"My Universe" is an English and Korean song by British

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

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

and South Korean pop group

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...

. It was released on 24 September 2021, through

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

and

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 ...

, as the second official single from ''

Music of the Spheres The ''musica universalis'' (literally universal music), also called music of the spheres or harmony of the spheres, is a philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies – the Sun, Moon, and planets – as a fo ...

'', Coldplay's ninth studio album. It debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming BTS' sixth US chart-topper and Coldplay's second after 2008's "

Viva la Vida "Viva la Vida" (, ; ) is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'' (2008). The lyrics to the song contain historical and Christian refe ...

". The single is also the first track by two co-billed lead groups to top the chart and the first song by a British group to debut at number one in the United States' history. "My Universe" received positive reviews by music critics. It premiered at number three in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, claiming the second-biggest week of the year in downloads, and eventually becoming the most downloaded song of 2021 by a group in the country. The track also reached number one in Hungary, Malaysia and Singapore; the top ten in Australia, Belgium, Canada, India, Ireland, and South Korea; and the top twenty of twelve other countries, including Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, and New Zealand. The official music video, directed by Dave Meyers, was released on 30 September 2021 and features both groups performing on different futuristic planets (Floris, Calypso, and Supersolis) alongside a fictional band named "Supernova 7" via the "Holoband" technology developed by DJ Lafrique, set in an era where music is banned around the universe.

Background

The title of the song was first announced as part of the track listing release of ''

'' in July 2021 without any mention of the song featuring BTS. A snippet of the song was included in a trailer titled "Overtura", also omitting any evidence of the Korean group being involved. On 13 September 2021, the song was revealed to be a collaboration between Coldplay and BTS. The single was announced through a coded message on Coldplay's Alien Radio FM social media account. Following the release of the "

Permission to Dance "Permission to Dance" is a song by South Korean boy band BTS. It was released through Big Hit Music and Sony Music on July 9, 2021, as a stand-alone single. The song was also included as part of the CD release of the group's previous single "But ...

" music video in early July 2021, the groups first collaborated during an episode of the

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

series ''Released'', during which they joined a discussion with Coldplay's frontman

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, pianist, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Devon, he went to Univ ...

on what inspired the "#PermissionToDance Challenge". However, speculations about a collaboration between the two groups had already started circulating in February 2021, after BTS covered their 2005 hit song "

Fix You "Fix You" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all four members of the band for their third studio album, '' X&Y'' (2005). It was released on 5 September 2005 as the second single from ''X&Y'' and reached number 4 on the ...

" on ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

''. On 26 September, the ''Inside My Universe''

making-of In cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK (electronic press kit) vid ...

documentary of the song was released, alongside a "Supernova 7" remix and an acoustic version. A third remix, done by

Suga Suga may refer to: * Suga, Iran, a village in Qazvin Province, Iran * Suga language, a language of Cameroon * Suga (rapper) (born 1993), South Korean rapper, songwriter, and record producer * ''Suga'' (EP), 2020 EP by Megan Thee Stallion * ''Sug ...

of BTS, was released on 18 October. Additional remixes by

Galantis Galantis is a Swedish electronic dance music production, songwriting and DJ duo consisting of Christian Karlsson (DJ), Christian Karlsson and Style of Eye, Linus Eklöw. Karlsson is also known as Bloodshy as part of two other musical groups, a d ...

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 ...

were released in November. Following the collaboration, Coldplay also wrote a song with BTS member Jin titled " The Astronaut".

Music and Lyrics

"My Universe" is a synth-pop track, co-written by Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, and Will Champion of Coldplay, as well as BTS members J-Hope, RM, and Suga, as well as Bill Rahko, Oscar Holter, and Max Martin. The lyrics are in both English and Korean. Coldplay originally wrote the song for BTS, but the songwriting process was revised to include the South Korean septet. My Universe is set to a common time signaure, with a moderately fast tempo of 105 beats per minute. It is written in the key of

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

, with the BTS vocal range spanning from the note F♯₃ to the note B₅. The

upbeat Up beat may refer to: *Upbeat, in music, the last beat in the previous bar which immediately precedes the downbeat *Anacrusis, a note (or sequence of notes) which precedes the first downbeat in a bar in a musical phrase * ''Upbeat'' (album), by t ...

gives the synth-rock of Coldplay and the

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

of BTS an

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

twist. Coldplay introduces a loud electro-dance outro just before the song ends. Lyrically, the song discusses choosing love above differences with a line like, "And they said that we can't be together because, because we come from different sides." But in the chorus, they dismiss doubters: "You, you are my universe, and I just want to put you first."

