"Doctor (Work It Out)" is a song produced by Pharrell Williams and performed by American singer Miley Cyrus. It is their first collaboration in ten years, after Cyrus featured on Williams's 2014 single "Come Get It Bae"; Williams previously produced four songs for Cyrus's fourth studio album, Bangerz (2013). "Doctor (Work It Out)" is a restructured and re-recorded version of a song recorded during the Bangerz recording sessions. They worked with songwriter Michael Pollack and released it on March 1, 2024.
Background and release
The song was initially written and recorded by Cyrus—with co-writing and production by Williams—for her fourth studio album, Bangerz (2013), but did not make the final tracklist. Cyrus and Williams collaborated on four tracks that were released as part of the album, and the single "Come Get It Bae" from the latter's second studio album, Girl (2014). A demo titled "Doctor" was leaked online in December 2017.
Over a decade later, the track was reworked and re-recorded by 2023, and was previewed during the livestream of Williams's Louis Vuitton menswear fall-winter show during Paris Fashion Week, on January 16, 2024. In February, Cyrus's website and social media layouts were updated with new pictures from a Polaroid-themed photoshoot, which prompted speculation on new music. Later that month, Williams previewed the song via his social media and alluded to an official release, with his post captioned as "soon".
On February 27, Cyrus announced the single's title as "Doctor (Work It Out)", shared a promotional image, and released a 30-second snippet via her social media. The picture featured Cyrus standing against a gray background and looking into the camera, styled with big hair and wearing a blue fur coat. The title appears in pink at the top of the image. Pre-save links to the song were made available simultaneously. The day after, Cyrus released a preview of the song's music video of her dancing and singing along to the lyrics, and announced the release date as March 1, 2024.
"Doctor (Work It Out)" is Cyrus's first collaboration with Williams in over a decade, after "Come Get It Bae", and their fifth, overall.
Critical reception In a four out of five stars review, Roisin O'Connor of The Independent described the song as a "glam-pop-rock jam" with "funky bass hook". The writer assimilated its "melody and rhythm" to "I Wanna Be Your Slave" by Måneskin and called the intro as "redolent of the one on "Blurred Lines", finding that "Cyrus elevates what could've been a forgettable bop, adding the thrills and spills with a gasp, a moan."
Music video The music video for "Doctor (Work It Out)" is directed by Jacob Bixenman. It premiered simultaneously with the release of the song, via Cyrus's Vevo channel on YouTube.
Accolades +Awards and nominations for "Doctor (Work It Out)" Organization Year Category Result Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2024 Favorite Music Collaboration
Charts
Weekly charts + Chart (2024) Peakposition Australian New Music Singles (ARIA) 20 Belarus Airplay (TopHit) 125 Croatian International Airplay (Top lista) 5 Estonian Airplay (TopHit) 31 French Airplay (SNEP) 58 Israeli International Airplay (Media Forest) 3 Japan Hot Overseas (Billboard Japan) 4 Latvian Airplay (LaIPA) 16 Lithuanian Airplay (TopHit) 10 New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) 5 Nigeria (TurnTable Top 100) 79 Panama Airplay (Monitor Latino) 10 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100) 95 Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100) 93 Romanian Airplay (TopHit) 104 Serbian Airplay (Radiomonitor) 6 Venezuelan Airplay (Record Report) 38
Year-end charts + Chart (2025) Position Argentina Anglo Airplay (Monitor Latino) 64
Certifications
Release history + Release dates and formats for "Doctor (Work It Out)" Region Date Format Label Various March 1, 2024 Columbia Italy March 8, 2024 Radio airplay Sony
References