"Rather Be" is a song by English

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

group

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit is an English electronic music group formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have achieved four number-one singles and six additional top-ten songs on the UK Official Singles Chart. Since 2016, the group has been a trio comprising foundi ...

, featuring vocals by

Jess Glynne Jessica Hannah Glynne (born 20 October 1989) is a British singer. She rose to prominence in 2014 as a featured artist on the singles " Rather Be" by Clean Bandit and " My Love" by Route 94, both of which reached number one on the UK Singles C ...

. It was released on 17 January 2014 as the fourth single from the group's debut studio album, ''

New Eyes ''New Eyes'' is the debut studio album by English electronic music group Clean Bandit, released on 30 May 2014 by Atlantic Records in Germany and Ireland, and 2 June 2014 in the United Kingdom, after suffering from several setbacks. The album in ...

'' (2014). It also appears on the deluxe version of Glynne's debut album, '' I Cry When I Laugh'' (2015). It was co-written by band members Jack Patterson and

Grace Chatto Grace Chatto (born 10 December 1985) is an English musician and singer who is the cellist, backing vocalist and occasional main vocalist, for the electronic music band Clean Bandit. Education Chatto attended Latymer School and Westminster Sc ...

, along with

Jimmy Napes James Napier (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Jimmy Napes, is an English songwriter and record producer. He has won a number of awards including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, 3 Grammy Awards, and 2 Ivor Novello Awards ...

and Nicole Marshall, and produced by Patterson and Chatto. The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart and was the third fastest-selling single of 2014, and the highest-selling January single since " Spaceman" by

Babylon Zoo Babylon Zoo were an English rock band formed in 1992 in Wolverhampton. Their song " Spaceman" gained considerable exposure through its use in a Levi's jeans television advert in the United Kingdom in late 1995. Released as the band's debut si ...

in 1996. The song spent four weeks at number one, selling over one million copies since release and becoming only the seventh single to go 3× platinum. "Rather Be" also reached number one in eleven additional countries including Austria, Finland, Germany, Norway and Sweden. It was the best selling single of 2014 in the Netherlands, was the tenth highest-selling single of the 2010s decade in the UK, and is

certified Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

platinum or higher in eleven countries. In the United States, the song peaked at number ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was placed at number four on ''Billboard''s 10 Best Songs of 2014 list. "Rather Be" has also become an international hit in part due to the song's video becoming a viral hit on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Filmed in Tokyo and featuring Haruka Abe, it has over 750 million views. It won the

Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

category at the

2015 Grammy Awards The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time. ...

in the United States.

Background and composition

"Rather Be" was written by Clean Bandit

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

Jack Patterson, Nicole Marshall and James Napier (frequent collaborator of

Disclosure Disclosure may refer to: Arts and media Film and television *'' CBC News: Disclosure'', a television newsmagazine series in Canada * ''Disclosure'' (1994 film), an American erotic thriller film based on the 1994 novel by Michael Crichton * ''Dis ...

), and was produced by Clean Bandit

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Grace Chatto and Patterson. "Rather Be" is recorded in the key of

G-sharp minor G-sharp minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has five sharps.Tapper, Thomas. First Year Musical Theory (rudiments of Music)'. United States, A. P. Schmidt, 1912. Its ...

(although is frequently notated in sheet music in the easier to play key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic ...

due to the songs popularity), in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

and at a light

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 120

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. The track's

instrumentation Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...

includes a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

chiptune Chiptune, also called 8-bit music (although not all chiptune is 8-bit music), is a style of electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video gam ...

-style synth blips, a slow bass, piano and vocals. According to Pandora.com, the song features a "vocal counterpoint", a subtle "buildup/ breakdown", use of "modal harmonies", the use of "chordal patterning" and "

staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of Articulation (music), musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and ...

synths".

Release and critical reception

"Rather Be" received its first play on 4 December 2013, when it featured as

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reed Lowe (born 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 through pr ...

