"Miracle"
Single by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding
Released	10 March 2023 (2023-03-10)
Recorded	January 2023
Genre	Trance electropop EDM
Length	3:06
Label	Columbia Sony Music UK
Songwriter(s)	Ellie Goulding Adam Wiles Matthew James Burns Pablo Bowman Peter Rycroft
Producer(s)	Calvin Harris Burns
Calvin Harris singles chronology
"New to You" (2022) "Miracle" (2023) "Desire" (2023)
Ellie Goulding singles chronology
"Like a Saviour" (2023) "Miracle" (2023) "By The End of the Night" (2023)
Music video
"Miracle" on YouTube

"Miracle" is a song by Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris featuring English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding. It was released as a single on 10 March 2023 through Columbia Records and Sony Music UK. It is a trance song inspired by Eurodance and techno that uses piano and synths in its production.

The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Dance Recording at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, Harris' first nomination since 2018 and Goulding's first since 2016. It was also nominated for the Brit Award for Song Of The Year at the Brit Awards 2024 and won the Most Played Song Award at the Global Awards 2024.

Background

Before the release of "Miracle", Scottish DJ Calvin Harris and English pop singer Ellie Goulding had released two collaborations: "I Need Your Love" in 2012 and "Outside" in 2014.^[1] Harris later texted Goulding, asking her to collaborate with him on "Miracle".^[2] On 12 January 2023, Harris posted a picture of him and Goulding together in a recording studio.^[3] Goulding first performed parts of the song a cappella inside St Bartholomew-the-Great which was uploaded on TikTok by both artists.^[4]

According to Harris, creating the song took him back to his early producing days in the late 1990s, having taken "bits from that" and putting it "in a new context". He chose Goulding as the vocalist, citing her "angelic voice" and calling her the only one capable of delivering the vocals on the song.^[5]

Release

Miracle was released alongside an animated lyric video.^[6] A music video for "Miracle" was released on 24 March 2023, depicting Goulding in a crown and being circled by dancers and lasers.^[7] Dutch DJ Hardwell's big room trance remix of "Miracle" was premiered during his headlining performance at Ultra Music Festival in March 2023 before it was officially released on 14 April 2023.^[8][9] A house remix of "Miracle" by Mau P was released on 21 April 2023.^[10]

Performances

During his headlining performance at Coachella in April 2023, Harris brought out Goulding as a guest for their first live performance of "Miracle".^[11][12] Harris also performed "Miracle" as the closer for his set during Primavera Sound in Barcelona in June 2023.^[13]

Ellie Goulding performed "Miracle" at American Idol's Season 21 grand finale stage in May 2023.^[14] Goulding included "Miracle" in the setlist for her UK and European Higher Than Heaven Tour dates.^[15]

Composition

"Miracle" is an uptempo, 1990s- and early 2000s-inspired^[5] trance song^[16][17] with inspiration from techno^[7] and a Eurodance-inspired beat^[18] combined with "ethereal" piano,^[19] "glittering", "repetitive" synths, heavy bass, a "soft" organ, and fast kick drums in its production.^[5][20] Goulding sings with "soft-tinged" vocals on the song.^[21] Rolling Stone, in their list of the one-hundred best songs of 2023, called the collaboaration "another electropop smash" and "a psychelic EDM hit".^[22]

Critical reception

Billboard's Katie Bain and The Sunday Times both described the song as reminiscent of record producer Robert Miles' work.^[17][23] Tom Breihan of Stereogum wrote that there was "nothing particularly inventive" about "Miracle", but that "you might have a good time with " if "you have any room in your heart for absolute cheeseball dance jams".^[24] Vogue's Liam Hess called the song "fiendishly addictive".^[25] Of "Miracle", Tyler Golsen of Far Out wrote, "Vibrant, maximalist, and just the right amount of cheesy, 'Miracle' is undeniably catchy, if not a bit rote," also writing that it was "certainly not a revelation".^[26] For The Music, Emma Whines called the song's hook "a true standout".^[20]

Year-end lists

Music video

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Commercial performance

"Miracle" debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart for the week dated 17 March 2023. It was Goulding's 12th and Harris' 29th top-10 hit on the chart and their highest-charting collaboration.^[27] The song also made Goulding the British female solo artist with the most entries on the chart overall.^[25] It reached number one three weeks later, giving Harris his 11th chart-topping single and Goulding her fourth. This gave Harris the eighth most number-ones on the chart of any artist, surpassing Eminem and Elton John, and Goulding the third most number-ones of any British female artist, behind Jess Glynne and Cheryl.^[28] In its second week at number one, Goulding's album Higher Than Heaven also debuted atop the UK Albums Chart, marking the first time Goulding simultaneously had a number-one single and album.^[29] "Miracle" stayed atop the chart for eight non-consecutive weeks, becoming Goulding's longest-running number-one and tying "One Kiss", which also held at number one for eight weeks, as Harris' longest-running number one on the chart.^[30][16]

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

• List of number-one singles of 2023 (Ireland)
• List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 2020s

References