Lizzo is a Grammy award-winning singer and rapper known for hits like “Truth Hurts” and “Good As Hell.” In April 2022, she released a new single called “About Damn Time” which quickly went viral on TikTok. Users on the platform started creating dances choreographed to the upbeat, funky song. One dance in particular blew up and became known simply as the “Lizzo TikTok dance.”
Within weeks of the song’s release, hundreds of thousands of TikTok videos were made using the track. Lizzo’s catchy lyrics and retro disco sound made her new single perfect for the social media platform. The song and its accompanying dances spread like wildfire, gaining massive popularity on TikTok and introducing Lizzo’s music to millions of new listeners.
The Original Lizzo Dance Video
On April 28, 2022, Lizzo released a video on TikTok of herself dancing to her new single “About Damn Time.” In the video, Lizzo does a funky dance routine consisting of arm waves, hip sways, and booty pops, all perfectly choreographed to the upbeat track. The 15-second clip shows Lizzo energetically dancing in a one-shoulder bodysuit against a green screen background.
The original TikTok video quickly went viral, amassing over 20 million views and 6 million likes in just a few days. Fans were obsessed with Lizzo’s body-positive display of joyful dancing and were excited to see her promoting new music in such a fun way. The infectious positivity of the video and the catchy Lizzo song perfectly captured the TikTok zeitgeist, setting the stage for a viral dance challenge to take off on the platform.
Here is the original viral TikTok video that started it all: https://www.tiktok.com/@lizzo/video/7098244447646765878
Meet Jaeden Gomez, the Dance Creator
The creator behind the viral Lizzo TikTok dance is Jaeden Gomez, a talented teenage dancer from Southern California. Though only 15 years old at the time, Jaeden already had a strong dance background, having trained in styles like hip hop, lyrical, and jazz since the age of 6. She began posting dance videos on TikTok in 2019 as a creative outlet, quickly amassing a large following thanks to her energetic style.
In April 2019, Jaeden came up with choreography to Lizzo’s hit song “Good As Hell” and filmed herself performing it in her bedroom. “I just heard the song and I was like, I have to make a dance to this,” Jaeden explained in an interview with The New York Times. She posted the video to TikTok on April 18th, thinking it would be fun for her friends and fans. Little did she know it would soon catch fire and make her an overnight sensation.
The Dance Goes Viral on TikTok
Shortly after Jaeden Gomez first posted his dance video to Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” on TikTok in April 2022, the dance started going viral across the platform. Other popular TikTok dancers began posting their own versions, helping spread the dance even further. Some of the earliest adopters who helped popularize the dance include @gabejess7, @matttalks, and @cassielangford.
As more and more videos using the dance flooded TikTok under hashtags like #lizzodancethechallenge, #lizzodance, and #aboutdamntime, it quickly became a full-on TikTok trend. Soon thousands of users were posting their own takes on the choreography. According to Jaeden Gomez himself, the dance was getting over 2 million combined views daily at its peak. Even Lizzo took notice, duetting many videos of people attempting the dance.
The viral nature of the dance on TikTok exposed it to a massive mainstream audience. It became nearly inescapable if you were on TikTok in Spring 2022, with the catchy Lizzo song and recognizable choreography showing up in feeds across the platform. The app’s algorithm picked up on its popularity and pushed it out further, fueling its spread to millions of users.
Lizzo Takes Notice
As the dance challenge went viral in early 2022, it eventually caught the attention of Lizzo herself. The singer was delighted to see her song inspiring so much joy and creativity across TikTok. However, Lizzo noticed that many people were not quite nailing the choreography. In response, Lizzo posted her own tutorial of the dance on TikTok, saying “Okay, I’m tired of people doing the dance wrong, so I’m here to teach y’all myself.”
In the video, Lizzo breaks down the moves step-by-step, emphasizing the iconic “pump up” motion that creator Jaeden Gomez originally choreographed. Lizzo urges her followers to “watch me and follow me. Pump up, pump up! Okay, let’s go!” She lightheartedly chastises those who had been doing it wrong, while celebrating the dance’s viral success. According to Billboard, Lizzo’s tutorial quickly garnered over 6 million views itself.
Lizzo’s post showed her excitement and appreciation for the organic trend that was exposing her song to countless new listeners. While wanting to share the dance authentically, she maintained a spirit of fun and community that embodied the joyful energy of the challenge.