's ''Hottest Record in the World''. The song's digital release date was originally planned to be 19 January 2014, but was moved to 17 January. The single was issued by

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

, and is the third to be taken from Clean Bandit's debut studio album. Warner Music Group also released a number of official remixes released for download, with DJs such as

All About She All About She are an English band from High Wycombe, England. The band consists of record producers James Tadgell and Jon Clare, and singer Vanya Taylor. They were signed to Tinie Tempah's record label Disturbing London and have worked several ...

and

Cash Cash Cash Cash is an American EDM-pop rock band / producer / DJ trio from Roseland, New Jersey. The group consists of three DJs / musicians: brothers Jean Paul and Alex Makhlouf and Samuel Frisch. They produce, record, mix and master all their mus ...

. The song was met with critical acclaim in the music press, with both positive reviews from

contactmusic ''Contactmusic.com'' is an online magazine of cultural criticism based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films ...

and

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

, who commented, "Co-penned with

hitmaker Jimmy Napes, 'Rather Be' blends classical-inspired violin with uplifting

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

beats and a vocal that sounds suspiciously like

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British and New Zealand singer, songwriter and record producer. She released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R& ...

. The result is an infectious sound that feels fresh and exciting.". The song was placed at number four on ''

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 ...

''s 10 Best Songs of 2014 list. In December 2014, the song received a nomination for

Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

, which it would go on to win in early 2015.

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, selling 163,000 copies in the first week. It was the third fastest-selling single of 2014 (behind Band Aid 30's "

Do They Know It's Christmas? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...

" and

Ben Haenow Benjamin Bernard Haenow (born 6 January 1985) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2014, he was crowned as the winner of the eleventh series of ''The X Factor'' UK after beating Fleur East. Following his win, his debut single, a cover of O ...

's "

Something I Need "Something I Need" is a song recorded by American pop rock band OneRepublic. It was released on August 25, 2013, through Mosley Music and Interscope Records as the third single from their third studio album, ''Native'' (2013). The song was wri ...

"), and the highest-selling January single since " Spaceman" by

in 1996. It stayed there for four weeks, the longest UK number one for three years. It is the second best-selling song of 2014 in the UK, selling over 1.13 million copies by the end of the year. On the US ''

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 ...

, the song peaked at number ten, marking Clean Bandit's and Glynne's first US top 10. The song was a remarkable success worldwide, topping the charts in 13 different countries. Upon its release, "Rather Be" held the record for the most streams in a single week on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

in the United Kingdom. The track received 1.09 million plays over seven days in February 2014, surpassing the record previously held by

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

's " Get Lucky", although this record has now been surpassed. In August 2015, the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

certified the song 3× platinum (the sixth song of the century to achieve this)."British single certifications – Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne – Rather Be".
British Phonographic Industry. ''Enter'' Rather Be ''in the field Search. Select'' Title ''in the field'' Search by. ''Select'' single ''in the field'' By Format. ''Click'' Go It stayed in the top 75 for 73 weeks, setting the record for the longest unbroken run (since equalled by "

Thinking Out Loud "Thinking Out Loud" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran recorded for his second studio album, '' ×'' (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge, and produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling. It was released in the US ...

" by

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

). As of September 2017, the song has sold in the UK 1,283,000 copies in pure sales, it also gained 93 million in streams, making a total of 2,219,000 in combined units.

Music video

The music video was directed by the group and was uploaded to

on 5 December 2013. It has since received more than 712 million views. The video was filmed in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan and features Haruka Abe as a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

fan. During the video, Abe lip-syncs to Jess Glynne's vocals. Glynne herself also appears in the video. The band comments:

"The video is about a Japanese fan of the band who becomes delirious and has hallucinations of band members and our logo appearing unexpectedly in her daily life as a chef. Filming in Tokyo was an amazing experience: we spent almost a week there and everyone was so helpful. We made it ourselves as always, which was quite scary as we've never produced anything so far away before. We had a bit of trouble filming the scene on the train though. Turns out it's considered incredibly rude to make noise on a train so when we started dancing around to the track in the carriage with the extras, it didn't go down well! Got shouted at."

Live performances

On 16 January 2014, the group performed "Rather Be" in

's ''

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cott ...

