"Demons" is a song by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band

Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band formed in 2008, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band currently consists of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee. They first gained exposure with the release of ...

. It was written by Alex da Kid, Ben McKee, Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Josh Mosser and produced by Alex da Kid. The song appears on their major-label debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, '' Continued Silence'' (2012), and also makes an appearance on their debut studio album, ''

Night Visions ''Night Visions'' is the debut studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It was released on September 4, 2012, through Kidinakorner and Interscope Records. The album was primarily produced by the band themselves, as well as Engli ...

'' (2012), as the fourth track. "Demons" was solicited to American triple-A radio stations on January 28, 2013, and to

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

stations two months later, on April 1, 2013. It serves as the album's overall fifth single and was released as the third single from ''Night Visions'' in the United States, later released to US

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

stations on September 17, 2013 as an official single. The lyrics portray the protagonist warning the significant other of his or her flaws. The song was a commercial success, becoming their second top ten single 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 conside ...

". It spent twelve weeks in the top ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, four of which were spent at its number six peak. It is Imagine Dragons' second song to stay more than one year on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

(61 weeks). Within two years of its release, more than 4.1 million copies were sold in the United States, making it the eighth most downloaded song in rock history at the time. It has also been a moderate commercial success worldwide, charting in several countries. The song won a

MuchMusic Video Award The iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards were an annual awards show broadcast annually on Much (TV channel), Much from 1990 to 2018, and Fuse (TV channel), Fuse from 2010 to 2013 that honoured the year's best music videos. Originally debuting in ...

for International Video of the Year – Group (2014) and an iHeartRadio Music Award for Alternative Rock Song of the Year (2014).

Composition

The song is written in E♭ major with a slow-moderate tempo of 90 beats per minute.

Music video

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

report on the "Demons" music video stated that it would "fit nicely with the artful imagery of ' It's Time' and the thoroughly out-there puppet grappling of '

'." Released on May 7, 2013, and shot in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

at the band's performance at The Joint on February 9, 2013, the video features a mix of live footage of the band and a companion narrative. Various characters with personal hardships are depicted, including a grieving daughter, a man with

Marfan syndrome Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a multi-systemic genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue. Those with the condition tend to be tall and thin, with dolichostenomelia, long arms, legs, Arachnodactyly, fingers, and toes. They also typically ha ...

who stares at himself in a mirror, a victim of parental abuse and a military veteran carrying his wounded comrade. The meaning imposed is that most do not see beyond the face that everyone puts on for the public. The clip ends with a dedication to Tyler Robinson (1995–2013), a fan of the band who died at the age of 17 in March 2013 following a battle with cancer. The music reached the one billion view milestone on July 18, 2022.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Accolades

Release history

Personnel

* Dan Reynolds – lead vocals * Daniel Wayne Sermon – guitars, backing vocals * Ben McKee – bass, keyboards, backing vocals * Daniel Platzman – drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians

* J Brownz – additional guitar, additional bass.

References

{{authority control 2012 songs 2013 singles Imagine Dragons songs Song recordings produced by Alex da Kid Songs written by Alex da Kid Kidinakorner singles Interscope Records singles Universal Music Group singles Rock ballads 2010s ballads Songs written by Wayne Sermon Songs written by Dan Reynolds (musician) Songs written by Daniel Platzman Songs written by Ben McKee Songs containing the I–V-vi-IV progression Pop ballads