Sunflower (Post Malone and Swae Lee song)

"Sunflower"
Single by Post Malone and Swae Lee
from the album Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Released	October 18, 2018 (2018-10-18)
Genre	Hip hop dream pop R&B
Length	2:38
Label	Republic
Songwriter(s)	Austin Post Khalif Brown Carter Lang Carl Rosen Billy Walsh Louis Bell
Producer(s)	Carter Lang Louis Bell
Post Malone singles chronology
"Better Now" (2018) "Sunflower" (2018) "Wow" (2018)
{{{This album}}}
Music video
"Sunflower" on YouTube

"Sunflower" (alternatively titled "Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)") is a song performed by American singers Post Malone and Swae Lee. It was released as a single from the soundtrack to the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and is included on Post Malone's third studio album Hollywood's Bleeding (2019). The song was released on October 18, 2018. It became Malone's third and Lee's first song as a soloist to top the Billboard Hot 100 and charted in the top ten of the chart for 33 weeks, at the time sharing the record for the most such weeks with "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B and "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran (Post Malone would later break this record with his 2019 single "Circles").

"Sunflower" was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Background

Malone confirmed his involvement with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on October 2, 2018, on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in which he announced that he wrote "Sunflower", which he also performs, and played a snippet of the song. On October 15, Swae Lee revealed that he would also be on the song with Malone, and released another snippet of the song. Lee said that he was "very excited" for people to listen to the song. On October 18, 2018, "Sunflower" was released as a single. Spring Aspers, head of music and creative affairs at Sony Pictures, said that "Post and Swae have delivered a song that’s both heroic and emotional, which is exactly what a Spider-Man story needs. It’s anthemic, but also heartfelt — the perfect soundtrack for Miles to discover the Spider-Man inside himself". Swae Lee called Sunflower one of his favorites collaborations in 2018, which he stated it was "because it’s a movie placement [in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse]. The main character sings “Sunflower” and uses my vocals to calm him down in a certain situation—like my music was therapeutic for him". Malone and Lee previously collaborated on the song "Spoil My Night" for Malone's 2018 album Beerbongs & Bentleys.

The chord progression in the song samples that of Breathe's 1988 hit song "Hands to Heaven".

Music video

On October 18, 2018, a lyric video of the song was released. The video is composed of footage of the film. The lyrics are presented in the comic book style of the film, edited into the context of various scenes, such as graffiti scrawled by Miles Morales. On January 10, 2019, an official music video of the song was released, which is live action. The video contains an exclusive look at the recording session for the song showing the film logo behind Malone and Lee and a live performance. Since its release, the lyric video has received over 1.1 billion views on YouTube.

Critical reception

In Billboard, Gil Kaufman called it "a funky, dreamy ballad" after listening to a preview of the song. Israel Daramola from Spin called "Sunflower" a "glitchy, soulful record" that "will appeal to fans of the more melodic songs made by Post and Swae Lee, as they commit to full crooning throughout. It’s a short and sweet, hazy little pop song that makes sense for a kid’s film or possibly an MTV show about California teens". Patrick Doyle of Rolling Stone characterized the "hyper-catchy" song as "a diary of a rocky relationship, which walks the line between hip-hop and dream-pop".

Commercial performance

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Swae Lee (left) is first artist to top the Hot 100 as a solo artist in a lead credit after reigning with a duo or group, since Justin Timberlake (right) in 2016.

"Sunflower" debuted at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100. After spending three weeks in the top five, it reached number one on the chart issue dated January 19, 2019, rising from number three the previous week. It became Post Malone's third and Swae Lee's first song as a soloist to top the chart. "Sunflower" is the first song from a soundtrack to reach the top of the Hot 100 since Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling!" from the Trolls soundtrack (2016). Additionally, "Sunflower" is the highest-charting song from a Spider-Man franchise soundtrack, passing Chad Kroeger's "Hero", featuring Josey Scott, from Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man, which reached number three in 2002. "Sunflower" also marks the first Hot 100 number one by two co-billed male leads with no other accompanying acts since George Michael and Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (1992). Due to the large airplay lead of "Without Me" by Halsey, "Sunflower" descended to number two the following week. It continuously shuffled within the top five the following four months, going so far as to return to the runner-up spot in March and April. The song has thus far spent 33 non-consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100, tying both Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" and Maroon 5's "Girls Like You", featuring Cardi B, for the longest top 10 run in the chart's archives. Malone's "Circles" broke the mentioned record in 2020, spending 38 consecutive weeks in the top 10. "Sunflower" topped the Canadian Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks.

