"Freedom" (stylized as FREEDOM!) is a song by

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

which was released for streaming on

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

and played by

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

on his show on

Beats 1 Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod), ...

on its launch date of June 30, 2015. Part of the song was made available as a teaser on Williams'

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 ...

page and was also used in a promotional video for

. Its music video was nominated for

Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...

58th Grammy Awards The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 201 ...

Critical reception

Writing for MusicSnake, Marissa Fitzgerald gave the song a very positive review, give it 4/5 stars and stating Freedom' is an awesome track with a feel-good vibe and a positive message. The lyrics are uplifting and promote living a happy life without restrictions or limitations." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' describes the track, "powerful," as well as, "snappy," and, "infectious," while ''The Guardian'' describes it as, "socially conscious." According to ''USA Today'', "Williams may have found a song that captures the tenor of its time."

Live performances

Williams performed the song on his international 2015 tour, including during his set at

Glastonbury Festival 2015 The 2015 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 24 to 28 June 2015. On 17 June 2015, it was announced that the Foo Fighters had cancelled a number of appearances, including the Friday night headline slot at Glastonb ...

on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday June 27. Williams also performed this single at the

2015 MTV Video Music Awards The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 30, 2015. The 32nd installment of the event was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, and hosted by Miley Cyrus. Taylor Swift led the nominations with a total of ten, followe ...

and the

2015 MTV Europe Music Awards The 2015 MTV EMAs (also known as the MTV Europe Music Awards) were held at the Mediolanum Forum in Assago, near Milan, Italy, on 25 October 2015. This was the third time the awards have taken place in Italy, second time Milan has been the host ...

. Williams performed the song on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

'' on Friday September 11. Williams also performed the song with a full orchestra during a guest appearance at Hans Zimmer's live set at the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

on Sunday April 16, 2017.

In other media

*In 2017, the song was used for an advert of the telecommunications company Claro by its subsidiary in Argentina. *In 2017, the song was used in the Nissan Navara commercial. *in 2016, the song was used in an Aetna commercial *in 2018, the song was used in a

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

commercial. *In 2017, the song appeared on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for '' Despicable Me 3'', which Williams also produces the music for the franchise. *In 2017 the song was in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

bid for the

2028 Summer Olympics The 2028 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, also known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA28) is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028, in and around Los Angeles, Cali ...

. *In 2017, the song was used for an advert of the Dutch energy supplier, Eneco. *In 2016, the song was played prior to the concession speech delivered by

Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

, the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

's candidate for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

in the

2016 U.S. Presidential Election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald ...

. *In 2016, the song was used in adverts for New Zealand telecommunication company, Spark. *In 2016, the song appeared in the movie, '' Now You See Me 2''. *In 2015, the song was used for an advert of the German television transmitter,

Sky Deutschland Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (through Sky Switzerland). It provides a collection of basic and premium digital sub ...

. *In 2019, the song was used in Walmart's new clothing ad for their We Dress America campaign.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2015 songs 2015 singles Pharrell Williams songs Songs written by Pharrell Williams Music videos directed by Paul Hunter (director) Songs about freedom Columbia Records singles Indie pop songs Song recordings produced by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Treach Songs written by Vin Rock Songs written by KayGee