Recreations and Celebrity Attempts
The viral dance sparked countless recreations and attempts by celebrities and influencers. Lizzo’s feel-good anthem lent itself perfectly to fun dance covers. Some of the most popular remakes came from Charli D’Amelio, Addison Rae, and other top TikTok dancers who choreographed their own routines to “About Damn Time.”
The dance even spread to mainstream media stars. On The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon gathered The Roots andNicole Byer to try their hand at the Lizzo TikTok challenge. Other TV hosts like Kelly Clarkson and Savannah Guthrie also danced along on their shows. During her 2022 Coachella sets, Lizzo invited fans on stage to dance with her, hyping up the crowd with the viral moves.
According to Mashable, Lizzo also busted out some of Jaeden’s original choreo during her showstopping BET Awards performance in June 2022. The Recreations and celebrity attempts highlighted the dance’s incredible popularity and cemented it as a cultural phenomenon.
The Dance Blows Up on Mainstream Media
As the Lizzo TikTok dance continued to go viral in the summer of 2022, it soon migrated beyond the app and blew up across mainstream media. TV shows like Good Morning America and The Today Show featured segments where their anchors attempted the viral choreography on air. Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, and James Corden all did skits on their late night shows centered around the Lizzo dance. Other major TV programs like So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars incorporated the dance into episodes. The song and dance gained even more momentum after Lizzo performed it live on shows like Saturday Night Live and the MTV Video Music Awards. Soon it felt like the whole country was trying to learn the Lizzo TikTok dance, thanks to its ubiquity across screens both big and small.
Impact on Lizzo’s Career
The viral TikTok dance to Lizzo’s song “About Damn Time” had a major impact on boosting Lizzo’s popularity and career. Though Lizzo was already an established artist with hits like “Good as Hell”, the TikTok dance craze exposed her music to a massive new audience.
According to Rolling Stone, within weeks of the dance going viral, “About Damn Time” hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for multiple weeks. Lizzo earned her first #1 hit song thanks to the TikTok exposure.
The song’s popularity led to increased interest in Lizzo’s album “Special”, which saw a major sales boost. Lizzo also gained millions of new followers across social media platforms. She was soon making high profile appearances on shows like Saturday Night Live to perform the viral hit.
Overall, the TikTok dance phenomenon dramatically increased Lizzo’s visibility and cemented her status as a major pop culture figure. It introduced her fun, bold music and style to legions of new young fans. The viral moment gave Lizzo’s already rising career even more momentum.
Lizzo Gives Back to Jaeden
After the dance went massively viral and greatly impacted her career, Lizzo wanted to give back to the creative mind behind it all – Jaeden Gomez. In an act of immense gratitude, Lizzo surprised Jaeden by sending him a heartfelt video message thanking him for helping take “About Damn Time” to the next level.
Lizzo praised Jaeden’s choreography skills and positive spirit, acknowledging the pivotal role his dance played in the song’s success. As a token of appreciation, Lizzo sent Jaeden $10,000 along with words of encouragement to keep following his creative passions.
For Jaeden, connecting with Lizzo directly and receiving her support was an incredibly meaningful moment. Their interaction highlighted the immense power of user-generated content and creativity on platforms like TikTok.
Lizzo’s gracious gift demonstrated how creators and artists can uplift each other, bringing more art and joy into the world. Her gesture embodied the vibrant, collaborative spirit of the online communities that made her song go viral.
The Legacy of the Lizzo TikTok Dance
The viral TikTok dance to Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” had a major cultural impact and cemented the song as an anthem of the times. Though TikTok dances come and go, this one stood out for its ubiquity across the platform and its mainstream crossover. Much of its legacy stems from the song itself – as a self-empowerment anthem released just as the world was emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, it tapped perfectly into the zeitgeist of joy and celebrating life again. The infectious, danceable beat only added to its power. Jaeden Gomez’s choreography was easy enough for anyone to recreate but distinct enough to take on a life of its own.
The fact that Lizzo herself took part made the dance rise exponentially in popularity. It created a full feedback loop of a fan creating art inspired by Lizzo, Lizzo appreciating and amplifying it, and more fans being inspired in turn. This accessibility and lack of gatekeeping contributed to the dance’s far-reaching impact. It wasn’t just for trained dancers or TikTok influencers, but for everyone. Celebrities, talk shows, classrooms, weddings – almost anywhere there was music, people were doing the “About Damn Time” dance. TikTok dances rarely reach this level of mainstream saturation. It cemented Lizzo as a pop culture icon and further amplified “About Damn Time” as an anthem. The legacy lies in that spirit of unabashed joy and celebration created by a single fan’s creativity.
