"The Kids Aren't Alright" is a song by American

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

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurle ...

. It was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

from their sixth studio album, ''

American Beauty/American Psycho ''American Beauty/American Psycho'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''AB/AP'') is the sixth studio album by American rock band Fall Out Boy, released on January 16, 2015 through Island Records as the follow-up to the band's comeback album ''Save Ro ...

'', as a digital download with pre-orders of the album.

Background and release

"The Kids Aren’t Alright" was released onto their

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second mo ...

account on December 14, 2014, and released the next day as a digital download with pre-orders of the album along with the singles "

Centuries A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

" and "

". It coincided with the release of the second official single from the album, "

", along with the album artwork and track listing. When asked which ''American Beauty/American Psycho'' track the band was most proud of,

Pete Wentz Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician best known as the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy since 2001. Before Fall Out Boy, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the lea ...

responded, "It's hard to say because it's like having kids. atricksays The Kids Aren't Alright". The song is the fourth song on Fall Out Boy's sixth studio album ''

'', and it runs the length of four minutes and twenty seconds. A remix of the song featuring

Azealia Banks Azealia Amanda Banks ( ; born May 31, 1991) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, she began releasing music through Myspace in 2008 before being signed to XL Recordings at age 18. In ...

was included on the remix album '' Make America Psycho Again''.

Composition

Collin Brennan of ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' described the song as being a "slowed-down pop gem".

Commercial performance

The song debuted at No. 18 on the '' Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart which lists the top singles that have yet to chart on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also reached No. 10 on the US

Hot Rock 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 alterna ...

chart. Three weeks after its release, "The Kids Aren't Alright" debuted at No. 189 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 ...

Background and release

Composition

Commercial performance

Chart performance

Peak positions

Year-end charts

References