This week in... 2013
US pop-rock band OneRepublic is finally back with fresh music and an upcoming album due later this year.
The Song
Counting Stars
The Artiste
OneRepublic
The Lyrics
Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep / Dreaming about the things that we could be / But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard / Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars / Yeah, we'll be counting stars
The Results
Counting Stars, from their third studio album Native, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is tied with 2007's Apologize as the US pop-rock band's highest-charting single in the US. However, it did reach No. 1 in many other countries, including Canada and the UK, where it has sold over one million copies. It sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time.
That was then...
Counting Stars was written by OneRepublic's lead singer Ryan Tedder - and he almost gave it to US singer Beyonce.
In an interview with Official Charts, the 36-year-old revealed that he started working on it when he was invited to stay in the Hamptons with Beyonce and her US rap mogul-husband Jay Z in the summer of 2012.
He said: "I started combing through the Internet, searching for stuff that would inspire me for Beyonce. I ended up coming across this weird song - I don't even know what it was called - that had this indigenous folk sound to it that just struck me like lightning. I didn't like the verses or lyrics, but I loved the feel and movement of it. That ended up inspiring Counting Stars.
"I debated playing it for Beyonce and putting it forward for her album, but it didn't feel like a song Beyonce would record. I immediately came up with the chorus idea, went home and for the next three months finished the Native album."
This is now...
OneRepublic, which currently comprises Tedder, guitarist Zach Filkins, keyboardist Drew Brown, drummer Eddie Fisher and bassist Brent Kutzle, are finally back with fresh music and an upcoming album, due later this year.
Their new single, Wherever I Go, marks the group's new direction into a louder and more experimental sound.
The high range of the song is inspired by Prince's The Most Beautiful Girl In the World, and Tedder calls it an "appetiser".
He told Entertainment Weekly: "The biggest thing I'm chasing is that, 'Wait a minute, what the **** was that?' reaction.
"With first singles, you're looking for that unicorn in the woods kind of sound. Just having a hit record doesn't really shift the needle."
And if you're hoping to catch OneRepublic live, they will be headlining music event MTV Music Evolution Manila in the Philippines on June 24.
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