Number One Girl

"Number One Girl" is a song by New Zealand and South Korean singer Rosé. It was released on 22 November 2024 through The Black Label and Atlantic Records as the second single from her debut studio album Rosie (2024). The track was written by Rosé, along with Amy Allen and the song's producers Bruno Mars, D'Mile, Carter Lang, Dylan Wiggins, and Omer Fedi. It has been described as a sentimental pop-punk piano ballad, blending elements of soft rock. The lyrics explore themes of heartbreak, unrequited love, longing, insecurity, and vulnerability. Rosé wrote the song after being deeply affected by hateful comments online.
The single was accompanied by a self-directed music video, featuring a retro camcorder style. The video showcases Rosé wandering through various nighttime locations in Seoul, including the Jamsu Bridge, and a lookout, as she sings to an unnamed lover. Rosé debuted the song live on KBS2's The Seasons: Lee Young-ji's Rainbow on 29 November 2024. The song ultimately achieved moderate success, peaking at number 29 on the Billboard Global 200 and securing top-five positions in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It also charted in countries such as Australia, Canada, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
On 18 October 2024, Rosé released "Apt.", a collaboration with American singer Bruno Mars, as the lead single from her upcoming debut studio album. The song went on to become a commercial success, reaching number one in 19 countries, including Australia and New Zealand, as well as the top 10 in the United Kingdom and the US Billboard Hot 100. On 19 November, the singer announced "Number One Girl" as the second single from Rosie through her Instagram. In an accompanying caption, she clarified that the title stands for her fans whom she refers to as her "number ones". The post also includes the artwork that depicts the singer gazing away from the camera in a white shirt printed with the song's title.
"Number One Girl" was written by Rosé, Amy Allen, Bruno Mars, Dernst Emile II, Carter Lang, Dylan Wiggins, and Omer Fedi; it was produced by the latter five. It is a sentimental pop-punk song, featuring a piano ballad that lyrically delves into themes of heartbreak, unrequited love, longing, insecurity and vulnerability over a soft rock instrumental. It was written the day after attending an event, after which Rosé found herself looking through hate comments on social media. She was unable to sleep due to being "obsessed with what these people were gonna say about [her]", as opposed to what she wanted them to say about her. She also admitted to feeling "disgusted" about herself and being in denial as a result.
Writing for Clash, Shahzaib Hussain dubbed the single as a "bruised torch song", lauding it as Rosé's "most candid and expressive release to date". Gabriel Saulog of Billboard Philippines labelled it as a "devastating opening track" to her album, opining that the powerful ballad highlighted Rosé's "golden voice" and heart-wrenching lyrics with its "embrace [of] piano-laden melodies and crashing drums". The Wall Street Journal's Mark Richardson described the song to be a "theatrical, swooning ballad", which he remarked was both a "statement of purpose" and a "bold choice to open a pop album". Similarly, in her review of the album for NME, Crystal Bell described the song as "a striking introduction to an album that largely trades K-pop’s grandeur for intimate songwriting and emotional candour".
In his review of the album, Jeff Benjamin of Billboard ranked the song at number 5, praising Rosé's emotionally charged vocals and comparing its impact to Olivia Rodrigo’s "Drivers License". In Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of Financial Times review, he described songs like “Number One Girl” as "classier but unmemorable" compared to "Apt." and referred to them as "Olivia Rodrigo-style ballads".
A self-directed music video was released together with the single on 22 November 2024. Recorded in the style of a retro camcorder, it depicts Rosé wandering at night around the streets of Seoul, a skate park, the top of a lookout, and the Jamsu Bridge, while she sings to an unnamed lover. On 13 February 2025, a performance video of the song was released. Filmed in Noisy-le-Grand, the video featured scenes of Rosé wandering through the Les Espaces d'Abraxas and performing delicate choreography with a male dancer.
Rosé performed the song live for the first time on KBS2's late-night music program The Seasons: Lee Young-ji's Rainbow for the episode aired on 29 November 2024. The live performance version from The Seasons was released as a track on a limited digital version of Rosie on 10 December 2024.
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Rosie.
Recording
Personnel