Believer (Imagine Dragons song)

In March 2017, Dan Reynolds told People that the song was inspired by his experiences with ankylosing spondylitis that he developed, elaborating by saying:

The meaning of the song is really reflecting on specific things in my life that were painful, whether it was anxiety and dealing with crowds, feeling overwhelmed by that or the success of the band, disease, going through depression—anything that was a source of pain in my life. And just rising above that, finding a place of perspective where I could be appreciative of the pain in my life and make it my greatest strength.^[1]

"Believer" was written by Imagine Dragons members Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, and Daniel Platzman, along with Justin Tranter, Alex da Kid, and its producers Robin Fredriksson and Mattias Larsson,^[2] around the time of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.^[3] The song marked the band's first time working with Mattman & Robin and Tranter, of whom Reynolds said helped the band get back on track. He called "Believer" "one of those songs that was waiting to be written", with the song coming quickly while they were in a room with Tranter.^[4]

It was released on February 1, 2017, under Kidinakorner and Interscope Records,^[5] as the lead single to the band's third studio album, Evolve (2017).^[6]

"Believer" is an arena rock^[7] and pop rock^[8] song with "big thundering pop production" and a "catchy sing-along chorus".^[9] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Imagine Dragons Publishing, "Believer" has a tempo of 125 beats per minute. Written in the time signature of ¹²
₈, the song is in the key of B♭ minor and follows a chord progression of B♭m-G♭-F (i-♭VI-V). Reynolds' vocal range spans from A♭₃ to D♭₅ during the song.^[10]

The lyrics to "Believer" are about pain and involve Reynolds sharing his innermost thoughts, while also discussing depression and anxiety, with lines such as "First thing's first, I'mma say all the words inside my head" and "I was choking in the crowd". They were greatly discussed when the song was released; some people believed they were about a childhood father-son struggle despite revolving around Reynolds' struggle with ankylosing spondylitis. In the chorus, Reynolds belts "Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer".^[2][11]

"Believer" initially divided music critics. In a review for Evolve, Matthew Paterson of The Carolinian called it "quintessential Imagine Dragons in the absolute best way possible".^[12] Allan Raible of ABC News considered it a "focus track" from Evolve, saying it is "predictable but it has some dark edges that keep it interesting".^[13] Glenn Gamboa of Newsday was also positive of "Believer", saying it "shows just how flexible singer Dan Reynolds' vocals can be".^[14]

On the other hand, David Smyth of The Standard called "Believer" "shouty" and an example of when the band is "least appealing" on the "aggressive" songs from Evolve.^[15] Rob Harvilla of The Ringer said it has a "blaring, all-caps falsetto chorus".^[16]

Later reception has been more positive. Billboard ranked "Believer" the band's fifth-best song in 2018, with Bobby Olivier saying it "remains striking, even after the thousandth play".^[17] Richard Milner of Grunge included "Believer" on his list of "5 Rock Songs from the Last Decade That Changed Us Forever", saying that it was the band's most "emotionally stirring" song with a "catchy" chorus and lyrics with a "hard and necessary truth, that pain is a superb teacher", saying that its lyrics made a "lasting, widespread impression" and that its various lyrical interpretations "[brought people] all, ultimately, together".^[11]

By June 2017, "Believer" had reached number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100, which was their highest on the chart since "Demons" peaking at number six, and number four on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. It topped the THR Top TV Songs chart for May 2017 upon appearing in Riverdale, amassing 307,000 Shazam tags, 303,000 downloads, and 37 million streams throughout the month.^[18] "Believer" peaked at number four on the Hot 100,^[2] which made it the band's third single to reach the top ten on the chart after "Radioactive" and "Demons".^[19] It was also their ninth song to reach the top ten on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, which it topped for 29 weeks.^[4] The song also topped the Alternative Songs chart for 13 weeks,^[20][21] and Adult Pop Airplay for six weeks, making it their first song to top the chart.^[22][23] Among component charts, it also topped Rock Airplay,^[24] Rock Streaming Songs,^[25] Rock Digital Sale Songs,^[26] and Top TV Commercials Charts.^[27] It also topped the Canada Alternative Rock Chart.^[28] "Believer" broke the 14-year-old record for the most spins on the Mediabase Alternative chart.^[29]

"Believer" was the number one song on several Billboard year-end charts, including the Hot Rock Songs chart, the Rock Airplay chart, and the Alternative Songs chart.^[30][31][32] The song was the fifth best-selling song of 2017 in the United States, selling 1,598,000 copies in the year.^[33] In late 2023, for the 35th anniversary of Alternative Songs (which by then had been renamed to Alternative Airplay),^[34] Billboard published a list of the top 100 most successful songs in the chart's history; "Believer" was ranked at number 43.^[35]

As of August 2023, the song had received more than two billion streams on Spotify.^[4]

The official music video for the song, which is about "finding a place of peace and self-confidence", was released on March 7, 2017.^[36] Directed by Matt Eastin, features a boxing match between Reynolds and Dolph Lundgren. It was the first music video that Lundgren appeared in. Reynolds said that Lundgren was a "friend of a friend" and was "into [appearing in the music video] once we told him he could punch me in the face". Reynolds took boxing lessons for a month to get into fighting shape in preparation. One moment in the video that Reynolds said he believed was kept, he said went "too far": "Dolph caught me with a straight right to the jaw on accident and almost knocked me out". Lundgren said that Reynolds was a "worthy opponent" and that some of his punches "would have shaken Rocky Balboa".^[37]

Caroline McCormack of The Heights awarded the music video three-and-a-half out of five stars, saying that it is a "lively, colorful interpretation of the track" with a "futuristic feel" and that the band's appearance and the music "stand as a backdrop to the storyline of the fight", concluding that the video "will demand that audiences watch and pay attention".^[38] The music video for "Believer" was the most watched rock video of the 2010s in the United States according to Vevo, receiving over 158 million views in the U.S.^[39] By August 2023, it had received over two billion views.^[4]

The song was performed in July 2023, of which the performance was then released as a single from the band's live documentary Live in Vegas. Early in the performance, Reynolds gets tripped up and laughs to himself.^[40] At a GLAAD event, after discussing the song and praising Tranter, who was hosting the event and called Reynolds "the definition of an alley", Tranter and Reynolds performed a duet of "Believer".^[3]

By November 2017, "Believer" had been synchronized more than 32 times, including for a Jeep Celebration Event as bonus promotion.^[41] The song was used the first two trailers of the 2017 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express and the Riverdale season 1 finale episode "Chapter Thirteen: The Sweet Hereafter". Bonner Bolton and Sharna Burgess performed an Argentine tango the song in the 24th season of Dancing with the Stars.^[42] The song was used in a Nintendo Switch commercial shown during Super Bowl LI.^[43] Upon its usage in the commercial, the song debuted at number two on the Billboard Top TV Commercials chart.^[44] A remake of the song by metalcore band Hanabie. was used as the main theme for Japanese TV drama Kenshiro ni Yoroshiku.^[45]

Adapted from Apple Music,^[46] except where noted.

Imagine Dragons

• Dan Reynolds – lead vocals, keyboards, songwriter
• Ben McKee – background vocals, bass, songwriter
• Daniel Platzman – drums, background vocals, songwriter
• Wayne Sermon – guitar, background vocals, songwriter

Additional personnel

• Robin Fredriksson – songwriter, producer, engineer
• Mattias Larsson – songwriter, producer, engineer
• Justin Tranter – songwriter
• Alex da Kid – songwriter^[2]
• John Hanes – mixing engineer
• Serban Ghenea – mixing engineer
• Tom Coyne – mastering engineer

• Believer (2018 American film)