"Burn It to the Ground" is the fourth U.S. single (fifth single in Canada after " I'd Come for You") released from Canadian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...

's sixth studio album ''

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

''. The song has been used extensively for various promotional uses, in television, film and mainly sports-related promos.

Background and composition

Frontman

Chad Kroeger Chad Robert Kroeger ( Turton; born November 15, 1974) is a Canadian musician who is the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Nickelback. In addition to his work with Nickelback, Kroeger has been involved with a variety of collaboration ...

describes the song as being about drinking "everything in sight." The song is an

arena anthem Stadium anthems or sports anthems or arena anthems are terms to refer songs that are played over the public address systems at stadiums and arenas during breaks in the action to rally the fans. Unlike college fight songs, most stadium anthems were ...

, and a live staple of the band's Dark Horse World Tour, where Kroeger usually began the song by stating "this song is the theme song of my life."

Reception

The song was nominated for

Best Hard Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards until 2011. The academy recognized hard rock music artists for the first time at the 31st Grammy Awards (1989). The category was ori ...

for the

52nd Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Pe ...

, but lost to

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

. On February 28, 2010, Nickelback performed the song at the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

in Vancouver. The performance helped the song to reach number 2 on Canada's iTunes while the album reached also number 2 in the top albums category almost a year and a half after its release. "Burn It to the Ground" became the highest-charting single by Nickelback in Finland and only the second Nickelback single to enter the Finnish Singles Chart, peaking at number 7. Their first entry was "

How You Remind Me "How You Remind Me" is a song by Canadian rock band Nickelback. Written by lead singer Chad Kroeger and composed by the band, the track was released on July 17, 2001, as the lead single from their third studio album, ''Silver Side Up'' (2001). ...

", which was released eight years earlier (the song peaked at number 18).

Music video

The video premiered on July 10, 2009. The video features the band on stage at the O₂ Arena in London performing the song. The crowd shots are a mix of all of their Dark Horse Tour shows in the United Kingdom.

Live performances

Nickelback played the song on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' with "

When We Stand Together "When We Stand Together" is the lead single by the Canadian rock band Nickelback from their seventh studio album, '' Here and Now''. Release "When We Stand Together", along with " Bottoms Up" were made free for listening on the band's official we ...

" in 2011. In December 2011, they performed the song as part of the 2011 WWE Tribute to the Troops.

Promotional use

It is featured on the soundtrack for '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'', and can be heard in the background during a party scene in the film. An instrumental version of the song was played when the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

' starting line-up was introduced during home games in 2009. The song was also used by the 2009

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

, and 2010

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

as the players took the field. The song is also featured in video game ''

NHL 10 ''NHL 10'' is a video game in the NHL series developed and released by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts, and is the 19th game in the series. The game debuted at Hockey Fest '09, a three-day interactive festival celebrating the sport of ...

,'' and was used as the theme song for ''

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television show, television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, ET on the USA Networ ...

'' from November 16, 2009, until July 16, 2012, and was used in late 2017 for promoting ''Raw 25,'' the show's 25th anniversary episode for January 22, 2018. It was also featured in ''

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May Po ...

s second season. The song was featured for

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

21st Century Steam Program, starting in 2014 and running until 2017. The song is also the touchdown song for the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

, the goal song for the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

and the AHL's

Peoria Rivermen Peoria Rivermen is the name of four minor league hockey clubs: *Peoria Rivermen (IHL), named as such 1984–1996, formerly the Peoria Prancers 1982–1984 *Peoria Rivermen (ECHL), 1996–2005 *Peoria Rivermen (AHL), 2005–2013 *Peoria Rivermen (SP ...

and the GOJHL's

LaSalle Vipers The LaSalle Vipers are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in LaSalle, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. As a franchise, the Vipers are two-time Sutherland Cup provincial champ ...

, the start of the song plays before the opening faceoff for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

and also the entrance theme for the AHL's

Abbotsford Heat The Abbotsford Heat were a professional ice hockey team that played five seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) between 2009 and 2014. The team was based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, and played its home games at the 7,046-seat A ...

and was the entrance theme of

Jonny Gomes Jonathan Johnson Gomes (; born November 22, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and coach. He is the minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He playe ...

of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. The song is also featured in the trailer for the 2010 film ''

Date Night ''Date Night'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy crime film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Josh Klausner. Starring Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Taraji P. Henson, Common, and Mark Wahlberg, the film tells the story of a case of mistaken iden ...

'', it was also used for the presenter entrance for the ''

Top Gear Live ''Top Gear'' Live (previously known as the MPH Show) was a supercar motor show. It was held annually at Earls Court beginning in 2003, later expanding to be also held at the Birmingham NEC from 2005 with the two shows being around one week apart. ...

'' show. The song has also been used sporadically for the WHL's

Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The Rockets play in the Western Hockey League (WHL), out of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). They play their home games at Prospera Place. The Roc ...

and the SJHL's

Flin Flon Bombers The Flin Flon Bombers are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in Flin Flon, a city located on the Manitoba-Saskatchewan provincial border. The Bombers are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), which is a member of the Canadian ...

. An instrumental version of the song is used whenever the

Boston Blazers The Boston Blazers were an indoor lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The Blazers were based in Boston, Massachusetts, and began play in the 2009 NLL season. The team was owned by Tim Armstrong, the former President of Advertis ...

have a Power Play opportunity. The song is also played in

Speed Channel Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...

's ad for

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXVI The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Showdown and Sprint All-Star Race was the 26th running of NASCAR's special non-points race involving winners of the 2009 and 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races through the 2010 Autism Speaks 400 as well as Sprint All-Sta ...

. It was also used in the Formula One highlights for the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, as well as for the 2010

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

commercials. The instrumental version of the song was used to introduce the players of Team Staal led by

Eric Staal Eric Craig Staal (born October 29, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey center for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, Buffalo ...

at the

2011 NHL All-Star Game The 2011 National Hockey League All-Star Game (also known as the ''2011 National Hockey League All-Star Game presented by Discover'') was played on January 30, 2011. The game took place at the RBC Center in Raleigh, home of the Carolina Hurricane ...

. The song was featured as a playable track part of the Nickelback downloadable track pack for the video game ''

Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

''. The song debuted on August 14, 2010 as the new introduction song for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

Track listing

#"Clean Edit" - 3:29 #"Album Version" - 3:30

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2009 singles Nickelback songs Songs written by Chad Kroeger WWE Raw Songs about alcohol Song recordings produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Song recordings produced by Joey Moi 2008 songs Roadrunner Records singles Stoner rock songs Songs written by Joey Moi Songs written by Mike Kroeger Alternative metal songs