Lush Life (Zara Larsson song)

"Lush Life" was written by Emanuel Abrahamsson, Marcus Sepehrmanesh, Linnea Södahl, Fridolin Walcher, Christoph Bauss, and Iman Conta Hultén, during a songwriting camp in Stockholm.^[1] In a 2017 interview with Genius, Larsson explained that upon hearing the songs produced from the writing session, "Lush Life" was the one that stood out to her, and she ultimately chose to record it.^[2] The track was produced by Freedo and Shuko, and was mastered at Cuttingroom Studios in Stockholm.^[3][4] "Lush Life" has been described as a "summer jam" by Nick Levine of NME,^[5] and features electropop production, written in the key of B-flat major with a tempo of 96 beats per minute.^[6]

Lyrically, Larsson has described the first part of the chorus ("I live my day as if it was the last / live my day as if there was no past / Doin' it all night, all summer / Doin' it the way I wanna") as being about "just [living] in the moment and [trying] to enjoy it as much as possible" and "[living] the lush life all summer".^[2] On 27 August 2021, in celebration of the song surpassing 1 billion streams on Spotify, Larsson revealed that the released version of "Lush Life" was a remix, and she later released the original version of the song under the name "Retro Version".^[7]

Many critics noted that "Lush Life" had similarities to the music of Barbadian singer Rihanna. Nolan Feeney of Time described the song as a potential "song of the summer" for 2015, and praised the track's "island-pop" sound, comparing it to earlier works by Rihanna.^[8] The Guardian's Tim Jonze described "Lush Life" as a "brilliant Rihanna-sounding single",^[9] while The Standard's Rick Pearson described the track as incorporating the "dancehall-inspired grooves of Rihanna".^[10]

Following the release of the song's parent album So Good (2017), multiple reviewers of the album offered further praise to "Lush Life". Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian described the track as having a "rubbery bounce" and being "naggingly catchy",^[11] while AllMusic author Neil Z. Yeung commended it as being an "effective dose of tropical pop" that has a "playful whistle and undeniable bounce".^[12] Writing for Rolling Stone Australia in 2025, Cyclone Wehner described the song as a "trop-house banger" that became a "streaming smash" and foreshadowed Larsson's "blockbuster international debut" with So Good.^[13]

The original music video for "Lush Life", directed by Måns Nyman, was released in Sweden on 5 June 2015.^[16][17] The video is set against white, black, and grey backgrounds, with Larsson appearing in a succession of different outfits and performing simplistic choreography.^[18][16] The international version of the music video was released on 1 July, also directed by Nyman.^[17] This version of the video was described as "colourful" and "dance-tastic" by Andrew Hannah of The Line of Best Fit.^[19]

An alternative music video for "Lush Life" was released on 5 July 2016, and was directed by Mary Clerté.^[20] The video shows Larsson dancing in pastel-hued sets. Some scenes from the video feature backup dancers and a love interest played by British model Eyal Booker.^[21] This version is listed as an "Alternate Version" on YouTube, and has since garnered 68 million views as of January 2026.^[22]

Larsson's first live performance of "Lush Life" was at Gröna Lund in Stockholm in May 2015, where she performed the original version of the song (later released in 2021 as the "Retro Version").^[23] In July, she performed the song on the Swedish TV shows Allsång på Skansen and Sommarkrysset.^[24][25] In June 2016, Larsson performed "Lush Life" during her set at the Capital Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium in London.^[26] At the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards, she performed the song during the ceremony, where she also won the awards for Best New Act and Best Swedish Act.^[27] At the 2016 BBC Music Awards, she performed the song as a medley with "I Would Like".^[28]

In December 2017, Larsson performed "Lush Life" at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo,^[29] and in December the following year, she performed the song at the Capital Jingle Bell Ball.^[30] Larsson has frequently performed the song in the following years, including at the Capital Summertime Ball in 2023 and 2025,^[31][32] and at the Hundred Final in August 2024.^[33] In the United States, Larsson performed "Lush Life" on the Today Show in November 2016 and in May 2026.^[34][35] In 2017, she performed the song at the pre-show festival for that year's MTV Movie & TV Awards,^[36] and as part of her set at Lollapalooza.^[37]

"Lush Life" topped Sweden's Sverigetopplistan chart for seven nonconsecutive weeks in total,^[38] and became Larsson's second number-one single in her native country. The song has spent 121 weeks overall on the chart as of 26 April 2026,^[39] and is the eighteenth best-selling single of all time in the country.^[40] It has earned a ten times platinum certification from the Swedish Recording Industry Association (GLF), denoting sales of 400,000 equivalent units.^[39] For the chart week dated 23 January 2026, "Lush Life" once again reached number one in Sweden, where it remained for two weeks.^[41]

In the United States, "Lush Life" debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dating 30 July 2016, after spending 27 weeks on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, eventually peaking at number 75 during the chart week ending 20 August.^[42][43] On the Pop Airplay chart, the track entered the top forty, reaching number 39 during the chart week ending 13 August.^[44] "Lush Life" has since been certified triple platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of three million units in the country.^[45] For the chart week dated 18 April 2026, "Lush Life" achieved a new peak position on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 35, during its twentieth week on the chart.^[46] On 21 April, the song was re-released to contemporary hit radio in the United States, and achieved a new peak of number 28 on the Pop Airplay chart for the week ending 23 May.^[47]

In the United Kingdom, "Lush Life" debuted at number 88 on the UK Singles Chart in January 2016.^[48] It eventually peaked at number three during the chart week ending 24 March, and became the sixth biggest song of 2016 in the country, moving 1.16 million combined units that year.^[49] "Lush Life" has spent 82 weeks overall on the UK Singles Chart as of May 2026,^[48] and was the 63rd biggest song of the 2010s in the United Kingdom.^[50] It has been certified sextuple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting sales of 3.6 million units in the country.^[51] For the chart week dated 5 March 2026, the track matched its original peak of number three in the United Kingdom, and has spent a total of seventeen additional weeks in the top ten following its initial chart run.^[48]

Elsewhere, "Lush Life" topped the charts in Mexico^[52] and Poland.^[53] It also peaked at number two in Denmark,^[54] Ireland,^[55] and Norway,^[56] number three in the Netherlands^[57] and Switzerland,^[58] number four in Germany,^[59] Austria,^[60] and Australia,^[61] and number six in Finland,^[62] during its original chart run. In France, the song remained the longest-running single for Larsson, with 64 weeks of charting, peaking originally at number 16 in 2016 and peaking at number 34 in 2026 following the resurgence of the same year.

"Lush Life" has won seven awards from eleven nominations, including a BMI Pop Award,^[79] a Gaffa Award for Best Swedish Song,^[80] and two awards at the Musikförläggarnas Pris for Song of the Year and Most Streamed Song of the Year in 2016.^[81] Following the song's resurgence of popularity in 2025 and 2026, it was nominated for Social Song of the Year at the American Music Awards 2026.^[82]

Credits are adapted from Apple Music.^[3]