It was written and produced by Ezekiel Lewis and Balewa Muhammad of The Clutch, and Sean Hamilton, John "J.R." Harris and Hyuk Shin of the production team A-Rex.

It was a success in the United States and Canada, Bieber's highest peaks in the countries at sixteen and ten, respectively until "Baby" bested both in 2010.

The music video features Bieber attracted to a girl he sees in the laundromat, as he leads her on a scavenger hunt to win a date with her.

Bieber has performed the song in a number of live appearances including the Fearless Tour, The Next Star, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest.

"[1] Bieber joked that "Lonely Girl" wasn't always the choice for his second single stating "It was either between that or 'I Love High School.

[2] Crystal Bell of Billboard gave the song a generally positive review stating "much as he did on his debut single, "One Time," Bieber makes a strong case for why he's the next pop heartthrob.

Although the lyrics are generic, Bieber's smooth delivery is right on point, and his tender vocals blend well with the song's easy-flowing beat.

[5] In the U.S., the single had 113,000 downloads in its first week, propelling it to debut at number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated October 24, 2009.

[18] In the music video, Bieber is attracted to a girl (Grace Marie Wilson) he sees every day washing clothes at the local laundromat.

[19] In the opening scenes, Bieber is wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, similar to the gray one he wore in the "One Time" video, along with a cranberry shirt.

He leads the girl on a scavenger hunt for the scarf, posting signs with pictures of him on them around the town to encourage her to go on a date with him.

During the date and ending scenes Bieber has on a white striped collared shirt, with a dark cyan tee.

MTV called the video "lost-and-found action with a scarf that eventually leads to some young love," and gives credit to Bieber as a new sensation, stating "The setting for "One Less Lonely Girl" seems to be Main Street, USA...And why not?

[21] Tamar Antai of MTV Buzzworthy called the scarf "boundsly adorable" and "a total bargain for less loneliness".

The company came out with a "One Less Lonely Girl"-branded bouquet of red "intuition" roses and a Valentine's Day card from Bieber, depicting the singer holding a heart.

He premiered the song, performing an acoustic rendition when he made a return appearance to his native Canada on the finale of YTV's The Next Star.

)[28] Bieber performed the song with the original musical background along with "One Time", and "Favorite Girl" on his U.S. network television debut on The Today Show.

[35] A parody of the song performed by Bieber caused controversy after a video of it was released by the entertainment news website TMZ on June 4, 2014.

[36][37] On June 5, 2014, the rapper and president of Young Money Entertainment, Mack Maine chose to defend Bieber after the racist remarks.