Wheatus singer reveals why he sang the female part in 'Teenage Dirtbag'

There's no escaping 'Teenage Dirtbag' by Wheatus...

Released in 2000, the pop classic soon became a global sensation, charting in a half-dozen countries and becoming platinum in the UK. It performed exceptionally well in Australia, after remaining number one for four weeks and becoming the second-best-selling single of 2000.

'Teenage Dirtbag' was written by Wheatus' guitarist and vocalist Brendan B. Brown after being inspired by a childhood experience of his.

There's one significant verse in the track that imitates a female voice, with the lyrics: "I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby / Come with me Friday, don't say maybe."

Rather than drafting in a female for the part, Brown opted to take it upon himself.

He told The Guardian back in 2019: "The boyfriend character was based on a nameless conglomeration of the many douchebag bullies who wanted to show you their father’s gun.

"I sang both the male and female parts because, when I was getting beat up, a lot of bullies were homophobic. I wanted to irritate them by putting on a female voice."

The track made a Gen Z comeback around a year ago, inevitably birthing an overnight TikTok trend that paid homage to their awkward and embarrassing teenage years.

Many younger listeners would have been listening to the song for the first time around.

Fast-forward to now, and Brown is currently on tour in the US.

Taking to TikTok, he clarified that he can still sing the female verse: "The thing is, of course, because the internet is the internet, somebody said to Matthew along the line, 'Does he do that because he can't sing it anymore?'

"The answer is no, I can still sing it. I'm very lucky in that regard, my voice is still holding up at the age of 50, and I can still do all of the falsettos. I do get tired, I do get sick, but that's not what's happening here."

"I am making this video to hopefully clarify that issue for anyone that's concerned. In any case, I do really like singing the higher harmony sometimes which is supposed to be harder, but isn't really harder for some reason," he continued.

"I think the reason that I have a still consistent falsetto is that I started singing along to Prince, Geddy Lee, Cyndi Lauper and Bon Scott before my voice changed when I was 7 or 8 years old."

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