Cherry Lips - Single Release

Single Release

"Cherry Lips" was originally scheduled to be issued in the United Kingdom to support the band's mini-tour of Europe in November 2001. The release date was put on hold, however the single was serviced to radio stations. Garbage performed the song on Later With Jools Holland (along with "Til the Day I Die" and "Stupid Girl", MTV's Morning Glory and on Radio One's Evening Session as well as pre-recording a performance for Top of the Pops (along with "Breaking Up the Girl)".

The first territory to receive "Cherry Lips" as a single was Japan, where Sony Music Int'l issued a five-track CD maxi on December 27 collecting together remixes of the title track by MaUVe, Roger Sanchez and Howie B. The single was released to coincide with the announcement of Garbage's upcoming tour dates in Tokyo and Osaka, scheduled for February 2002. Sony followed up the single by releasing an exclusive extended play titled Special Collection, which collected together the international b-sides from "Cherry Lips".

PIAS Recordings issued "Cherry Lips" across Europe on January 7, 2002, as a four-track maxi CD featuring Beautiful Garbage out-take "Enough Is Never Enough" and the Roger Sanchez and Howie B remixes, as a two-track CD single backed with an edited version of the Roger Sanchez remix, and as a two-track 12" vinyl of the Roger Sanchez and MaUVe mixes. At the end of January, in Switzerland the single debuted #95 and peaked at #85 three weeks later, before recharting at #100 for a single week at the end of February; while in Netherlands "Cherry Lips" debuted at #86 and climbed over three weeks to #80. In Spain, "Cherry Lips" reached #15 on the airplay chart, while in Belgium, the single made the Ultratip (sales and airplay) charts in both the Flanders region (at #18) and the Wallonia region (#12). In Italy, where "Cherry Lips" had been licensed to the Breil Stones Winter 2001/02 campaign, the single debuted at #8. "Cherry Lips" remained on the Italian stop twenty for six weeks.

In Australia and New Zealand, remixes of "Cherry Lips" were serviced to clubs on November 26, 2001; the single was sent to radio on December 3. The same day, both the music video and television advertisements for Beautiful Garbage began airing in the run up to the Christmas period, with heavy emphasis on "Cherry Lips". In December, the "Cherry Lips" remixes debuted at #10 on the ARIA Club chart, before peaking at #3 a month later. FMR scheduled the single to coincide with the Big Day Out rock festival, which Garbage were part of the line-up. The week before release, Beautiful Garbage climbed back up to #10 on the album chart, while the single hit #2 on the airplay chart. "Cherry Lips" was issued to stores on January 14 as a 2×CD single set; the first disc backed with Beautiful Garbage out-takes "Use Me" and "Enough Is Never Enough" and the Howie B remix, and the second limited edition disc containing remixes by Roger Sanchez and MaUVe. "Cherry Lips" debuted at #7 on the ARIA Singles Chart, both the second highest new entry, and Garbage's first Australian top ten single. On January 24, Garbage performed both "Cherry Lips" and "Androgyny" live on Channel V outside Fox Studios in Sydney. "Cherry Lips" dropped to #9, and then climbed up to #8 where it stayed for a second week. On the fourth week, the single reached #1 on the ARIA Alternative chart as "ARIA certified "Cherry Lips" gold for shipments of over 35,000 units. During this period, Beautiful Garbage climbed to #5 on the album chart, staying there for three weeks. On its fifth and sixth week, the single dropped to #12, and then reversed back up to the #10 spot. "Cherry Lips" eventually bowed out of the Australian Top 100 at the start of May after a fifteen week chart run.

In New Zealand, the band's performance in Auckland and airplay for the single resulted in Beautiful Garbage re-charting at #12 on the RIANZ album chart. "Cherry Lips" debuted three weeks later at #39, before climbing to peak at #22 by the start of March. Beautiful Garbage rebounded on the album chart at the end of the month, reaching #16 in April.

Garbage kicked off the re-scheduled release of "Cherry Lips" in the United Kingdom at the start of January 2002, by performing the song on cd:uk, T4 and on the Pepsi Chart Show and provided interviews to music shows to air in the run-up to release. Mushroom Records issued "Cherry Lips" to record stores on January 21 in a 12" vinyl format and a 2×CD single set. The first disc was backed with "Enough Is Never Enough", the Howie B remix and a QuickTime music video, the second featured "Use Me" and the Roger Sanchez remix. The 12" featured full-length versions of the Roger Sanchez and MaUVe mixes. A week later, "Cherry Lips" debuted at #24 on the UK Singles Chart. The single dropped to #40 after three weeks. An internet-only remix of "Cherry Lips" produced by Girls Against Boys bassist Eli Janney was streamed online on various sites to promote the song. On February 1, Mushroom partnered with The Sun tabloid and Asda supermarket to give away a free CD titled Garbage:Sampler that included the "Cherry Lips" remix. The single also peaked at #27 on the Irish Singles Chart.

In place of "Cherry Lips", Interscope issued "Breaking Up the Girl" as the second single from Beautiful Garbage in North America and did not release any further singles from the album. Despite this, on June 3, 2002, Garbage performed "Cherry Lips" on The Tonight Show.