Use Somebody by Kings of Leon
May 7, 2010
The single received heavy airplay in Scandinavia, as well as the Republic of Ireland, Germany, the UK and Australia, where it has remained at number one on the Official Airplay Chart for six consecutive weeks. It was a huge success in the U.S., where it topped multiple airplay formats, and reached number four on the Hot 100 and the top of the Pop Songs chart. The song received positive reviews as well and on December 2, 2009, it was announced that the song had been nominated for the 52nd Grammy Awards in the categories of Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Rock Song, winning the last three.
The song has received generally positive reviews from music critics. Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly called “Use Somebody” a highlight of the album, describing the song as “a too-cool hipster’s cry for comfort”. Nick Levine of Digital Spy said “with its Springsteen-style ‘oooah-woooah’s, gathering storm of guitars and lusty, longing vocals from Caleb Followill, it’s nearly as infectious as ‘Sex on Fire’” Gavin Haynes of NME praised the song as “easily the best 80s power ballad of 2008,” but cautioned that the band “may be in danger of mistaking bluster for brilliance”.
In the United States, “Use Somebody” has become a huge hit, and the band’s mainstream breakthrough. It has peaked at number four on the Hot 100, giving the band their first top five hit there, and has spent 57 weeks on the chart. On U.S. radio, the song was a multi-format smash, becoming just the fourth song in history to top the Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40, Alternative Songs, and Triple A charts. The three prior being “Slide” by the Goo Goo Dolls, “Every Morning” by Sugar Ray, and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day. The song first reached number one on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart (now called the “Alternative” chart), their second of three consecutive singles to top that chart. “Use Somebody” also reached number one on the Adult Top 40 Chart, and later topped the Mainstream Top 40 as well. “Use Somebody” has also found great digital success, so far selling over 2,512,122 digital downloads in the United States.
In the UK, “Use Somebody” peaked at #2 on the official UK Top 75 and spent an unbroken 40 weeks on the chart, only dropping out due to the surge in sales of Michael Jackson titles immediately after his death, but one week later it was back. It has now spent 62 weeks on the Top 75, making it the 7th longest runner of all time, and 75 weeks in the Top 100.
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