| How Long | |
| Cover: | How Long Charlie Puth Single Cover.png |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Charlie Puth |
| Album: | Voicenotes |
| Genre: | Pop-funk[1] |
| Label: | Atlantic |
| Producer: | Charlie Puth |
| Prev Title: | Attention |
| Prev Year: | 2017 |
| Next Title: | Sober |
| Next Year: | 2017 |
"How Long" is a song recorded and produced by American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth. He wrote the song with Jacob Kasher and DJ Frank E. It was released on October 5, 2017, by Atlantic Records as the second single from Puth's second studio album, Voicenotes (2018).[2] Commercially, it has reached the top 10 in Belgium, Israel, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Philippines, Scotland, and the United Kingdom as well as the top 20 in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, Spain, and Switzerland. The song peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Puth teased the song in September 2017 on social media. He tweeted two photos in a row, which were captioned "how" and "long" respectively. In October 2017, he posted photos and video clips with the captions, "has", "this", "been" and "going".[3] On October 4, 2017, he posted a video of the voice note recording behind the song with the caption "on", eventually spelling out "how long has this been going on" altogether, as one of the lines in the song's lyrics.[4]
Sheet music for this song shows the key of E major with a tempo ranging from 108-112 beats per minute.[5]
Chris Malone of Billboard felt the song "opens with a slinky bassline 'Attention'", featuring a catchy chorus and representing "a slight stylistic shift from the more straight forward pop sound that filled his debut album Nine Track Mind", and that Puth took "the funkier R&B-leaning direction" with "How Long".[6] James Dinh of iHeartRadio deemed it "a fitting follow-up to 'Attention' as the 25-year-old tackles yet another vulnerable narrative from the romance department", and expected it to enter the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.[7] Mike Wass of Idolator wrote that the song "picks up where 'Attention' left off". He described the song as "instantly addictive and could well turn out to be an even bigger hit".[8] Katrina Rees of CelebMix regarded the song as "Charlie's latest infectious offering", and wrote that it "has a slick yet fairly stripped back vibe which showcases the singer's vocal range".[4]
"How Long" reached the top 10 on seven charts, including the UK Singles Chart.[9] It debuted at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week of October 28, 2017.[10] It eventually peaked at number 21, holding that position for five consecutive weeks. On April 3, 2018, the single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of a million digital copies in the United States.
The official music video was released on October 19, 2017, on Charlie Puth's official YouTube channel. It features Puth dancing in the street, walking on walls and defying gravity.[11] [12] . The music video has over 682 million views as of May 2023.
Puth performed the song live for the first time on Sounds Like Friday Night on October 27, 2017.[13] He later performed the song live on The Late Late Show with James Corden on November 29, 2017.[14]
| Chart (2017–2018) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina Anglo (Monitor Latino)[15] | 8 | |
| Colombia (National-Report)[16] | 40 | |
| Denmark (Tracklisten)[17] | 17 | |
| Ecuador (National-Report)[18] | 70 | |
| Euro Digital Songs (Billboard)[19] | 10 | |
| France Downloads (SNEP)[20] | 22 | |
| Ireland (IRMA)[21] | 18 | |
| Italy (FIMI)[22] | 39 | |
| Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20)[23] | 3 | |
| Malaysia (RIM)[24] | 7 | |
| Mexico Airplay (Billboard)[25] | 31 | |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[26] | 17 | |
| Philippines (Philippine Hot 100)[27] | 9 | |
| Russia Airplay (Tophit)[28] | 76 | |
| Serbia (Radiomonitor)[29] | 1 | |
| Slovenia (SloTop50)[30] | 30 | |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[31] | 44 | |
| Venezuela (National-Report)[32] | 28 |
| Chart (2017) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Hungary (Stream Top 40)[33] | 66 | |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[34] | 88 |
| Chart (2018) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[35] | 61 | |
| France (SNEP)[36] | 189 | |
| Hungary (Dance Top 40)[37] | 49 | |
| Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[38] | 46 | |
| Hungary (Single Top 40)[39] | 79 | |
| Iceland (Plötutíóindi)[40] | 51 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[41] | 65 | |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[42] | 25 | |
| US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[43] | 17 | |
| US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[44] | 28 | |
| US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[45] | 29 | |
| US Radio Songs (Billboard)[46] | 31 |
| Region | Date | Format | Version | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | October 5, 2017 | Digital download | Original | Atlantic | [47] |
| Remix | |||||
| Throttle Remix | [48] | ||||
| United States | October 9, 2017 | Hot adult contemporary radio | Original | [49] | |
| October 10, 2017 | Contemporary hit radio | [50] | |||
| Various | November 17, 2017 | Digital download | Roisto Remix | ||
| December 8, 2017 | EDX's Dubai Skyline Remix | ||||
| January 24, 2018 | Two Friends Remix | [51] |