the track was originally recorded and co-written by pink for the album funhouse but did not make the final cut. on november 18, 2009, lambert announced via his official website that his second single from his debut album would be "whataya want from me". the song was the second single announced before the cd was officially available to the public. the song became available as a legal download in the united states on november 20, 2009 when his cd was officially released. the song was also included on now that's what i call music! #34 and was covered in the kidz bop series.