Sorry Not Sorry (Demi Lovato song)

"Sorry Not Sorry" is a song by American singer Demi Lovato and the lead single from her sixth studio album, Tell Me You Love Me (2017). Island, Republic, Hollywood, and Safehouse Records releeased the song on July 11, 2017. Written by Lovato alonside Sean Douglas, Trevor Brown, William Zaire Simmons and its producer Oak Felder, it is a pop and R&B track. An acoustic version of the song was present on the deluxe edition of the album. Years later, a re-recorded version featuring British-American guitarist Slash was released as a promotional single and included on Lovato's first remix album, Revamped (2023).

A music video for "Sorry Not Sorry" was directed by Hannah Lux Davis and premiered on July 19, 2017, through the singer's Vevo channel. Commercially, the song reached number six in the United States, becoming Lovato's highest-peaking single in the country. It earned a 7× Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Internationally, it peaked within the top ten in six other nations, and was certified platinum or higher in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

To promote the song, Lovato performed it at house parties upon its release. She also promoted the song on several television programs such as Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, also at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards and 2017 American Music Awards. It received a nomination for the former in the Song of Summer category and again at the 2018 ceremony in the Best Pop category. "Sorry Not Sorry" was included on the regular set list of the Tell Me You Love Me World Tour (2018) and the Holy Fvck Tour (2022).

Production
"Sorry Not Sorry" was written by Warren "Oak" Felder, Sean Douglas, Trevor Brown, William Zaire Simmons and Demi Lovato for the latter's sixth studio album, Tell Me You Love Me. The production was handled by Oak with co-production by "Downtown" Trevor Brown and Zaire Koalo. The track was recorded with guidance by Jose Balaguer and Oak in Westlake Recording Studios and SuCasa Recording, respectively, both located in Los Angeles. The engineering of "Sorry Not Sorry" was done by Jose Balaguer, Oak and Chris Galland, added by Nicole "Coco" Llorens and assisted by Keith "Daquan" Sorrells. Manny Marroquin finished the mixing, assisted by Robin Florent and Scott Desmarais. The mastering was done by Chris Gehringer and Will Quinnell at Sterling Sound Studios. All four co-writers provided background vocals. Oak Felder performed the keyboards and also did the arrangement. Felder and Brown programmed the synthesizer, while Koalo programmed the drums.

Felder revealed to Songwriter Universe that the concept of the track was inspired by a phone conversation with his wife which Lovato "connected" to. "It connected specifically for her, because there's a lot of things in her past that people are looking for her to be apologetic for," he added.

Stefan Johnson of production team The Monsters and the Strangerz revealed to Variety that Lovato was conflicted between a track called "The Middle" and "Sorry Not Sorry" as the lead single, in May. Lovato opted the latter, as she called the former "too pop" and Lovato was trying to go "more soulful". The track was eventually recorded by Russian-German record producer Zedd with American electronic music duo Grey with American country music singer Maren Morris.

Lovato told Noisey that she had always wanted "Sorry Not Sorry" to be the lead single of Tell Me You Love Me but her inner circle felt the title track was a better choice "because it's emotional—it's vulnerable". Lovato then played both songs to the founder of Roc Nation, which her management Philymack was partnered with, Jay-Z. "And he said 'Sorry Not Sorry' because it was lighthearted. He was like, 'A lot of people see you do the emotional thing all the time, but they don't see you have fun!' And I was like, 'That's such a good point.' And [his opinion] kind of persuaded other people, too."

Release
On June 29, 2017, Lovato published a trio of pictures on her Instagram and Twitter accounts showing an acronym titled "SNS" causing speculation related to a possible new single. Five days after, the singer confirmed the release of a song via an Instagram video, and teased the instrumental of the track. The following day, Lovato posted a video on her Twitter revealing the title "Sorry Not Sorry". Lovato explained to Amazon Music that "Sorry Not Sorry" is a song for the "haters" with the message "You know what? I'm good now, and sorry I'm not sorry that you may not be loving where your life is at the moment."

Composition
"Sorry Not Sorry" is described by critics as a pop, and R&B song. It is written in the key of B minor with a tempo of 144 beats per minute in common time. Lovato's vocal range on the song spans from the low note of A3 to the high note of A5. It runs for three minutes and twenty-three seconds.

Critical reception
Forbes contributor Hugh McIntyre described "Sorry Not Sorry" as "an unapologetic, braggadocious look in the mirror, with Lovato taking the opportunity to praise herself, and rightfully so," and further opined that "Lovato really packs a punch with her powerful vocals, which have been setting her apart from other female pop stars for years now." Elias Leight of Rolling Stone described the song as a "gleeful revenge on a callous ex" with "heavy rhythmic effects." Christopher Rosa of Glamour felt the song "takes self-empowerment to new heights." Lars Brandle of Billboard wrote it was "bound to be embraced as a girl-power anthem." On a less positive note, Mike Wass from Idolator stated that its theme was something that had "been done several dozen times before," as the concept is a "fairly tired tale of turning the tables on an ex/hater," and felt the chorus "offers more of the same."

