Youngblood (5 Seconds of Summer song)


"Youngblood" is a song recorded by Australian pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer. It was written by Calum Hood, Ali Tamposi, Andrew Watt, Ashton Irwin and Luke Hemmings with production handled by Andrew Watt and Louis Bell. The song was released via Capitol Records on 12 April 2018, as the second single from their third studio album of the same name.
"Youngblood" reached massive worldwide success. The song peaked at number one in Australia in May 2018, becoming the band's second number-one single in their home country, spending eight consecutive weeks at the top, and was certified as the number one song in Australia for 2018. It also reached number one in New Zealand, spending four consecutive weeks at the top. It reached the top ten in eleven countries, including number three in Canada, number four in the United Kingdom, and number seven in the United States, becoming their first top 10 single in Canada and the United States. On the radio charts, it became their first number one on United States’ Mainstream Top 40 chart and Adult Pop Songs chart, topping the charts for five consecutive weeks and two consecutive weeks, respectively, and Canada's Contemporary Hit Radio/Top 40 Airplay chart, topping the chart for four consecutive weeks.
"Youngblood" has been certified multi-platinum in Australia and New Zealand, certified platinum in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and certified gold in Italy, Belgium and Brazil. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2018, "Youngblood" won the ARIA Award for Song of the Year. and is the most streamed Australian song of all time on Apple Music.
"Youngblood" has sold over one million adjusted copies and has been honored in the APRA AMCOS’ The 1,000,000,000 List, for having been streamed over 1 billion times.

Background and release

The song was initially released as an instant download track with the pre-order of the album, but was later released as a single. Describing the song, the band's drummer Ashton Irwin stated: "We loved that new wave could be really melancholy, but also up. It had romanticism and anger, but also energy and colour. That's exactly what we wanted for our new music."
An audio clip of the song was released on 20 April 2018 on the band's official YouTube channel. The video has received over 40 million views as of May 2020.
The song has amassed over 320 million views on its official music videos.

Critical reception

"Youngblood" received positive reviews from critics with, Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone describing the song as having a "relentless, thumping rhythm, around which 5 Seconds of Summer move between delicate verses and a booming chorus".
Melodic Magazine praised the song for having "such a fun, catchy beat that had listening to the song practically daily" and that “Youngblood set the tone for the album, showing the band’s musical growth over the last few years."
Medium.com labelled the song as "cohesive and strong" and that it was "clear that spent their time honing a craft overlooked by stereotyping naysayers."

Commercial performance

"Youngblood" achieved global success, topping the Apple Music and Spotify charts as well as reaching number one in Australia in May 2018, becoming the band's second number-one single in their home country, spending eight consecutive weeks at the top. It has been certified 11 times platinum in the country, was officially certified Australia's 2018 song of the year and won the ARIA Award for Song of the Year.
It has also reached number one in New Zealand, spending four consecutive weeks at the top. It has been certified triple platinum in the country.
In the United States, ""Youngblood" peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their first top ten single and their highest-charting single to date. It also became their first single to peak at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart, topping the chart for five consecutive weeks, number one on the Adult Top 40, topping the chart for two consecutive weeks, and number two on the Radio Songs chart. It has been certified double platinum in the country.
In the United Kingdom, "Youngblood"" peaked at number four, spent over on the singles chart for 6 months, and has been certified platinum. The single did well during the summer months, from 1 June to 31 August and ranked seventh on The UK's Official Top 40 Biggest Song of the Summer 2018, while the music video ranked ninth place on The Official Top 40 songs most streamed on video of 2018 so far. "Youngblood" ranked number twenty-eight in The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2018.
In Canada, the song peaked at number three, becoming the band's first top ten and their highest-charting single in the country. It also became their first single to peak atop Canada's Contemporary Hit Radio/Top 40 Airplay chart, topping the chart for four consecutive weeks, and at number two on the Adult Contemporary chart. It has been certified platinum in the country.
As well as appearing on a multitude of weekly and year-end charts over several countries, "Youngblood" impacted the ARIA decade-end chart,which ranks the most popular songs of the decade, at number thirty-seven. In the ARIA Australian decade-end chart, ranking the most popular songs of the decade by Australian artists, "Youngblood" ranked at number four.
"Youngblood" has sold over one million adjusted copies and is the most streamed Australian song of all time on Apple Music. In February 2020, 5 Seconds of Summer were honored in the APRA AMCOS’ The 1,000,000,000 List, for "Youngblood" having been streamed over 1 billion times. In June 2020, "Youngblood" was awarded an ASCAP Pop Music Award.
As of June 2020, "Youngblood" has spent over 110 consecutive weeks in the Top 20 on the ARIA Australian Singles chart.

Live performances

The song was performed live for the first time on 20 March 2018 at the band's concert in Stockholm, Sweden as part of their sold out 5SOS III Tour.
After the song was released as a single, the band performed it on The Voice Australia. They performed a stripped back version of the song on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge on 12 June 2018, and have also performed it during their visits at various other radio stations. On 22 June 2018, they performed it on The Today Show Summer Concert Series, and on 28 November 2018 at the 32nd Annual ARIA Awards.
In August 2018, the band uploaded a performance to their official YouTube channel, performing "Youngblood" live for their Apple Music documentary titled,"5SOS - On The Record." The live performance amassed over 4 million views.
The song has become a staple of the band's live shows, since debuting on the setlist for the 5SOS III Tour. It was played as the last song of the encore on the Meet You There Tour, and has become the song the band usually closes their sets with. This was also the case, when the band performed at the Fire Fight Australia relief concert on 16 February 2020.

Music video

An "alternative" music video for the song was released on the band's YouTube channel on 26 April 2018. It is filmed in monochrome and intercuts backstage tour footage with a live performance of the song. As of May 2020, the video has accumulated over 200 million views.
The song's official music video was released on 2 August 2018 while the band was in Japan for their tour. Directed by Frank Borin, the video was filmed in Tokyo and tells the story of an elderly couple in their final moments, having a flashback of their youth which then dives into the Japanese Rockabilly culture. As of May 2020, the video has garnered over 120 million views.

Track listing

  1. "Youngblood" – 3:23
  1. "Youngblood" – 3:40
  1. "Youngblood" – 2:30
  2. "Youngblood" – 2:55

    Credits and personnel

5 Seconds of Summer
Additional musicians

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications