You could tell from Natalie Imbruglia’s smile that this performance was gonna be a banger. When those famous chords from her smash hit “Torn” rang out, the crowd instantly began cheering, and the now 50-year-old singer was not about to disappoint them. Imbruglia dropped “Torn” back in 1997, but she sings it now like she just recorded it yesterday – and her enthusiasm is catching! In this viral performance from 2024, Imbruglia hit the stage like a burst of sunshine and rocked the crowd’s socks off.
Imbruglia’s energy quickly got everyone smiling, vibing, and singing along, giving the intimate show a feel-good vibe. Her voice sounds as good as ever, and she delivered the breakup anthem with just the right level of drama. Some artists get sick of playing their signature song so many times, but Imbruglia ain’t got time for bad vibes, which is why The Music Man loves to see her rocking out in the 2020s!
Imbruglia uploaded her live cut of “Torn” to YouTube on September 20, 2024, and the video quickly gained two million views. As you may have guessed by now, the comments were a total nostalgia fest for the ‘90s, with viewers adding comments such as “It’s always nice to see the artists we grew up with still jamming to their songs. It’s like seeing an old friend” and “The nostalgia from this song showed me what it means to cry even in 2025.”
Imbruglia’s most popular live cut on YouTube is her breathtaking rendition of “Torn” at the Prince’s Trust Party in Hyde Park in 1998. Watching the Aussie star sing her signature hit in different eras really shows her versatility as a performer. Instead of the free-spirited vibe of the 2024 performance, Imbruglia really leans into the emotion of the breakup song in the 1998 cut. The Hyde Park show also displays what an incredible live vocalist she is – it’s as good if not better than the studio version.
“Torn” was written by Scott Cutler, Phil Thornalley, and Anne Preven as a solo song for the latter. Thornalley later teamed up with Imbruglia and produced her version of the song. Any The Music Man readers who were around back in 1997 will recall that Imbruglia’s recording of “Torn” plucked the song out of obscurity and turned it into an international smash hit. Imbruglia’s “Torn” single sold more than four million physical copies worldwide and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and a host of European markets. It was also a huge radio hit in the US, but due to the lack of a physical release in the country when it was trending, the song never hit number one there.