Bebe Rexha performs at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards

Bebe Rexha delivered an electric performance from her and David Guetta‘s songs at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards.

Rexha, 34, and Guetta, 56, performed their 2022 hit, “I’m Good (Blue)” — nominated for Top Collaboration, Top Billboard Global Song and Top Dance/Electronic Song — and its 2023 follow-up, “ One in a Million”, to the awards ceremony on Sunday, November 19. “I’m Good (Blue)” notably spent 55 weeks at number 1 Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, making it the second longest-running No. 1 song in the chart’s history, behind “Happier” by Marshmello and Bastille at 69 weeks.

The performance started with Rexha surrounded by an orchestra as she sang a slowed-down version of ‘I’m Good (Blue)’. As the song segued into “One in a Million,” she changed out of her ball gown into dark leggings with a corset top and sparkly boots as she joined the dancers on a stage surrounded by fans.

After the performance, Rexha accepted the award for Top Dance/Electronic Song. “It’s been such an incredible journey… we didn’t think it would become such a global anthem. We just wanted to turn around a fun song from back in the day, I just can’t believe how far the song has gone,” she said as she thanked her fans.

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Guetta shared his acceptance speech from a different location. “Thank you so much. This is incredible,” he said. “Bebe, I love you. Thank you for being a part of my life. I think we bring each other happiness. I’m so proud of you. I saw you on this moment starting as a songwriter and becoming a superstar.”

Rexha and Guetta wrote “I’m Good (Blue)” in 2017, but initially shelved the song. Years later, she was surprised to hear a pirated version of the recording on social media. “I was just scrolling through TikTok and I heard a girl singing to a remix of ‘Blue,’” she said Variety in October 2022, referencing Eiffel 65’s 1998 song “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” that inspired her collaboration with Guetta. “I thought, ‘Damn, David and I had an idea to do that back in the day.'”

Rexha only realized later, after sending the video to her social media manager, that she was listening to her own song. “I go to YouTube and it has 30 million views,” she recalls. “I’m told it appears on YouTube every year, goes viral and then gets taken down.”

When Rexha discovered the unreleased song’s popularity, she re-recorded her vocals and encouraged Guetta to complete its production so they could drop the official rendition. After its release, the song became a hit on the charts. “It’s unbelievable,” Guetta said. “It’s refreshing that we live in a time where people really choose what they want to listen to.”

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As for the reason behind the song’s success, Rexha pointed to the familiarity of the sound. “People love nostalgia and the ’00s are back in full force when it comes to fashion and music,” she explained. “I also think that people have been cooped up for three years and just want to be happy and feel good.”

Guetta, meanwhile, believed the answer was less complicated. “Sometimes, when you manage to express a simple emotion, people really relate to it,” he noted. “Doing something simple that doesn’t feel cheesy is very difficult. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But this time it worked better than we could ever have imagined.”