Commercial performance

The song debuted at No. 1 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with 11.5 million streams, 5.5 million audience impressions from radio airplay, and 127,000 downloads and physical singles combined. It is BTS' fifth song to enter the Hot 100 at the top, making them the group with the most songs to enter at the top spot. BTS,

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

, and

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

were tied for first place overall among artists that time. "My Universe" is also the first Hot 100 No.1 song to list two groups as the primary artists. After "

Viva La Vida "Viva la Vida" (, ; ) is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'' (2008). The lyrics to the song contain historical and Christian refe ...

" in 2008, this is notable as being Coldplay's second appearance at the top of the Hot 100. In addition, "My Universe" topped both the

Billboard Global 200 The ''Billboard'' Global 200 is a weekly record chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine. The chart ranks the top songs globally and is based on digital sales and online streaming from over 200 territories worldwide. First announced in mid-2 ...

and the Billboard Global Excl charts. U.S. charts. Between September 24 and September 30, the song received 95.4 million streaming and 142,400 downloads globally, with 84.4 million streams and 90,500 downloads occurring outside of the United States. It is BTS's fifth No. 1 on the Global Excl. chart and sixth on the Global 200. Coldplay's debut at No.1 on both charts comes in the U.S.The song also debuts at No. 1 on the

Digital Song Sales The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally starte ...

list, making BTS the group with the most consecutive No. 1 songs on the chart with nine. The song debuted at the top of the

Hot Rock & Alternative Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternati ...

and Hot Alternative Songs charts and peaked at No. 21 on the

Streaming Songs The Streaming Songs chart is released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists each week's top streamed radio songs, on-demand songs and videos on leading online music services in the United States. The chart represents one of the three component ...

list, No. 23,

Alternative Airplay Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

, No. 29,

Adult Pop Airplay The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

, and No. 33 on

Pop Airplay Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

. "My Universe" was the top new entry for the week of October 1–7 which debuted at No. 3 on the

Official Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Notably, with a total of 27,000 pure sales, the single was the best-selling of the week in both physical CDs and digital downloads. The song's 21,400 digital downloads gave it the largest week of downloads of any song this year in the UK. On Oricon's weekly digital singles chart, the song debuted at No. 1. The day after it was released, the song debuted on Spotify's Global Top 200 at No. 3.

Music video

A space-themed lyric video, featuring animated handwritten lyrics from both bands in English and Korean, was released together with the song on 24 September 2021. Additional visualizers for the instrumental and three remix versions of the track were published in the following days. A music video directed by Dave Meyers was released on 30 September 2021. Set in the ''Spheres'' planetary system, where music has been banned by the "Silencers", who appeared in Coldplay's 2011 album ''

Mylo Xyloto ''Mylo Xyloto'' (pronounced ) is the fifth studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 24 October 2011. The band worked closely with producer Brian Eno following their successful collaboration on ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His ...

''. The video depicts Coldplay, BTS, and the fictional alien band Supernova 7 performing "My Universe" together. Though located on different planets, the three groups are united as holograms through "HOLOBAND" technology controlled by alien DJ Lafrique, who broadcasts their performance throughout the system from her radio ship while being hunted by the Silencers. Coldplay filmed the video at an empty, abandoned municipal swimming pool complex in Rubí,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, in July 2021. The BTS portion was shot on a green-screen stage at a studio in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, two weeks after the Barcelona shoot. The green screen was useful to make the visual effects, such as the groups' holographic versions, and to unite the scenes from both groups.

Live performances

On 23 September 2021, a day before the song was officially released, Coldplay performed "My Universe" on

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

's ''Small Stage Series'' at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Chris Martin performed a short acoustic rendition of the song as a preview during his guest appearance on ''

The Kelly Clarkson Show ''The Kelly Clarkson Show'' is an American daytime television variety talk show hosted by American singer Kelly Clarkson. It is produced and distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and features Clarkson interviewing celebrities and seg ...

'', which aired the following day. On 25 September, the band performed the song at the

Global Citizen Festival The Global Citizen Festival is an annual music festival started in 2012 and organized by Global Poverty Project. It was founded by Ryan Gall and Hugh Evans. Gall said he was inspired by visiting Austin City Limits and seeing the branding on th ...

in New York's

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

, with BTS appearing virtually via a pre-recorded video that played onscreen behind them. Martin also attempted to sing some of BTS' Korean verses. The following month, the band performed the song during their guest appearance on ''

The Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton s ...

'' on 15 October, at the 2021 Earthshot Prize ceremony at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

two days later (in which 60 cyclists pedalling on bikes provided the power for their performance), and as part of their closing set for

Audacy Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radio platform owned by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom). The Audacy platform functions as a music recommender system and is the national um ...

