"What's Up?" is a song by American rock group 4 Non Blondes, released in June 1993 as the second single from their debut album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More! (1992). It has gained popularity in the United States and in several European countries, peaking at number one in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland. The accompanying music video was directed by American film director Morgan Lawley and was also nominated in the category for Best Alternative Rock Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Background and writing The song had its origins well before 4 Non Blondes were formed. During the time when the two were struggling musicians in San Francisco, Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins recalled sitting in a room with Linda Perry, who worked as a waitress down the street, performing their original compositions to one another. The two played each other early versions of "Semi-Charmed Life" and "What's Up?", both of which would become massive hits for their respective bands. It would be decades later that Jenkins realized the songs performed in that private session would sell a combined 17 million records. The title does not appear in the song's lyrics, but the phrase "what's going on?" is prominently included in the chorus. Perry told Rolling Stone that she heavily disliked the song's production. Perry revealed on Behind the Music that she hated David Tickle's reworked version (with different lyrics) intended to be used for their album. She had told this to Jimmy Iovine, who agreed, preferring Perry's demo version over Tickle's. Tickle's instrumental (over the original vocals) could be heard on Perry's episode of Behind the Music; Tickle's version was never released. The final version was recorded in one day after Iovine allowed 4 Non Blondes to re-record Perry's demo version. The music video was directed by Morgan Lawley. During an interview with Tape Op magazine, Perry said: "The producer (David Tickle) had no sense of what the song was. I went to the label and said 'This song sucks. This is not the song I wrote.' I grabbed the band during a break and we went to The Record Plant in Sausalito. I started moving things around. I was in the middle of vocals when David Tickle showed up. I was annoyed...we were already done with the frigging song. We comped the vocal and mixed it that night....