"Something I Need" is a song recorded by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

band

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown (musician), Drew Bro ...

. It was released on August 25, 2013, through Mosley Music and

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 ...

as the third single from their third studio album, ''

Native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

'' (2013). The song was written and produced by

Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...

and

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is als ...

. It peaked at number six in Australia, where it has been certified 3× Platinum, and number four in New Zealand, where it has been certified Gold.

Background

On August 23, 2013, in a response to a question from an Australian fan on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, OneRepublic revealed that "Something I Need" would be the next single released from ''Native''. The track debuted on Australian radio on August 25 and premiered on U.S. radio in mid-September.

Chart performance

The song peaked at number six in Australia, where it has been certified 3× Platinum for sales of over 210,000. In New Zealand, it charted at number four and has been certified Gold after selling 7,500 copies. The song has also charted at number one in Poland, number five in Austria, number 72 in Germany and number 21 in Switzerland.

Music video

The official music video was filmed in September 2013 and was directed by Cameron Duddy. Speaking about the video via their Twitter page, OneRepublic said: "The video for 'Something I Need' will hands down be the craziest video we've done. And funniest. And hopefully best. Time for a risk." The music video was released on October 7, 2013. In the video, a man is repeatedly attacked by a dog in slow motion, preventing him from asking his crush out.

Credits and personnel

;Recording *Recorded at Black Rock Studio,

Santorini Santorini ( el, Σαντορίνη, ), officially Thira ( Greek: Θήρα ) and classical Greek Thera (English pronunciation ), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is t ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

*Additional recordings at Lotzah Matzah Studios,

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 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

; Patriot Studios,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

; Downtown Studios, New York City, New York, and Audiophile Studios,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

*Mixed at MixStar Studios,

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

*Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York ;Personnel *

– songwriter, producer, instrumentation, programming, engineer *

– songwriter, producer, instrumentation, programming, backing vocals *Serban Ghenea – mixer *John Hanes – engineered for mix *Phil Seaford – assistant engineered for mix *Smith Carlson – engineer *Chris Sclafani – engineer, backing vocals *Scott "Yarmov" Yarmovsky – assistant engineer, backing vocals *OneRepublic – backing vocals *Danielle Edinburgh Wilson – backing vocals *Margaret-Anne Davis – backing vocals *Toni Skidmore – backing vocals *Jermon Wilson – backing vocals *Ryan's friends and family after a night of drinking – backing vocals (legend) *Chris Gehringer – mastering *Will Quinnell – mastering

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Ben Haenow version

In December 2014,

Ben Haenow Benjamin Bernard Haenow (born 6 January 1985) is a British singer-songwriter and former van driver. In 2014, he was crowned as the winner of the eleventh series of ''The X Factor'' UK after beating Fleur East. Following his win, his debut singl ...

, winner of the eleventh series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'', released a cover version of "Something I Need" as his winner's single after he won. The song was released as a digital download in the United Kingdom on December 14, with a physical equivalent being released three days later. "Something I Need" was produced by American recording artist John Ryan, who has previously worked with

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the g ...

. All proceeds from the single will go to the children's charity organisation

Together for Short Lives Together for Short Lives is the UK registered charity for children's palliative care. Together for Short Lives’ vision is for children and young people in the UK with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and their families to have as f ...

. The song debuted at number one on 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 ...

, making it the

Christmas number one In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...

. It was the final X-Factor winner's single to reach number one.

Background

On December 12, 2014, the winner's singles for each of the three finalists of eleventh series of ''

'' were revealed. Haenow and Fleur East would record "Something I Need", whilst

Andrea Faustini Andrea Faustini (born 17 June 1994) is an Italian singer. He is best known for his role as a contestant on the eleventh series of ''The X Factor'' in 2014. In 2015, Faustini released his debut studio album, '' Kelly'', which peaked at number 14 ...

would record

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

's " I Didn't Know My Own Strength". On December 14, Haenow and eventual runner-up East both performed the song live on ''The X Factor'' final. This version of the song substitutes the words "die" and "killing" in the pre-chorus and chorus in favor of the words "here", "live" and "loving", presumably to make it more palatable for ''The X Factor'' audience, particularly younger viewers.

Live performances

Haenow performed "Something I Need" on ''The X Factor'' live final results show, just after being announced as the winner. He also sang it on ''

Text Santa ''Text Santa'' was a charity initiative set up in 2011 by ITV to support UK-based charities during the Christmas period. The appeal to the public is to donate money mainly via text donation and profits from merchandise. The telethons have been h ...

'' on December 19. On January 21, 2015, Haenow performed the song at the 20th National Television Awards.

Chart performance

The song debuted at number two in the Republic of Ireland, beaten to the top spot by

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, R ...

and

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...

' "

Uptown Funk "Uptown Funk" is a song by British record producer Mark Ronson from his fourth studio album, ''Uptown Special'' (2015), featuring American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. It was released as the album's lead single on 10 November 2014 via dow ...

" (which ironically received an early release because it was performed on ''The X Factor'' by eventual runner-up Fleur East). It became the first ''X Factor'' winner's single to miss the number one spot in Ireland since

Steve Brookstein Stephen Desmond "Steve" Brookstein''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 November 1968) is an English singer, who is best known for winning the first series of ''The X Factor'' in 2004.< ...

's " Against All Odds" in 2004. In the UK, the song debuted at number one on the

, becoming the 2014

. The song sold 214,239 copies in its first week, becoming the second-fastest selling single of 2014 (behind Band Aid 30's " Do They Know It's Christmas?"). It was also the year's 58th best-selling song. ("Uptown Funk" would finish at number two on Christmas 2014, and at the same time would become the final number one song of 2014 and first of 2015 in Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in addition to Ireland).

Track listing

Credits and personnel

*Ben Haenow – lead vocals, backing vocals *

– songwriting *

– songwriting * John Ryan – guitar, keyboards, producer, programming, backing vocals *DIVA Singers – choir *Ash Howes – mixer *Matt Brind – strings arrangement *Mat Bartram – recording *Ronan Phelan – assistant engineer *Isobel Griffiths – contractor *Dick Beetham – mastering Credits adapted from CD single.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2013 singles Interscope Records singles Mosley Music Group singles Number-one singles in Poland Number-one singles in Scotland OneRepublic songs Songs written for films Songs written by Benny Blanco Song recordings produced by Benny Blanco Songs written by Ryan Tedder Song recordings produced by Ryan Tedder 2014 debut singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles 2013 songs Christmas number-one singles in the United Kingdom Music videos directed by Cameron Duddy