'', together with a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

's " Royals". They performed it as part of their sets at the

Summertime Ball Capital's Summertime Ball is a mini-festival in London, usually held on either first or second Saturday or Sunday of June by the radio station Capital (radio network), Capital. The first ball was at Emirates Stadium in 2009, and it has since b ...

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

and

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...

. They also performed at the

2015 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2015 was held on 25 February 2015. This was the 35th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London, presented by Ant & Dec. This was their second tim ...

nomination launch party along with their new single " Real Love".

In popular culture

* In April 2014,

The 1975 The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in 2002. The band consists of Matty Healy (lead vocals, guitar, primary songwriter), Adam Hann (lead guitar), Ross MacDonald (bass), and George Daniel (drums, primary produ ...

covered the song while at the

''. * From September 2014 to December 2016, the instrumental of the song was used in

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

food adverts, until January 2017 when the music was changed to "

Shape of You "Shape of You" is a song by English singer Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the lead single, double lead singles from his third studio album ''÷ (album), ÷'' (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The Dancehall pop, ...

" by

. * In September 2014,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

released a commercial in the United States featuring the chorus of the song. * In September 2014,

YES Network The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...

featured the song in the closing credits montage of

Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974), nicknamed "the Captain", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) caree ...

's final season of playing Major League Baseball. * The song was featured in the season 6 episode of ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'' entitled " The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester". The song is performed by the members of The New Directions. * The song was used in the

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

game, '' Pro Evolution Soccer 2016'' as third track. * The song is the backing music in 2016 for ads for Graton Resort and Casino in northern California. *

Mazda is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd. ...

has used the song in an Australian commercial for the

Mazda2 The is a subcompact/supermini (B-segment) car manufactured and marketed by Mazda since 2002, currently in its third generation. An entry-level model of the brand in markets outside Japan, the Mazda2 is positioned below the Mazda3. The Mazda2 ha ...

vehicle. * The Australian singer

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (; born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the Australian Idol (season 4), fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and s ...

covered the song on her album '' The Secret Daughter Season Two: Songs from the Original 7 Series'' (2017). * A cover version by Marc Scibilia was featured in the 2018

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. (also referred to as Sony Animation Studios and abbreviated to SPA) is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and found ...

film ''

Peter Rabbit Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by English author Beatrix Potter. A mischievous, adventurous young rabbit who wears a blue jacket, he first appeared in ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' in 1902, and subseq ...

''. *The song was featured over the closing credits to the final episode of ''

Sense8 ''Sense8'' () is an American science fiction drama television series created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski for Netflix. The production companies behind ''Sense8'' included the Wachowskis' Anarchos Productions (replac ...

'', "Amor Vincit Omnia", with behind-the-scenes clips of the production of the show. *The instrumental version of the song was used in ''Amphibiland'', the pilot version of ''

Amphibia Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods, but excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic ...

''. *The song is featured on the 2022 dance rhythm game ''

Just Dance 2023 Edition ''Just Dance 2023 Edition'' is a 2022 dance rhythm game developed and published by Ubisoft. It was unveiled on September 10, 2022 during the Ubisoft Forward September 2022 web presentation as the fourteenth main installment of the series. It mar ...

''.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

''Credits adapted from "Rather Be" CD single liner notes.''

Musicians

* Jack Patterson – keyboards, piano *

– cello * Luke Patterson – drums *

Anthony Strong Anthony Strong (born 29 October 1984) is an English jazz singer, pianist, and songwriter. Early life Strong was born in Croydon, Surrey, England and educated at Whitgift School, the Royal Academy of Music, the Purcell School, and The Guildhal ...

– piano * Asher Zaccardelli – viola * Beatrice Philips – violin * Neil Amin-Smith – violin * Florence Rawlings – vocals *

– vocals

Technical

* Jack Patterson – producer, mixer *

– producer * Lewis Hopkin – mastering * Wez Clarke – mixer * Liam Nolan – engineer * Brett Shaw – engineer (album version, mistakenly uncredited on single version)

Accolades

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

References