"Thunder" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It was released by Interscope Records and Kidinakorner on April 27, 2017, as the second single from their third studio album, '' Evolve'' (2017). Written by band members Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, and its producers Alex Da Kid and Jayson DeZuzio, "Thunder" peaked at number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song became the band's fourth single in that country to reach the top ten after "

Radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...

", " Demons" and " Believer". It also reached the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden. The song was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance The Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 63rd Grammy Awards category rules, "this category ...

Music video

The official music video for the song was released on Imagine Dragons'

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 ...

channel on May 2, 2017. The video was shot in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, filmed in black and white. It features the band's lead vocalist, Dan Reynolds, singing and dancing among extraterrestrials, portrayed by dancers Haroon Al Abdali, Mamadou Bathily, and Gianna Gi, around

Downtown Dubai Downtown Dubai or The Dubai Downtown, is a large-scale, mixed-use complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Dubai Downtown was created by the Emaar Real Estate Development Company. Before 2000, the place was called Umm Al Tarif. It is home to so ...

and the Burj Khalifa. It was directed by Joseph Kahn. As of November 2021, the video has 1.7 billion views on YouTube, making it the group's second most viewed video. It also has over 10 million likes.

Live performances

Imagine Dragons performed the song at the

2017 American Music Awards The 45th Annual American Music Awards took place on November 19, 2017, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. It was broadcast on ABC and was hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross. Performances Notes * Broadcast live from Capital One Aren ...

, in a medley with singer Khalid's " Young Dumb & Broke", with Khalid joining them for the performance. A little over a month later, on December 20, a studio version of the mash-up was released.

Chart performance

"Thunder" peaked at number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The single has also reached number one in Belarus, the Czech Republic and the top ten in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland. It topped the ''Billboard''

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 for 21 weeks, Alternative Songs (three weeks), Adult Top 40 (seven weeks), and the Mainstream Top 40 (for one week) charts. It became the ninth best-selling song of 2017 in the United States, with 1,189,000 copies sold in the year.

Critical reception

Critics from '' Billboard'' magazine placed it number 84 on its list of best songs of 2017, stating "'Thunder' is relatively stripped down, and between its soldierly cadence and a bouncy, helium-inflated, one-word hook, it makes for a curious pop gem". In a review of the band's live performance at London's O2 Arena, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote of the song: "...the irresistible, hiccupping electro-pop of Thunder, a tune that could sit equally happily in a set by

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

or Rihanna".

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Medley version

Year-end charts

Medley version

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Imagine Dragons songs Music videos directed by Joseph Kahn Songs written by Ben McKee Songs written by Daniel Platzman Songs written by Dan Reynolds (musician) Songs written by Wayne Sermon Songs written by Alex da Kid Song recordings produced by Alex da Kid Kidinakorner singles Interscope Records singles American synth-pop songs Black-and-white music videos Songs about weather Electropop songs

Music video

Live performances

Chart performance

Critical reception

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Medley version

Year-end charts

Medley version

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

References