's 8th annual We Can Survive charity concert held at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on 23 October. Coldplay and BTS performed "My Universe" for the first time together at the

2021 American Music Awards The 49th Annual American Music Awards were held on November 21, 2021, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, recognizing the most popular artists, singles and albums of 2021. Cardi B hosted the ceremony, following Queen Latifah (1995) as the ...

on 21 November at the

Microsoft Theater The Microsoft Theater (formerly Nokia Theatre L.A. Live) is a music and theater venue in downtown Los Angeles, California, at L.A. Live. The theater auditorium seats 7,100 and holds one of the largest indoor stages in the United States. History ...

in Los Angeles. On 2 December, Martin joined BTS to perform the song at the latter's

Permission to Dance on Stage Permission to Dance On Stage was a series of concert performances headlined by South Korean band BTS. Due to COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings and travel, the series included stadium performances with and without live audiences in attendance in ...

concert at

SoFi Stadium SoFi Stadium () is a 70,240-seat sports and entertainment indoor stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California, United States. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, from Los Angeles International Airport an ...

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

Critical reception

Rhian Daly from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' rated the song four out of five stars and called it "a celestial ode to unity, hope and the power of love". She also mentioned while some might view the track as an unusual pairing, the two acts "makes complete sense" together because "both share a predilection for a poetic and heartfelt approach to their music; as well as being two of the biggest bands in the world, they are also two of modern pop's deepest thinkers, imbuing their lyrics with touching statements on love and life". In 2022, ''Rolling Stone'' wrote a "100 Best BTS Songs" editorial and ranked "My Universe" as their third-best collaboration and 62nd track overall, adding it was "Coldplay's most pleasingly unburdened moment".

Accolades

The song received five non-consecutive weekly

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

Popularity Awards in South Korea.

Track listing

CD and Digital Single * My Universe – 3:50 * My Universe (instrumental) – 3:49 Digital (SUGA's Remix) * My Universe (SUGA's Remix) – 3:08 Digital Single * My Universe (Acoustic Version) – 3:43 * My Universe (Supernova 7 Mix) – 4:39 * My Universe – 3:46 Digital (Galantis Remix) * My Universe (Galantis Remix) – 3:44 Digital (David Guetta Remix) * My Universe (David Guetta Remix) – 3:19

Personnel

– lead artist **

Guy Berryman Guy Rupert Berryman (born 12 April 1978) is a Scottish musician, songwriter and producer, best known as the bassist of the rock band Coldplay and electronic supergroup Apparatjik. Raised in Kirkcaldy, he began to play bass from an early age, ...

– bass, keyboards, remixer (''Supernova 7 Mix'') **

Jonny Buckland Jonathan Mark Buckland (born 11 September 1977) is an English-born Welsh musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Pantymwyn, he began to play guitar from an early age, being ...

– guitar, keyboards **

Will Champion William Champion (born 31 July 1978) is an English musician and songwriter best known as the drummer and backing vocalist of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Southampton, he learned various instruments during his childhood, being influenced b ...

– drums, percussion **

– vocals, guitar, keyboards *

– co-lead artist, vocals * Amber Strother – additional vocals *

Jacob Collier Jacob Collier (; né Moriarty; born 2 August 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His music incorporates a combination of jazz with elements from many other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reha ...

– additional vocals * Bill Rahko – keyboards, programming, production, additional vocals * Daniel Green – keyboards, programming, additional production *

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...

– keyboards, programming, production, additional vocals *

Oscar Holter Oscar Thomas Holter (born 26 February 1986) is a Swedish record producer and songwriter based in the United States. He is best known for his work with record producer and fellow Swede Max Martin and Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd on the ...

– guitar, keyboards, programming, production *

Pdogg Kang Hyo-won ( Korean: 강효원; born September 19, 1983), known professionally as Pdogg (Korean: 피독), is a South Korean record producer, composer, and lyricist for Big Hit Music. He has produced and composed for artists such as 8Eight, ...

– vocal recording engineering, production engineering *

Randy Merrill Randy Merrill is an American mastering engineer who has worked with international artists including DAY6, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Harry Styles, One Direction, Adele, Imagine Dragons, Beck, Liam Gallagher, Jonas Brothers, Muse, Cage the ...

– mastering * Rik Simpson – additional production * Tate McDowell – additional vocals * The Dream Team – additional production *

Serban Ghenea Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attended ...

– mixing engineering * Michael Ilbert – engineering * John Hanes – engineering * Miguel Lara – engineering * Emma Marks – assistant engineering * Duncan Fuller – assistant engineering * Connor Panayi – assistant engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2021 singles 2021 songs Atlantic Records singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Billboard Global 200 number-one singles Billboard Global Excl. U.S. number-one singles BTS songs Korean-language songs Coldplay songs Macaronic songs Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director) Music videos shot in Spain Number-one singles in Malaysia Number-one singles in Singapore Parlophone singles Song recordings produced by Max Martin Songs written by Chris Martin Songs written by Guy Berryman Songs written by J-Hope Songs written by Jonny Buckland Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by RM (rapper) Songs written by Suga (rapper) Songs written by Will Champion