sings a song, that's our next single'." "Under the Bridge" was released on March 2, 1992. Journalist Jeff Apter noted that it "was the bona fide, across-all-formats radio hit that the band had been working towards for seven years". It spent 26 cumulative weeks on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Critical reception Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel described the song as "an interesting Hendrix-Prince-Zep hybrid that has a lovely bass line (and none of Flea's increasingly predictable popping)." Nick Griffiths of Select dismissed it as "all mellow strumming and thoughtfully shallow vocals, though it's almost exonerated by a shrill unexpectedly choral middle eight". Reviewing the album, Ben DiPietro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch was impressed by the Chili Peppers' incorporation of slower tracks, especially "Under the Bridge". David Fricke of Rolling Stone said that it was a "stark and uncommonly pensive ballad" that "drop-kicked the band into the Top 10". Another editor, Tom Moon, felt that the song "revealed new dimensions. The rhythm section displays a growing curiosity about studio texture and nuance." Mark Frith from Smash Hits gave it five out of five, writing, "A classic. Far from being their usual in-yer-face energetic rap, "Under the Bridge" is a tender, thoughtful and quite sad tale of loneliness, the sort of thing that Pearl Jam would do if they forgot to ask their ten friends to play their guitars really loudly. Moody and brilliant." Philip Booth of The Tampa Tribune said it was "undulating [and] omnipresent" not only in alternative rock but pop music generally. According to Amy Hanson of AllMusic, it became "an integral part of the 1990s alterna-landscape, and remains one of the purest diamonds that sparkle amongst the rough-hewn and rich funk chasms that dominate the Peppers' own oeuvre". She praised "Under the Bridge" as a "poignant sentiment that is self evident among the simple guitar which cradles the introductory verse, and the sense of fragility that is only doubled by the still down-tempo choral crescendo". "Under the Bridge" has been included in many publications' "Best of ..." lists. In 2002, Kerrang! placed the song at number six on their list of the "100 Greatest Singles of All Time". Q ranked the song number 180 on their compilation of the "1001 Best Songs, Ever". Life included "Under the Bridge" in the compilation "40