Recognition
"Sorry Not Sorry" was included on several year-end lists. The website Thrillist ranked the song at number eight. Stereogum's Chris DeVille considered it the 18th pop song of the year, writing that "even the firmest gospel-pop foundation will not stop Demi Lovato from blowing your house down every time." Elle Magazine's Nerisha Penrose included the track on her list at number 9 and described it as "an infectious, hater-shunning summer anthem will surely shut down all the naysayers." PopMatters ranked the song at number forty one. Billboard and American Songwriter ranked the song number four and number one, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Demi Lovato songs.

Music video
The official music video was directed by Hannah Lux Davis and released via Vevo on July 19, 2017. The video sees Lovato throwing a house party, frolicking by a pool, in an inflatable tub, on an outdoor dance floor, and in a beach chair, as her friends thrash, laugh, and kiss around her. Paris Hilton, Wiz Khalifa and Jamie Foxx have cameo appearances in the video.

Live performances
Lovato first performed the single the night before its release at a fan listening party held in Los Angeles. She subsequently performed the song at other house parties. On August 18, 2017, Lovato made the first televised performance of the track on Good Morning America. On August 27, 2017, Lovato performed the song in Las Vegas as a pre-recorded performance for the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards. On September 18, 2017, Lovato performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. On September 30, 2017, Lovato performed the song on The Jonathan Ross Show. On October 4, 2017, Lovato performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show On October 5, 2017, the singer performed the song on The Today Show, where she also performed "Tell Me You Love Me". On November 12, 2017, Lovato performed a medley of "Sorry Not Sorry" and "Tell Me You Love Me" at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards. On November 13, 2017, Lovato performed the song on Live Lounge, where she also performed "Skyscraper" and a cover of Sam Smith's "Too Good at Goodbyes". On November 19, 2017, Lovato performed the song at the 2017 American Music Awards. The track serves as the encore to her sixth headlining concert tour Tell Me You Love Me World Tour.

Covers and other versions
Grammy Award-winning singer Michelle Williams performed the song on the second US series of The Masked Singer.

Commercial performance
"Sorry Not Sorry" debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 52 three days following its release, selling 45,000 copies in the country. The single peaked at number six on the chart, becoming Lovato's first top-ten entry since "Heart Attack" in 2013, and her highest-charting single in the US. As of August 2021, "Sorry Not Sorry" is Lovato's most-streamed song in the United States amassing 1.040 billion streams. The song also reached number one on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, becoming Lovato's second number-one on the chart. "Sorry Not Sorry" also managed to reach the top 10 in the charts of other major music markets, such as Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and United Kingdom, where it became Lovato's sixth top 10 single.

Track listings

 * Digital download
 * 1) "Sorry Not Sorry" – 3:23


 * Digital download – Freedo Remix
 * 1) "Sorry Not Sorry" (Freedo Remix) – 3:44


 * Digital download – Acoustic Version
 * 1) "Sorry Not Sorry" (acoustic version) – 3:25

Credits and personnel
Recording and management
 * Recorded at Westlake Recording Studios and SuCasa Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California)
 * Mixed at Larrabee Studios (North Hollywood, California)
 * Mastered at Sterling Sound Studios (New York City)
 * Published by DDLovato Music/Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP), Sony/ATV (BMI), Sony/ATV (BMI), Trevor Brown Publishing Designee (ASCAP), Quest Da Stars (ASCAP)

Personnel
 * Demi Lovato – lead vocals, composition
 * Oak Felder – composition, background vocals, production, additional record engineering, keyboard arrangement, synthesizer programming
 * "Downtown" Trevor Brown – composition, background vocals, co-production, synthesizer programming
 * Zaire Koalo – composition, background vocals, co-production, drum programming
 * Sean Douglas – composition, background vocals
 * Jose Balaguer – recording
 * Nicole "Coco" Llorens – additional engineering
 * Keith "Daquan" Sorrells – engineering assistance
 * Manny Marroquin – mixing
 * Chris Galland – mix engineering
 * Robin Florent – mix assistance
 * Scott Desmarais – mix assistance
 * Chris Gehringer – mastering
 * Will Quinnell – mastering

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Tell Me You Love Me.

"Sorry Not Sorry (Rock Version)"
In January 2022, Lovato held a "funeral" for her pop music ahead of the release of her eighth studio album Holy Fvck in August of that year. The album, which embraced a heavier rock sound that departed from the pop sound of Lovato's previous releases, was supported by the Holy Fvck Tour. The setlist included several rock versions of her older pop songs, including "Sorry Not Sorry".

On March 24, 2023, Lovato released a rock version of her pop song "Heart Attack" to mark the song's 10th anniversary. On May 18, she announced via social media that she would release a rock version of "Cool for the Summer", which was released a week after. "Sorry Not Sorry (Rock Version)", which featured a guitar solo from British-American musician Slash, was announced on July 10 and released four days after. The updated take on the song offers "powerful new vocals" and new production from Warren "Oak" Felder, Keith "Ten4" Sorrells, and Alex Niceforo. Discussing the track, Lovato said: "Slash is an iconic artist who I've been a fan of for years, it's an absolute honour to have such a legend like him on the rock version of 'Sorry Not Sorry'."