"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" is a song by American rock band Good Charlotte, written by Benji Madden, Joel Madden and Tim Armstrong for the band’s second studio album The Young and the Hopeless. It was released as the lead single from the album in August 2002 and was the band's debut European single. Upon its release, the song reached a peak of number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (their highest on that chart) and charted within the top 40 in several European countries, Australia, and New Zealand.

Composition and writing

Composed in the key of C♭ major, the basic concept of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" is the global obsession with fame and the way that celebrities are not appreciative of how fortunate they are. The lyrics refer to a number of celebrities. Johnnie Cochran, a famous attorney who represented (amongst others) stars such as O. J. Simpson, who was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown, is mentioned in the lines "Well did you know if you were famous you could kill your wife / and there's no such thing as 25 to life / as long as you got the cash to pay for Cochran?" A former mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion Barry – who was convicted on drug charges – is also mentioned in the lyrics: "and did you know if you were caught and you were smokin' crack / McDonald's wouldn't even wanna take you back / you could always just run for mayor of D.C." The Village Voice writer Anthony Miccio says that the song "cops Burundi drums from 'Lust for Life,' Marion Barry jokes from Chris Rock, and dub-echo effects from Def Leppard's Hysteria. If you like all three, the song will make you crap your drawers."

Music video

The music video premiered in September 2002 on MTV. It features cameo appearances from Tenacious D's Kyle Gass, former 'N Sync singer Chris Kirkpatrick, and Minutemen bassist Mike Watt. All three musicians appear in the courtroom scene - Gass plays the prosecutor while Kirkpatrick plays the witness "Chadwick Merryweather Hardy… the Third". Watt plays the Jury foreman. The dog questioned in the video is Benji & Joel's dog, Ca$hdogg. The Southern California rock band Lefty, who had been touring with Good Charlotte also make a cameo appearance.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

Awards

"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" won the "Viewer's Choice Award" at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2003. It also won the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.