"Stay" is a song by Russian-German

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

producer

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (russian: Антон Заславский; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a Russian-born German disc jockey, DJ, record producer, and songwriter. Zedd grew up and began his musical journey in Kaise ...

and Canadian singer

Alessia Cara Alessia Caracciolo (born July 11, 1996), known professionally as Alessia Cara (), is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Mississauga, Ontario, to Italian Canadian parents, she began posting covers of songs on YouTube at age 13. After uploadi ...

. The single was released on 23 February 2017 through

Interscope Records 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 Mus ...

, and is also featured on the Japanese edition of Cara's second studio album, ''

The Pains of Growing ''The Pains of Growing'' is the second studio album by Canadian singer and songwriter Alessia Cara. The album was released on November 30, 2018, by Def Jam Recordings. Its songs were mostly written by Cara herself, with co-writing from producers Po ...

''. The official music video was released on

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 ...

on 18 April 2017.

Composition

"Stay" is a

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 ...

song influenced by

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

performed in the key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 102 beats per minute. It follows a chord progression of D–F–E, and Cara's vocals span from F₃ to D₅. The song introduction contain a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

from

Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

's 2016 track "Poltergeist".

Music videos

A lyric video for "Stay" was released on February 23, 2017, and has over 486 million views as of December 2022. A music video for "Stay" directed by Tim Mattia was released on April 18, 2017, and has 111 million views as of December 2022.

Chart performance

"Stay" peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the

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

, becoming both Zedd and Cara's third top ten song on the chart.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

, -

Riri version

Japanese singer Riri covered "Stay" during a live performance at a

Line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

Live special event. The cover eventually was released to digital stores on 20 June 2018 due to fan requests, by

and Sony Music Associated Records.

Background

In February 2017,

performed "Stay" in Japan at a festival. He proposed a Japanese cover to

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

wanting the song to be "known to everyone in Japan". Amongst many candidates, Riri ultimately was chosen to cover the song. The cover was announced in March 2018 by

Universal Music Japan , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in the country regarding music distribution. The company is resp ...

. The song later was released digitally on 20 June 2018 in Japan only. The cover was included on the Japanese digital version of Riri's second studio album, ''Neo''.

Music video

A music video of Riri performing the song live was released by Universal Japan on 18 March 2018.

Live performances

Riri performed the song live in Japan at a Line Live special event in Japan in March 2018. During the event, Zedd spoke with Riri regarding the cover.

Radio and release history

References

{{Authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Zedd songs Alessia Cara songs Dance-pop songs Def Jam Recordings singles Songs written by Zedd Interscope Records singles Torch songs Songs about alcohol Songs written by Mood Melodies Songs written by Sarah Aarons Songs written by Noonie Bao Songs written by Alessia Cara Songs written by Linus Wiklund Universal Music Japan singles Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles