The song is noted for Sting's duet performance with Algerian Raï singer Cheb Mami, creating a distinct world music feel to the song. It also has a popular music video featuring Sting taking a trip through the desert in a Jaguar S-Type and then going to a nightclub to perform the song with Cheb Mami. After shooting the video, Sting's manager Miles Copeland III approached Jaguar about a collaboration, and the auto company featured the video in their prominent TV commercials during the year 2000.

Also included on the single releases were club remixes by Victor Calderone. One remixed version of the song was used in an alternate edit of the video, which included more sexually explicit footage.

The lyrics of the song are inspired by the Frank Herbert novel, Dune,^{[citation needed]} possibly because Sting played the villainous Feyd Rautha in the 1984 film adaptation. Both film and book feature the Arabic language.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Appearances in popular culture

The song is played on XM Satellite Radio during technical difficulties.^{[citation needed]}
The song is used in the Brazilian soap opera "O Clone". The song is available in the CD "O Clone International".
The song was parodied on a 2001 episode of Saturday Night Live, with Jimmy Fallon as Sting, and Rachel Dratch as Cheb Mami. During the sketch, Sting (Fallon) is trying to introduce a new song, while Mami (Dratch) and the backing band keep interrupting with "Desert Rose".
In the 2001 Hindi movie 'Dil Chahta Hai', the character Akash, played by Aamir Khan can be seen listening to the song on the music system of his room.
In Family Guy, Peter buys a "Sounds of the Rainforest" CD. A worker can be heard saying "That song (Desert Rose) sucks!"
In 2000, the band Mo'Rockin produced a cover of the song on their album "Sands of Time"