"Bad Liar" is a song by American pop rock band

Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their sing ...

. The song was released through

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Musi ...

and Kidinakorner records on November 6, 2018, as the fourth single from their fourth studio album, '' Origins'' (2018). It was written by Imagine Dragons,

Aja Volkman Aja Volkman (; born March 4, 1980) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the frontwoman of the indie rock band Nico Vega. She has also released an EP titled ''Egyptian'' as a duo with her former husband Dan Reynolds (of Imagine D ...

and Jorgen Odegard, and produced by Odegard. "Bad Liar" peaked at number 56 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It topped the charts in Czech Republic and Latvia, and reached the top 10 in Belgium, Finland, Slovakia and Switzerland; as well as the top 20 in Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore and Sweden. On May 31, 2019, a "stripped" version titled "Bad Liar- Stripped" was released. The song was used in the 2020 Cartoon Saloon film '' Wolfwalkers''.

Background

"Bad Liar" was co-written by

lead vocalist Dan Reynolds and his wife

shortly before they separated. However, Reynolds has said the couple did not end up going through with the divorce. The Norwegian progressive rock band Maraton pointed out that the cover image for their single "Blood Music" is the same as Imagine Dragons’ cover image for "Bad Liar", with only the coloration being different. Maraton's single was released in February 2018, while Imagine Dragons’ song dropped nine months later in November 2018. Despite the undeniable shared artwork, Maraton released a statement revealing they had purchased the artwork from the artist Beeple Crap, but had no deal giving them exclusive rights to the photo.

Critical reception

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

'' called the song a "brutally honest breakup anthem", and described it as "raw and stripped back". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' compared the song's lyrical heaviness to the band's track "

Demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...

Music video

A music video for the song was released on January 24, 2019. The video centers around a high school couple, while it cuts to the band performing the song in the parking lot of that school various times throughout the video. The video continues to add an ominous tone with the surrounding dark shadows and use of fictional levitation. It was directed by Ryan Reichenfeld and was filmed at

Green Valley High School Green Valley High School may refer to: __NOTOC__ *Green Valley High School (Nevada), Henderson, Nevada * Green Valley High School (California), Yucaipa, California Yucaipa ( Serrano: ''Yukaipa't'') is a city located east of San Bernardino, in S ...

, in

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

. The video features dancer Autumn Miller with choreography by Marissa Osato. As of March 2022, the music video has received 369 million views and 3.8 million likes.

Live performances

The song was first performed live at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was also performed at the

2019 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game that determined a national champion in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2018 season. It was played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, ...

halftime show.

Personnel

* Dan Reynolds – lead vocals, keyboards * Wayne Sermon – guitar, backing vocals * Daniel Platzman – drums, viola, backing vocals * Ben McKee – bass guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals *Jorgen Odegard – production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Imagine Dragons songs Songs written by Wayne Sermon Songs written by Dan Reynolds (musician) Songs written by Ben McKee Songs written by Daniel Platzman Songs containing the I–V-vi-IV progression Kidinakorner singles Interscope Records singles