"I Quit" was originally offered to Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia, who turned down the track.[4] Hepburn recorded the song instead and released it as their debut single on 17 May 1999 through Columbia Records. Commercially, the song reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart and also charted in France, peaking at number 80. The song was released in the United States in October 1999 but failed to generate success.
Release and reception
Columbia Records released "I Quit" in the United Kingdom on 17 May 1999.[5] Critically, British trade paper Music Week compared the song's "angry" chorus to Alanis Morissette's music, noting the song's maturity and calling it "instantly catchy and hummable".[6] UK chart columnist James Masterton wrote that the rhyming couplet "But you turned into another liar / And you came on like a new Messiah" was the "coolest" lyric of the 23 May 1999 chart week, when "I Quit" debuted at its peak of number eight on the UK Singles Chart.[7] The song remained on the UK chart for nine weeks and is Hepburn's only top-20 single.[8]
In June 1999, Hepburn promoted the song by performing it live on music programme Top of the Pops.[9] In the United States, TVT Records serviced "I Quit" to rock radio stations on 5 October 1999, but it did not experience success.[10] In mid-2000, the song charted on the French Singles Chart for two nonconsecutive weeks, peaking at number 80 that May.[11]
^I Quit (UK CD2 liner notes). Hepburn. Columbia Records. 1999. 667401 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^I Quit (UK cassette single sleeve). Hepburn. Columbia Records. 1999. 667401 4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^I Quit (European CD single liner notes). Hepburn. Columbia Records. 1999. 667262 1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ abI Quit (Australian CD single liner notes). Hepburn. Columbia Records. 1999. 667659 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^"Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 16, no. 23. 5 June 1999. p. 8.