According to the IFPI, "Sunflower" was fourth most successful song of 2019, selling 13.4 million global equivalents-units. In the US, according to Nielsen Soundscan, it was the second-best performing R&B/hip-hop song of 2019, with 6.3 million equivalent units, including 668,000 digital downloads, and the fourth-best performing song on radio on that format.

Awards and nominations

Year	Ceremony	Category	Result	Ref.
2019	American Music Awards	Collaboration of the Year	Nominated
		Favorite Song — Pop/Rock	Nominated
	Clio Awards	Animation	Bronze
	Guild of Music Supervisors Awards	Best Song/Recording Created for a Film	Nominated
	Melon Music Awards	Best OST	Nominated
	MTV Europe Music Awards	Best Song	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Song: R&B/Hip-Hop	Nominated
		Choice Song From a Movie	Nominated
2020	Grammy Awards	Record of the Year	Nominated
		Best Pop Duo/Group Performance	Nominated
	Billboard Music Awards	Top Streaming Song	Nominated
		Top Collaboration	Nominated
		Top Rap Song	Nominated

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2018–2020)	Peak position
Billboard Global 200	58
Argentina (Argentina Hot 100)	51
Australia (ARIA)	1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	19
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)	15
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)	14
Brazil (Top 100 Brasil)	87
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)	1
China Airplay/FL (Billboard)	22
Croatia (HRT)	44
Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)	18
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)	7
Denmark (Tracklisten)	3
Estonia (Eesti Tipp-40)	4
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)	8
France (SNEP)	63
Germany (Official German Charts)	36
Hungary (Stream Top 40)	5
Ireland (IRMA)	3
Italy (FIMI)	33
Latvia (Latvijas Top 40)	18
Malaysia (RIM)	1
Mexico Airplay (Billboard)	1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)	19
Netherlands (Single Top 100)	33
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	1
Norway (VG-lista)	6
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)	81
13
Puerto Rico (Monitor Latino)	10
Scotland (Official Charts Company)	15
Singapore (RIAS)	2
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)	59
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)	6
South Korea (Gaon)	160
Spain (PROMUSICAE)	96
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)	4
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	22
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	3
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)	1
US Billboard Hot 100	1
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)	29
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)	7
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)	1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)	4
US Rhythmic (Billboard)	1
US Rolling Stone Top 100	6

Year-end charts

Chart (2018)	Position
Australia (ARIA)	85
Chart (2019)	Position
Argentina (Monitor Latino)	81
Australia (ARIA)	4
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)	94
Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia)	61
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)	2
Denmark (Tracklisten)	20
El Salvador (Monitor Latino)	21
France (SNEP)	148
Honduras (Monitor Latino)	43
Ireland (IRMA)	12
Latvia (LAIPA)	6
Malaysia (RIM)	3
Mexico (Monitor Latino)	9
Netherlands (Single Top 100)	100
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	2
Nicaragua (Monitor Latino)	90
Portugal (AFP)	32
Puerto Rico (Monitor Latino)	78
South Korea (Gaon)	196
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)	20
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	74
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	15
US Billboard Hot 100	2
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)	31
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)	2
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)	14
US Rhythmic (Billboard)	3
US Rolling Stone Top 100	2

Decade-end charts

Chart (2010–2019)	Position
Australia (ARIA)	61
US Billboard Hot 100	11
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)	4

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)	10× Platinum	700,000
Belgium (BEA)	Gold	15,000
Canada (Music Canada)	8× Platinum	80,000
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)	2× Platinum	0
France (SNEP)	Platinum	250,000
Germany (BVMI)	Gold	150,000
Italy (FIMI)	Platinum	30,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	4× Platinum	60,000
Portugal (AFP)	2× Platinum	40,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	2× Platinum	1,200,000
United States (RIAA)	8× Platinum	8,000,000
*sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone sales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
Italy	October 19, 2018	Contemporary hit radio	Universal
United States	October 23, 2018		Republic
		Rhythmic contemporary radio
	March 29, 2019	7-inch vinyl single

Other versions

• A remix of the song, featuring new lyrics performed by Nicky Jam and Prince Royce, was released on February 22, 2019, as a bonus track in a deluxe version of the soundtrack of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
• American indie pop band Vampire Weekend covered "Sunflower" on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, in reference to their single of the same name from Father of the Bride (2019).

See also

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 2019
• List of Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles of 2019
• List of number-one singles of 2019 (Australia)
• List of number-one songs of 2018 (Malaysia)