"Where'd You Go" is a song by American hip hop ensemble Fort Minor, the side project of rock band Linkin Park's co-lead vocalist, Mike Shinoda.
It is the fourth and final single from Fort Minor's debut album The Rising Tied, released on April 14, 2006.
The song features Skylar Grey (who at the time went by her real name Holly Brook) and Jonah Matranga, lead singer of the rock group Far.
The song is about the consequences of putting one's career before one's family with the lyrics emanating from the perspective of the person left behind in long-distance relationships.
"Where'd You Go" was Fort Minor's most commercially successful single, peaking within the top 10 of several international music charts.
4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and received a Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2009.
[5][6] In an interview with MTV, Shinoda stated why he chose to write from that point of view, saying "A lot of people do songs about being on the road, and I wanted to do this song about the opposite perspective: the people who are at home, your family, your friends, your loved ones who are at home.
"[5] Shinoda affirmed the Brook's musical style "really rooted in the songwriting...You don't need all the frills and the production.
[5] The song was released as the fourth and final single from The Rising Tied on April 14, 2006, as a digital download.
Bill Lamb of About.com commended the song's simplicity, saying that it will "draw pop and hip hop fans together with its universal emotional appeal.
[11] Jo Timbuong of The Star compared "Where'd You Go" with Eminem's "When I'm Gone", except for a "more melancholic feel" through Brook's vocals.
[12] Alec Luhn of The Badger Herald compared Brook's vocals to British female singer Dido from the Eminem song "Stan".
The scenes where the three vocalists sing also shifts to shots of the families' belongings, homes and neighborhoods.
At the end of the video, a brief note by Shinoda states: "Where'd You Go" was filmed in the homes of three families who share the same sense of loneliness as this song.
[6] In June through July 2006, Shinoda, in association with MTV's Overdrive hosted a contest where US residents of 18 years or older could recreate a new version of the song's music video.
The winner of the contest would win a sketch painting by Shinoda that was included in the album's art.
The winning video was directed by David Ly, a graduate film student at Art Center College of Design.
Meanwhile, at home, the alter egos are in a circle around his coffee table, throw the roses in the center, and leave.
He unwraps the red and white ribbons and opens the box to find himself on the beach with the same girl in his dream and the roses on the water.
[34] Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington sang the chorus at two tour dates: one at Dodger Stadium at Los Angeles, California,[35] and the other at the 2006 Summer Sonic Festival at Osaka, Japan.