Follow You (Imagine Dragons song)

In early March 2021, the band started teasing towards the release by posting various teasers before announcing the songs on March 8.^[3] "Follow You" and "Cutthroat" mark the first solo releases from Imagine Dragons since their 2018 album, Origins.^[4]

"Follow You" was inspired by frontman Dan Reynolds' relationship with his wife Aja Volkman. Reynolds wrote the song soon after receiving a "life-changing" text from Volkman, having not spoken to her in seven months, while on his way to finalize their divorce. About the writing process, he revealed, "I wrote 'Follow You' after we got back together. I wanted it to represent a love that is realistic. One where love isn't perfect but it endures."^[5]

This song is featured as a DLC in Fuser, released on June 15, 2021.^[6]

In a Song Exploder episode, Dan Reynolds said he began writing “Follow You” immediately after reconciling with his wife Aja Volkman. A demo emerged from a haunting synth and organ track sent by producer Joel Little, which inspired Reynolds to write lyrics centered on loyalty and emotional resilience. The final vocal heard in the released version was the original demo take. Reynolds described the recording space as "not a room that any studio engineer would ever recommend," but noted that when he attempted to re-record the vocal in a professional studio, it "didn't sound as cool", leading the band to retain the original demo vocal in the final mix.

After Reynolds sent the demo to the rest of the band, guitarist Wayne Sermon added parts from home, and they later recorded together at producer Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La studio in Malibu. Rubin encouraged Reynolds to push beyond his vocal comfort zone to heighten the emotional impact. The band experimented with a more live-sounding version featuring organic instrumentation, but ultimately decided against it. Reynolds explained that the live version gave him a feeling of a party, whereas the polished final version retained the emotional tone he was aiming for.^[7]

"Follow You" peaked at No. 68 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also wrapped the group's quickest climb to No. 1 on Alternative Airplay, usurping the seven-week ascents for "Believer" in 2017 and "Natural" in 2018. That same week, it had 5.1 million audience impressions, up 15% from the previous week, according to MRC Data.^[8]

Nearly two months after leading Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart, "Follow You" went No. 1 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay survey, rising 2–1 on the list dated June 19.

The song garnered 7 million audience impressions, up 2%, in the week ending June 13, according to MRC Data.^[9]

In September 2023, for the 35th anniversary of Alternative Airplay,^[10] Billboard published a list of the top 100 most successful songs in the chart's history; "Follow You" was ranked at No. 49.^[11]

The music video for "Follow You" premiered on March 16, 2021. It features It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney. The concert depicted in the video was a birthday gift for McElhenney, although Imagine Dragons is Olson's favorite band, while McElhenney prefers The Killers. Both bands are based in Las Vegas. During the performance of "Follow You", Olson and McElhenney each imagine a series of increasingly wild fantasies involving the band. After the song ends, they begin to leave, prompting lead singer Dan Reynolds to tell them the band still has ten songs left to perform. The pair continues to exit, with a reference that they leave "before they play 'Radioactive'".^[12][13] The music video was filmed at the Venetian Theater in Las Vegas and directed by Matt Eastin.^[14]

• 7" vinyl/CD single/digital download^[15][16]

1. "Follow You" – 2:55
2. "Cutthroat" – 2:49

• Digital download – Summer '21 Version^[17]

1. "Follow You" (Summer '21 Version) – 2:52

• Streaming – Summer '21 Version (Spotify edition)^[18]

1. "Follow You" (Summer '21 Version) – 2:52
2. "Follow You" – 2:56

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[19]