"Who's That Girl" is a song by American singer Madonna from the soundtrack of the 1987 film of the same name. Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, it was released as the soundtrack's lead single on July 6, 1987 in Europe, and June 23, 1987 in the United States. An uptempo dance-pop track, it continues Madonna's exploration of Latin pop, following her earlier single "La Isla Bonita". The song features instrumentation including drums, bass, and trumpets, and incorporates lyrics in both English and Spanish. During filming—then under the working title Slammer—Madonna asked Leonard to develop a song reflecting her character, later adding lyrics and renaming both the track and the film to "Who's That Girl".

Upon release, "Who's That Girl" received generally positive-to-mixed reviews from music critics, with comparisons to "La Isla Bonita" drawing both praise and criticism. Commercially, it became Madonna's sixth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the artist with the most chart-toppers of the 1980s at the time. Internationally, it also reached number one in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, Ireland, and Belgium. The song earned nominations for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 30th Grammy Awards and Best Original Song at the 45th Golden Globe Awards .

The accompanying music video combines footage from the film with scenes of Madonna wandering through a park in a Latin-inspired outfit. The song was performed on her Who's That Girl (1987) and Rebel Heart (2015―2016) concert tours, and has been covered by various artists for tribute albums.

Background and release In October 1986, Madonna began filming her third feature film, Who's That Girl, a screwball comedy directed by James Foley—whom she had previously worked with on the music videos for "Live to Tell" and "Papa Don't Preach". Originally titled Slammer, the movie stars Madonna as Nikki Finn, a young woman accused of a murder she did not commit; after being released on parole, she sets out to clear her name. Alongside lawyer Loudon Trott (Griffin Dunne), she becomes caught up in "36 hours of high adventure", culminating in a scene where she interrupts a wedding to reveal the real culprit.

Work on the film's soundtrack began in March 1987. Madonna wanted to create songs that would "stand on [their] own as well as support and enhance what was happening on screen". She contacted Patrick Leonard, her collaborator on her third studio album True Blue (1986), and asked him to develop an uptempo title track whose lyrics would capture her character's experience. Leonard composed the refrain and gave it to Madonna as a demo; while he worked on other sections, she completed the melody and wrote the lyrics. However, she struggled to find a word that rhymed with Slammer, which ultimately led her to retitle both the song and the film "Who's That Girl", which she considered a stronger name. Leonard, who agreed with the change, stated that the song was recorded in a single day, noting that Madonna sang it just once, in a single take; guitars and percussion were added the following day. In total, Madonna wrote and performed four original songs for the soundtrack—"Who's That Girl", "Causing a Commotion", "The Look of Love", and "Can't Stop". She later noted that the songs "aren't about Nikki, or written to be sung by someone like her", but that they capture "the spirit" of both the film and the character.

"Who's That Girl" was released as the soundtrack's lead single in Europe on June 29, 1987, and in the United States the following day. It marked Madonna's first single to be issued in cassette format. In 1991, it was included on the four-track extended play (EP) The Holiday Collection, alongside "Holiday" (1983), "True Blue" (1986), and "Causing a Commotion", and later on Madonna's third greatest hits album, Celebration (2009). For the soundtrack's 35th anniversary, Rhino Records released Who's That Girl (Super Club Mix) in April 2022, a five-track extended play featuring remixes of "Who's That Girl" and "Causing a Commotion". Issued as part of Record Store Day, the release was limited to 7,500 copies and pressed on red 12-inch vinyl.

Composition and remix

"Who's That Girl" was written and produced by Madonna and Leonard. Musically, it has been noted a "lively dance-pop number", incorporating many of Madonna's signature elements, including a drum machine, a "bubbling" synthesized bassline, and distant string textures. It also draws on Latin pop influences—previously explored on Madonna's previous single "La Isla Bonita"—through Spanish phrases in the refrain, trumpet flourishes, an instrumental interlude, and Latin-inspired loops. Writing in Madonna's Drowned Worlds, Santiago Fouz-Hernández described the refrain as a "musical pastiche" blending Cuban percussion with Spanish guitar and maracas, while Keith E. Clifton identified the track as another example of Madonna's engagement with Hispanic musical styles.

According to author Rikky Rooksby, the song is divided into three sections—verse, refrain, and bridge—all of which are "as strong as each other". The bridge, repeated twice, includes the lines "Light up my life/No one can help me now", and is accompanied by modulations and multitracked vocals in passages such as "She's smiling/An invitation to the dance". The track also employs layered vocal lines, a technique previously used by bands such as The Beach Boys and R.E.M., particularly in the final refrain where multiple hooks overlap.

