"Champion" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. ...

, released on June 22, 2017 in the US and on June 23 worldwide through

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...

and DCD2. It was released as the second single from their seventh studio album, ''

Mania Mania, also known as manic syndrome, is a mental and behavioral disorder defined as a state of abnormally elevated arousal, affect, and energy level, or "a state of heightened overall activation with enhanced affective expression together wit ...

''.

Background

While Fall Out Boy's previous single, " Young and Menace", was considered to be a major departure from their usual sound, "Champion" brought back some familiar elements from their more recent albums while still experimenting with new ideas. It was co-written with pop singer-songwriter

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

Composition

Musically, "Champion" has been described as a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

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 ...

pop-punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

and hip hop song. Wentz made a post on his personal

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regarding the meaning of the song: "This one really reminds me of this moment in "

the never-ending story ''The Neverending Story'' (german: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several ...

" . . . first they're like "wait you're just a kid lol we need a ealwarrior" then they're like "ok . . . i guess you'll do" and then "no one can help you and if you don't do this our entire world dies, so no pressure" . . . No one believes but at the same time we all need to believe in you." Another of his notes was posted to Fall Out Boy's Twitter: "In my head champions aren't born, they are forged . . ." In the chorus, Stump repeats the phrase "If I can live through this, I can do anything," which further connects the themes of empowerment and inspiration to the song.

Promotion

TV performances

The band first performed the song live on ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing weeknight ...

'' on July 26, 2017 to promote the album.

Remix

At midnight on December 15, 2017, a remix featuring rapper RM of

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-p ...

was released worldwide across all major music streaming sites. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' praised the collaboration, saying "...the remix offers up a grittier, hip-hop vibe thanks to a mellow tonal shift and RM’s evocative raps about the hardships of life. Like the original, the remix contains an inspirational, empowering message -- something Fall Out Boy and BTS both often incorporate into their music." ''FUSE'' described the new sound as "going from rocking anthem to something of an electronic-pop burner", while ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...

'' said the revamped track "keeps Fall Out Boy's pop rock melodies intact, but weaves in some hip-hop flair with a guest verse from RM". The remix debuted at number 18 on ''Billboards

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart for the issue dated January 6, 2018. It also landed on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, peaking at number two for the week of January 3, 2018, and beating the band's previous peak position of number four with the original version.

Appearances in other media

The song is featured in the soundtrack of

WWE 2K19 ''WWE 2K19'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports. It was released worldwide on October 9, 2018, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twentieth overall game in the ''WWE ...

. It was selected by

Alexa Bliss Alexis Cabrera (née Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss. In 2013, Bliss ...

to appear in the game's soundtrack.

Music video

The visualizer for "Champion" debuted on Fall Out Boy's official

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

and

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 most ...

channels. It featured

Wentz Wentz is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Barney Wentz, American football player * Carson Wentz, American football player * Earl Wentz, American composer and pianist * Eiji Wentz, Japanese singer for the band WaT * Elisabe ...

and rapper

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hi ...

skateboarding in a warehouse, along with the llamas that were seen in the music video for "Young and Menace". The band released it as an interim video, with plans to put the music video out at a later date. The official music video was released on July 28, 2017 also through Vevo and YouTube. The video observed people chasing their dreams and experiencing the world through

VR headsets A virtual reality headset (or VR headset) is a head-mounted device that provides virtual reality for the wearer. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games but they are also used in other applications, including simulators and trainers. VR ...

. American actor and rapper

Jaden Smith Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (born July 8, 1998), also known mononymously as Jaden, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He has received various accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an MTV Movie Award, a BET Award and a Young Ar ...

ended the video by destroying the headset with a baseball bat. A note written by Wentz was posted to Fall Out Boy's official

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 ...

account along with a link to the video: "I can't think of a drug worse than fake reality . . . . Smash the fake reality. Don't just sit around and kill time." The concept of " fake reality" is represented by the VR headsets, while the last sentence alludes to the song's lyrics. Actor

Josh Brener Joshua Max Brener is an American actor. He played the roles of Kyle on the IFC series ''Maron'' and Nelson "Big Head" Bighetti on the HBO series ''Silicon Valley''. In animation, he provides the voices of Donatello on ''Rise of the Teenage Muta ...

, '' The Bachelor'' star

Ashley Iaconetti Ashley Nicole Iaconetti Haibon (born March 6, 1988) is an American television personality and journalist notable for being a contestant on several series in ''The Bachelor'' television franchise, including '' The Bachelor'', '' Bachelor in Paradi ...

, and actor

Timothy Granaderos Timothy Granaderos Jr. (born September 9, 1986) is an American actor and model. He is known for his role as Montgomery De La Cruz in the Netflix teen drama series ''13 Reasons Why''. He has also appeared in the psychological thriller web series ' ...

also made appearances. The video was nominated for Best Rock Video in the 2018 Video Music Awards.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the record sleeve, sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner n ...

of ''

''. Fall Out Boy *

Patrick Stump Patrick Martin Stumph (born April 27, 1984), known professionally as Patrick Vaughn Stump, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Fall Out Boy, originally from Wilmette, ...

– lead vocals, guitar, keyboard, programming, songwriting, production *

Pete Wentz Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician best known as the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy since 2001. Before Fall Out Boy, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the le ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals, songwriting, production *

Joe Trohman Joseph Mark Trohman (born September 1, 1984) is an American musician, singer, and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the American rock band Fall Out Boy,Joe Bosso.The Fall Guy. ''Guitar World''. Janua ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboard, songwriting, production *

Andy Hurley Andrew John Hurley (born May 31, 1980) is an American musician. He is the drummer for the rock band Fall Out Boy. Prior to Fall Out Boy, Hurley played in several hardcore punk bands. He joined Fall Out Boy as the full-time drummer in 2003 and ...

– drums, percussion, songwriting, production Production *

Jesse Shatkin Jesse Samuel Shatkin (born 1979) is an American songwriter, producer and engineer. He has worked with Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Lopez, Fitz and the Tantrums and One Direction, among others. Shatkin was nominated in 2014 for Grammy Award ...

– programming, keyboards *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Shee ...

– mixing * Suzy Shinn – assistant recording * Jay Ruston – assistant recording * Sam Dent – engineering * Sia Furler – songwriting

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2017 songs 2017 singles Fall Out Boy songs Island Records singles Songs written by Patrick Stump Songs written by Pete Wentz Songs written by Joe Trohman Songs written by Andy Hurley Songs written by Sia (musician)