has sold over 600,000 copies in the UK as stated by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). "Ruby" was voted number 13 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2007, Australia's largest annual music poll.[3]
"Ruby" | ||||
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Single by Kaiser Chiefs | ||||
from the album Yours Truly, Angry Mob | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 29 January 2007 | |||
Genre | Power pop[1] | |||
Length | 3:23 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Stephen Street | |||
Kaiser Chiefs singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Ruby" on YouTube |
A video single of the song was released in the United States at Best Buy stores on 13 March 2007, two weeks before the album was released there, and featured a live version of "Everything Is Average Nowadays" and the B-side "Admire You" (released on the UK 7-inch version).[4]
Speaking about the song lead singer Ricky Wilson said that Ruby "is super cool, totally unapproachable" and that "there was a girl like that at school".[5] Andrew White said, "[I]t's not really about anyone" and "if you know someone called Ruby, it's about them".[6] In a 2022 TikTok video, Nick Hodgson revealed that Ruby was his family pet, a black Labrador.[7]
The promo for "Ruby" was directed by Swedish production company Stylewar, who also produced the 2005 video for "I Predict a Riot", and features the band performing in a desert landscape whilst a CGI metropolis-like miniature city builds around them. The video was scheduled to be shown on Channel 4 at 11:35 p.m. on 15 January 2007 but was pulled from the schedules for unknown reasons. The video finally premiered on the official Kaiser Chiefs website four days later.
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Weekly charts edit
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Year-end charts edit
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[43] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[44] | Gold | 7,500^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[45] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
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United States | 29 January 2007 | Modern rock radio | Universal Motown | [46] |
United Kingdom | 5 February 2007 | Digital download | [citation needed] | |
19 February 2007 |
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[47] | ||
United States | 22 May 2007 | Contemporary hit radio | Universal Motown | [48] |
As part of the BBC Electric Proms the song was performed by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.[49] On 19 January 2011, Italian band Elio e le Storie Tese played a cover version of the song at the nationwide TV-show Parla con Me, with lyrics changed into a satiric reference to the Rubygate sex scandal, which then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had just been involved with.[50][better source needed]
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phenomenal, improving the song an infinite amount