Madonna performs the song in the third person, with lyrics warning that "you should be careful around this extremely hot girl because she'll break your heart", according to Tom Breihan of Stereogum. This can be reflected in lines such as "When you see her, say a prayer and kiss your heart goodbye/She's trouble in a word, get closer to the fire". The "ethereal" refrain alternates between English and Spanish—"¿Quién es esa niña?/Who's that girl?/Señorita, más fina/Who’s that girl?" Patricia Pisters argued that the song reflects recurring themes in Madonna's work, including identity, control, love, sexuality, and spirituality, while presenting femininity as a particularly productive concept.

The remix of "Who's That Girl" was produced by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero, and features keyboards by Ed Terry that, according to Brian Chin of Billboard, give the track "an even more Latin hip-hop feel", while still recalling elements of "La Isla Bonita". Author Marc Andrews described this remix as "clunky".

Critical reception and recognition Critical reviews of "Who's That Girl" ranged from positive to mixed. Daryl Easlea described it as "by far and away, the best song of the soundtrack", adding that it offered a summary of Madonna's work up to that point, while Rooksby called it "delightful" and one of her "best takes on her original music style". Matthew Rettenmund, in Encyclopedia Madonnica, classified it as a "laid-back, effortlessly haunting" song and among the soundtrack's highlights, and J. Randy Taraborrelli described it as "quintessential Madonna [...] funky, sassy and melodic". Additional praise came from Cash Box magazine, which called it "one of her most compelling musical efforts", Jim Zebora of the Record Journal, who wrote that it "hooks you and makes you move", and Stephen Holden of The New York Times, who praised its "buoyant bounce". Others described it as playful, fun, "wistful and appealing", while Enio Chiola of PopMatters and Rolling Stone both noted that the song outshines the film.

Several critics highlighted the song's Latin influences and resemblance to "La Isla Bonita". Billboards Andrew Unterberger noted that both songs share a "contagious" refrain and a "sparkling" production, while Vince Aletti of Rolling Stone wrote that it "bobb[ed] up in the wake of 'La Isla'" but ultimately "grabs hold with its bright bilingual chant". Joe Brown of The Washington Post similarly observed that Madonna was continuing to court the Hispanic market, adding that her delivery made the repetitive lyrics more melodic. Music & Media noted it continues "[Madonna's] Latin leanings that were so successfully used" on its predecessor, while Robert Matthew-Walker highlighted its "light and airy" quality and its blend of English and Puerto Rican Spanish. Ron Fell and Diane Rufer of the Gavin Report described it as a "full summer treat for the entire pop music spectrum".

However, the similarities to "La Isla Bonita" also drew criticism. Tom Breihan called the song mediocre and uninspired, arguing that it rehashed the formula of its predecessor, while Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that it lacked the same "freshness", despite a "slightly haunted quality" in its delivery. Jude Rogers (The Guardian) and Chuck Arnold (Entertainment Weekly) likewise considered it inferior, though Arnold still described it as a "tropical delight", and Samuel R. Murrian of Parade wrote that, despite its "charms", it did not hold up as well as other singles from the era. Erlewine further stated that it was not among Madonna's strongest work, a view echoed by the Reading Eagles Al Walentis, who called it "so nondescript that [it goes] in one ear and out the other". Criticism was also directed at Madonna's vocals, which Brown described as overly processed, while Breihan said she did not sound fully comfortable singing in Spanish. Rolling Stone readers ranked it as the fifth best song from a film, but also as the fifth worst single of 1987.

In retrospective rankings, some critics have described "Who's That Girl" as one of Madonna's more lightweight and least-remembered number-one hits. It ranked tenth in a 2000 fan poll of her twelve US number-one singles, and nineteenth in a similar 2003 Q magazine readers' poll of her top twenty singles. Despite its mixed reception, the song received nominations for Best Original Song at the 45th Golden Globe Awards and Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards, and was recognized at the 1988 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Pop Awards as one of the most played songs on American radio. Both Rettenmund and Billboards Paul Grein opined that it was overlooked by the Academy Awards. Critical reassessment has been more positive, with "Who's That Girl" frequently listed among Madonna's best songs, and cited as one of the best songs of 1987. It was included in Bruce Pollock's Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock & Roll Era.

Chart performance

In the United States, "Who's That Girl" received airplay on 193 of 227 radio stations nationwide, debuting at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 11, 1987, and becoming Madonna’s twelfth consecutive single to achieve the week's highest debut—a streak that began with "Lucky Star" in 1984. Almost one month later, it reached number seven, tying her with Lionel Richie for thirteen consecutive top-ten hits. The song then climbed to number one on August 22—her sixth on the chart—replacing U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". With this, Madonna surpassed Hall & Oates, Richie, and Phil Collins for the most number-one singles of the decade at the time, and became one of only two female artists—alongside Diana Ross—to achieve six number ones, and the only one to do so as a solo act. It also marked her third number one from a film, following "Crazy for You" (from Vision Quest) and "Live to Tell" (from At Close Range). The single spent sixteen weeks on the chart and ranked 42 on the Billboard year-end Hot 100 for 1987.