soundtrack for Myers' second film about the spy character Austin Powers, titled Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Madonna's former boyfriend, British screenwriter Andy Bird, was reportedly the inspiration for "Beautiful Stranger." The soundtrack to The Spy Who Shagged Me led to the teaming up of two music executives, Warner Bros. Records senior vice president Danny Bramson and Madonna's Maverick Records' co-owner Guy Oseary; both of them served as executive producer on the soundtrack. By May 1999, expectations were already high for the release, so the producers decided to include Madonna's track along with a song from a number of other high-profile artists like R.E.M., Lenny Kravitz and Mel B from the Spice Girls. As recalled by Oseary, there was intense competition among artists to have their songs placed in the soundtrack, with one manager connected to the project describing the fight for the first potential single release as "a blood bath". The main intention of the producers was to have the artists contribute music which would abide by the predominant 1960s mood of the film. Ultimately, it was decided that "Beautiful Stranger" was suitable for this, and it was chosen as the first single from the soundtrack. However, Madonna's recording company Warner Bros. decided not to release any CD single or remix singles to accompany the release in the United States, only promo 12-inch discs were sent to the dance club DJs. The song was only released to the CHR top 40 radio for airplay on May 19, 1999. In the United Kingdom, the single was released on June 7, 1999, as a CD single, 12-inch single, and cassette single, while in Canada, a CD was issued on July 20, 1999. "Beautiful Stranger" has appeared on two separate Madonna greatest hits collections: GHV2 (2001) and Celebration (2009). On May 21, 2021, Madonna released the "Beautiful Stranger" remix EP to all digital and streaming outlets. Recording and composition Recording for "Beautiful Stranger" took place in February 1999 at the Guerilla Beach Studios in Los Angeles, California, as well as the Enterprise Studio in Burbank, California. Along with writing and producing the song with Madonna, Orbit also played the keyboards and the guitar on the track. Damian LeGassick did the programming and additional keyboard while Emma Fowler played the flute. The engineering team included Pat McCarthy, Mark Endert and Dave Chelsea, with McCarthy also mixing the track. Jeff Gregmay and