When Will I Be Famous?

"When Will I Be Famous?" is a song by British boy band Bros. Written by Nicky Graham and Tom Watkins, "When Will I Be Famous?" was released as a single in November 1987. The following year, it peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, topped the Irish Singles Chart, and entered the top five in several other countries. "When Will I Be Famous?" would later appear on Bros' 1988 album, Push.

For the 2007 BBC television series, see When Will I Be Famous? (TV series).

"When Will I Be Famous?"
Single by Bros
from the album Push
B-side"Love to Hate You"
Released9 November 1987 (1987-11-09)
Length
  • 5:02 (album version)
  • 4:20 (video version)
  • 4:00 (single edit)
LabelCBS
Songwriter(s)Nicky Graham, Tom Watkins
Producer(s)Nicky Graham
Bros singles chronology
"I Owe You Nothing"
(1987)		 "When Will I Be Famous?"
(1987)		 "Drop the Boy"
(1988)
Music video
"When Will I Be Famous?" on YouTube

Rolling Stone ranked the song at number 72 on their list of the "75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" in 2020.[1] In 2017, ShortList's Dave Fawbert listed this song at number one on his list of the "Greatest Key Changes in Music History".[2]

Chart performance

"When Will I Be Famous?" was a number-one single in Ireland, as well as reaching number two in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland. It entered the UK Singles Chart on 28 November 1987 at number 81, in an initial five-week chart run until the end of December. It re-entered the top 100 at number 51 on the week ending 3 January 1988, reaching number two four weeks later.[3]

Track listings

UK and US 7-inch single, Japanese mini-CD single[4][5][6]

  1. "When Will I Be Famous?"
  2. "Love to Hate You"

UK 12-inch single and European mini-CD single[7][8]

  1. "When Will I Be Famous?" (the Infamous mix)
  2. "When Will I Be Famous?" (the Contender dub mix)
  3. "Love to Hate You"

US 12-inch single[9]

  1. "When Will I Be Famous?" (club mix) – 8:02
  2. "When Will I Be Famous?" (acapella mix) – 4:06
  3. "When Will I Be Famous?" (7-inch version) – 3:59
  4. "When Will I Be Famous?" (dub mix) – 7:35
  5. "When Will I Be Famous?" (bonus beats) – 2:53

Japanese CD mini-album[10]

  1. "When Will I Be Famous?"
  2. "When Will I Be Famous?" (Infamous mix)
  3. "When Will I Be Famous?" (the Contender dub mix)

Charts

Release history
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 9 November 1987
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
 CBS [39]
United States June 1988 Epic [40]

References
  1. "75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  2. Fawbert, Dave (1 October 2017). "The 19 greatest key changes in music history". ShortList. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  3. "Bros: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  4. When Will I Be Famous? (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Bros. CBS Records. 1987. ATOM 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. When Will I Be Famous? (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). Bros. Epic Records. 1988. 49 07826.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. When Will I Be Famous? (Japanese mini-CD single liner notes). Bros. Epic Records. 1988. 10・8P-3018.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. When Will I Be Famous? (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Bros. CBS Records. 1987. ATOM T2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. When Will I Be Famous? (European mini-CD single liner notes). Bros. CBS Records. 1988. CBS 651270 9.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. When Will I Be Famous? (US 12-inch single vinyl disc). Bros. Epic Records. 1988. 49 07826.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. When Will I Be Famous? (Japanese CD mini-album liner notes). Bros. Epic Records. 1988. 12·8P-8001.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). Sydney: Australian Chart Book. p. 47. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. "Bros – When Will I Be Famous?" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  13. "Bros – When Will I Be Famous?" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  14. "Top 3 in Europe". Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 14. 2 April 1988. p. 28.
  15. "European Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 8. 20 February 1988. p. 18.
  16. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  17. "Bros – When Will I Be Famous?" (in French). Les classement single.
  18. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 10 (8. apríl 1988)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 8 April 1988. p. 44. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  19. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – When Will I Be Famous". Irish Singles Chart.
  20. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 11, 1988" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  21. "Bros – When Will I Be Famous?" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  22. "Bros – When Will I Be Famous?". Top 40 Singles.
  23. "Bros – When Will I Be Famous?". VG-lista.
  24. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  25. "Bros – When Will I Be Famous?". Singles Top 100.
  26. "Bros – When Will I Be Famous?". Swiss Singles Chart.
  27. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 16 July 1988. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  28. "Dance Singles Sales". Billboard. 20 August 1988. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  29. "Dance Club Songs". Billboard. 13 August 1988. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  30. "Offiziellecharts.de – Bros – When Will I Be Famous?" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  31. "ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1988". ARIA. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  32. "Jaaroverzichten 1988" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  33. "1988 Year End Eurocharts" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 52/1. 1 January 1988. p. 30. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  34. "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1988" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  35. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1988" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  36. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1988". Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  37. Scaping, Peter, ed. (1991). "Top 100 Singles: 1988". BPI YearBook 1989/90. British Phonographic Industry. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-0-9061-5410-6.
  38. "Top 100 Single – Jahrescharts: 1988". Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  39. "New Singles". Music Week. 7 November 1987. p. 43.
  40. Gett, Steve (7 May 1988). "Will Britain's Bros Be Famous in U.S.?; New Judas Priest Album Is Hard & Heavy". Billboard. Vol. 100, no. 19. p. 26. Look for Epic to launch a major campaign to break Bros here in early June, starting with the release of the very catchy 'When Will I Be Famous?'...
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