People Baffled As Wheatus Singer Explains Why He Sings ‘Female Part’ On Teenage Dirtbag

Whether it’s a birthday, wedding, or bar mitzvah, at every party it’s important that the DJ plays “Teenage Dirtbag” at least once.

It’s easily the best-known song Wheatus has ever produced, so you’d think the band’s lead singer, Brendan B. Brown, would be tired of singing it by now. But he’s still just as excited about it now as he was 24 years ago.

However, he has recently received a few questions from fans while performing the song on stage, wondering if he can still sing the most iconic part of the song at the top of his lungs.

You know what I’m talking about…that high pitched ‘woman’s voice’ telling us she has two tickets to Iron Maiden (baby) that she wants to use on Friday – and please don’t say ‘maybe’ to her.

You would think Brown would have hired a woman to sing that part, but the truth is he did it all himself.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2019, Brown explained why he wanted to take on the responsibility for ‘Teenage Dirtbag’.

Brendan B. Brown still loves singing the hit, more than two decades later (YouTube/wheatusofficial)

Brendan B. Brown still loves singing the hit, more than two decades later (YouTube/wheatusofficial)

He said: “The boyfriend character was based on a nameless sum of the many assholes who wanted to show you their father’s gun.

“I sang both the male and female parts because when I was getting beat up, a lot of the bullies were homophobic. I wanted to irritate them by putting on a female voice.”

Good for you, Mr. Brown. And on behalf of music fans everywhere, thank you for giving us that iconic clip.

While I’m full of praise for the singer’s range, Brown admitted that he keeps getting the same annoying question about how he belts out that part of the song these days.

He is currently on a solo acoustic tour of the US with Gabrielle Sterbenz. He explains that when he sings the Wheatus classic, fans wonder, “Is he doing it because he can’t sing it anymore?”

But fans have been wondering how he sings the 'female' part of Teenage Dirtbag during his acoustic tour (YouTube/wheatusofficial)

But fans have been wondering how he sings the ‘female’ part of Teenage Dirtbag during his acoustic tour (YouTube/wheatusofficial)

If you’re wondering what people mean by “that,” Brown explains that he sang the female part of the song in a “higher harmony” because he couldn’t hear the original melody with the audience singing along so loudly.

In a TikTok post on Sunday (July 21), the 50-year-old explained: “The problem is, because the internet is the internet, someone said to Matthew, ‘Is he doing that because he can’t sing it anymore? ‘

“The answer is no, I can still sing it. I’m very lucky in that respect, my voice is still good at 50, I can still do all the falsettos. I do get tired, I do get sick, but that’s not the case here.

“And what happened here was I tried to sing in a place where I could hear myself above the audience.”

He explained that it’s not the work of “any kind of effects, processor or harmonizer,” but rather that awesome set of tubes he has with him.

The 50-year-old singer took to TikTok to explain his

The 50-year-old singer took to TikTok to explain his “higher harmonies” (TikTok/@wheatusofficial)

Brown continued, “So I’m making this video to hopefully clarify that issue for anyone who’s concerned. Anyway, I really enjoy singing the higher harmony sometimes, which is supposed to be harder, but for some reason isn’t really harder.

“I think the reason I still have a consistent falsetto is because I started singing along with Prince, Geddy Lee, Cyndi Lauper and Bon Scott before my voice changed when I was 7 or 8 years old.

“My mother taught me how to harmonize early on, because I used to see her singing on old Motown songs. My grandmother did that too.

“That’s what happened in ‘Teenage Dirtbag,’ I tried something new. I didn’t mean to make people think I couldn’t do the original, I just wanted to hear myself.”

Social media users were excited to see Brown show off his guitar and feminine vocals on camera, but were stunned that he had to explain his singing skills at all.

One of them said: “Brendan’s vocal range knows no bounds.”

Another wrote: “The harmony is higher so how can you not sing the original? Stupid internet.”

A third added: “Why would they even say that? It’s HIGHER?”

A fourth added: “That girl’s voice does exactly what I need it to do.”

And a fifth joined in the conversation: “My biggest regret in life is that I can’t sing falsetto. So of course I’m SO jealous.”