"21 Reasons" is a song by British DJ/producer

Nathan Dawe Nathan Dawe (born 25 May 1994) is an English DJ and producer. He is best known for his 2020 single "Lighter" featuring KSI, which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Early life and career Nathan Dawe was born in Burton upon Trent on 25 ...

featuring vocals from British singer-songwriter

Ella Henderson Gabriella Michelle Henderson (born 12 January 1996), known as Ella Henderson, is an English singer. She competed in the ninth series of ''The X Factor UK'' in 2012, finishing in sixth place despite being a strong favourite to win. She signed ...

. It was released on 29 April 2022 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

(UK) and Warner UK for digital download and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

. Written by Henderson, John Nicholas Ealand Morgan,

Maegan Cottone Maegan Cottone is an American songwriter, singer, vocal producer and vocal arranger. In 2012, Cottone signed to British publishing company Phrased Differently and managed by Wide Awake Music. She achieved international songwriting success in the ...

, Dawe, Rune Reilly Koelsch and William Martyn Lansley, with production from Dawe and Punctual, "21 Reasons" features a prominent sample of

Rune Runes are the letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, a ...

's 2003

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

song "

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". It is Henderson's second collaboration with Dawe since co-writing and having uncredited vocals on Dawe's 2020 single "

Lighter A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or c ...

" with rapper

KSI Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993), known professionally as KSI, is an English YouTuber and rapper. He is a co-founder and member of the British YouTube group known as the Sidemen. He is the CEO of Misfits Boxing and ...

Background and release

previously collaborated with

on the song "

" with rapper

. "Lighter", which was released as a single in 2020, featured uncredited vocals, and was co-written by Henderson. The

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

's George Griffiths noted the song's prominent sample of

's 2003

song "

", also notable for its sample in

Alex Gaudino Alessandro Alfonso Fortunato Gaudino (; born 23 January 1970 in Salerno, Campania), better known by his stage name Alex Gaudino, is an Italian DJ and record producer. Biography Early career (1993–2006) Alessandro Alfonso Fortunato Gaudino was ...

's 2007 single " Destination Calabria". Speaking to Griffiths, Dawe noted that it had been "a while since he released anything" and therefore took his time to come up with the right song. He also said that the sample took a long time to clear. Explaining about his inspiration for the sample, Dawe said he was inspired as a fan of Gaudino's "Destination Calabria" but knew he needed to do it justice if he wanted to work with that song. Aside from the sample, the song featured lyrics and verses that speak of the 21 reasons why someone is loved. Speaking about how Henderson became involved in the song, Dawe said they had kept in touch after working together on "Lighter" and that upon finishing the

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

it was Henderson that sprung to his mind. He wanted to feature her "unfiltered vocals" unlike those "chipmunk vocals" on "Lighter". The duo wrote the lyrics in two hours over

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...

. Ahead of the song's release on 29 April, Dawe and his label partnered with

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

influencers to build up anticipation for the song. Dawe said that despite the single not being out, during an early set people were able to sing the lyrics back to him when he played the song. Throughout May, June and July 2022, "21 Reasons" was promoted with a number of remixes including an acoustic version, as well as remixes by Toyboy & Robin, Lusso,

Billen Ted Billen Ted is a British record production and songwriting duo based in London, consisting of Tom Hollings and Sam Brennan. History They gained notoriety with the single "Satisfied" sampling from the Chaka Khan 1984 hit " I Feel for You". Howeve ...

, and

Alle Farben Frans Zimmer (born 5 June 1985), better known by his stage name Alle Farben (meaning ''All Colours'' in German) is a German DJ and producer. Since 2014 Zimmer is signed to the record label Guesstimate/b1 Recordings and the publishing house Budde ...

Chart performance

On the Official UK Singles Chart for 2 June 2022, the single jumped up 21 places into the top 20 from number 41, making it Henderson's second simultaneous top-twenty single; "

Crazy What Love Can Do "Crazy What Love Can Do" is a collaborative single by French DJ David Guetta with British singers Becky Hill and Ella Henderson. It was released on 8 April 2022 through What a DJ and Warner UK. A house, pop and electronic dance song, "Crazy Wh ...

", Henderson's collaboration with

Becky Hill Rebecca Claire Hill (born 14 February 1994) is a British singer from Bewdley, England. She rose to prominence after appearing on the first series of the then BBC (now ITV) talent contest ''The Voice UK'', auditioning with John Legend's "Ordin ...

and

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

was placed at number 14. A week later, "21 Reasons" was charting alongside the song "Je M'appelle" by London

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artist Benzz. The latter song was also built around the same

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sample "

". On the UK Singles Chart dated 17 June 2022, Carl Smith of the Official Charts Company noted that "

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weather" in the UK had contributed to dance songs receiving a boost on the charts. At the time, both of Henderson's collaborations were still charting, "Crazy What Love Can Do" reached a new peak of 12, while "21 Reasons" sat at number 14. As a result, "21 Reasons" became Dawe's 2nd UK top-ten single and Henderson's 6th. On the

UK Dance Singles Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record s ...

, "21 Reasons" peaked at number four on the week dated 17 June 2022. After dipping one place for two weeks, it rebounded to number four again on 8 July 2022, where it remained for a further five weeks. During this time, Henderson's other collaboration "Crazy What Love Can Do" remained one position ahead of "21 Reasons".

Music video

At the time of the song's release, Dawe confirmed that a music video had not been shot but said he was open to working on one so long as he was not dancing in it. On 29 April 2022, a lyric video for the song was release. A second lyric video for the acoustic version song was unveiled on 27 May 2022. Just under a month later, it was revealed that Dawe and Henderson were filming a video for "21 Reasons" in Ibiza. The duo announced a series of

YouTube Shorts YouTube Shorts is the short-form section of the video-sharing website YouTube, hosting content much like YouTube's primary service but in a vertical format with a maximum length of 60 seconds. Shorts have collectively earned over 5 trillion vie ...

teasing the video in countdown to 1 July when the full video would be released.

Track listings

Digital single #"21 Reasons" (featuring Ella Henderson) – 2:35 Digital acoustic single #"21 Reasons" (acoustic; featuring Ella Henderson) – 2:47 #"21 Reasons" (featuring Ella Henderson) – 2:35 Digital Single – Toyboy & Robin Remix #"21 Reason" (featuring Ella Henderson; Toyboy & Robin Remix) – 3:05 #"21 Reasons" (featuring Ella Henderson) – 2:35 Digital Single – Lusso Remix #"21 Reason" (featuring Ella Henderson; Lusso Remix) – 2:42 #"21 Reasons" (featuring Ella Henderson) – 2:35 Digital Single – Billen Ted Remix #"21 Reason" (featuring Ella Henderson;

Remix) – 2:26 #"21 Reasons" (featuring Ella Henderson) – 2:35 Digital Single – Alle Farben Remix #"21 Reason" (featuring Ella Henderson;

Remix) – 2:54 #"21 Reasons" (featuring Ella Henderson) – 2:35

Personnel

– vocal production *

– producer, programming *Ella Henderson – lead vocals *Stuart Hawkes – mastering *Punctual – producer , programming *James F Reynolds – mixing Puctual is credited as a producer on all versions of the song, but is the sole producer on the acoustic version.

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Ella Henderson 2022 songs 2022 singles Ella Henderson songs Nathan Dawe songs Songs written by Maegan Cottone Songs written by Ella Henderson Songs written by Rune Reilly Kölsch Atlantic Records UK singles Warner Music Group singles