Beautiful Now

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"Beautiful Now"
Zedd - Beautiful Now.jpg
Single by Zedd featuring Jon Bellion
from the album True Colors
ReleasedMay 13, 2015 (May 13, 2015)
RecordedDecember 2014
GenreProgressive house
Length3:38
LabelInterscope
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Zedd
Zedd singles chronology
"I Want You to Know"
(2015) 		"Beautiful Now"
(2015) 		"Papercut"
(2015)
Jon Bellion singles chronology
"Woke the Fuck Up"
(2015) 		"Beautiful Now"
(2015) 		"All Time Low"
(2016)
Music video
"Beautiful Now" on YouTube

"Beautiful Now" is a song by Russian-born German musician Zedd from his second studio album, True Colors (2015), featuring vocals from American singer Jon Bellion. It was written by Zedd, Bellion, Antonina Armato, David Jost, Tim James and Desmond Child. The song was released on May 13, 2015, as the album's second single. The song was commercially successful and has been featured on a number of worldwide music charts.

Background[]

On May 8, 2015, as part of his True Colors promotional campaign, Zedd premiered "Beautiful Now" at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois. Five days later, he announced that he would release the song onto iTunes at 9:00 PM PST.[1] A few hours prior to its release, he tweeted the lyrics from the song's beat break: "BAH BAH BAH BABABAH BAH BAH BABABAH BAH BAH BAH BABABAH BABABABA".[2] The official audio for the song was uploaded to Zedd's YouTube channel at that same time.[3]

Composition[]

"Beautiful Now" is a progressive house song with influences of dance-pop written in the key of D major. It runs at 128 BPM.[4]

Music video[]

The music video for "Beautiful Now", directed by Jonathan Desbiens, was released on June 11, 2015.

Synopsis[]

The video intertwines five different stories together. The first is of a woman who supposedly drowned her female lover in a pool; the second involves an elderly Central American man who is journeying on an unsuccessful mountain climbing attempt; the third involves the son of a man whose home is invaded by armed robbers; the fourth involves Zedd portraying a liquor store robber who becomes hostile with the management by threatening him with a knife; and the fifth depicts a distraught girl laying down on a railroad. As the song progresses, the video intercuts to scenes of family happiness, good times with friends, dancing and rejoicing before concluding the five stories. The first woman's lover is pulled from the water before drowning, and the ex realizes the gravity of the situation; the old man attempts to climb the mountain and falls, but survives, without reaching the summit; the armed robbery victim's son confronts the hostiles at gunpoint and subdues them; Zedd's character reflects over what sunk him to his current point in life and seems to change his ways; the suicidal girl is missed by the train and reflects on her life and why she chose such an extreme act. All five people in the stories see themselves in a reflection in various surfaces as their stories are closed and they all resolve to be better people.[5]

Reception[]

As of December 22, 2021, the video has over 194 million views on Zedd's Vevo channel.[6] It has received over 1.8 million likes and over 30,000 dislikes as of December 22, 2021.

Track listing[]

  • CD single and digital download[7]
  1. "Beautiful Now" (featuring Jon Bellion) – 3:38
  • Digital download (Remixes EP)[8]
  1. "Beautiful Now" (Zonderling Remix) – 3:55
  2. "Beautiful Now" (KDrew Remix) – 4:00
  3. "Beautiful Now" (Dirty South Remix) – 3:19
  4. "Beautiful Now" (Charlie Darker Remix) – 4:15
  • Digital download (Dirty South Remix) (iTunes)[9]
  1. "Beautiful Now" (featuring Jon Bellion) [Dirty South Remix] – 3:18
  • Digital download (Dirty South Remix) (Spotify)[10]
  1. "Beautiful Now" (featuring Jon Bellion) [Dirty South Remix] – 2:53

Grey remix[]

On July 29, 2015, Los Angeles-based duo Grey released their remix of "Beautiful Now" on SoundCloud as a free download. The remix is known for its significant deviation in sound from the original, using a vocoder to give Bellion's vocals a different melody and robotic distortion, and accompanying them with a darker and melodically distinct background inspired by Egyptian music. The remix quickly began receiving coverage across electronic music websites and communities, and was acclaimed for its uniqueness and originality. It also became notable for only being Grey's first release despite its professionality, leading to speculation that the alias belonged to an experienced group of producers now going anonymous.[11] The alias belongs to brothers Kyle and Michael Trewartha, the former of whom previously operated under the alias Singularity.

Eventually, the remix came to the attention of Zedd, who liked and reposted the remix to his official SoundCloud page, and later released the track for purchase on iTunes on September 11, 2015.[12] Zedd has since continued to actively support Grey, playing their remix of Skrillex and Diplo's "Where Are Ü Now" featuring Justin Bieber at his True Colors Tour. He also went on to call Grey "hands down the best electronic music act right now" on Twitter.[13] Grey has since officially remixed two other songs from True Colors; "Papercut" and "True Colors", and toured with Zedd in 2017 as part of his Echo Tour.

Charts[]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[29] Gold 25,000double-dagger
Japan (RIAJ)[30] Gold 100,000*
Poland (ZPAV)[31] Platinum 20,000double-dagger
United States (RIAA)[32] Platinum 1,000,000double-dagger
Streaming
Japan (RIAJ)[33] Silver 30,000,000dagger

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
dagger Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

See also[]

  • List of number-one dance singles of 2015 (U.S.)

References[]

  1. ^ "Zedd confirms on twitter album's next single". Twitter. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  2. ^ "Zedd post on twitter the song's chorus". Twitter. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  3. ^ "Zedd - Beautiful Now ft. Jon Bellion (Official Audio)". YouTube. May 14, 2015.
  4. ^ "Zedd "Beautiful Now" Sheet Music". musicnotes.com. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  5. ^ "What does Zedd's "Beautiful Now" music video mean?". JeffGluck.com. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  6. ^ "Zedd - Beautiful Now ft. Jon Bellion". YouTube. June 11, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  7. ^ "Beautiful Now [feat. Jon Bellion]". Amazon.com. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  8. ^ "Beautiful Now (Remixes) [feat. Jon Bellion] - EP by Zedd". iTunes. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  9. ^ "Beautiful Now (feat. Jon Bellion) [Dirty South Remix] - Single by Zedd". iTunes. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  10. ^ "Beautiful Now (Rock Mafia Remix)". Spotify.
  11. ^ Lucas. "Zedd Uploads Gorgeously Dark "Beautiful Now" Remix From Mysterious New Artist - Your EDM". Your EDM.
  12. ^ "Beautiful Now (Grey Remix) [feat. Jon Bellion] - Single". iTunes.
  13. ^ "Zedd on Twitter". Twitter.
  14. ^ a b "Zedd feat. Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Zedd feat. Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  16. ^ "Zedd Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  17. ^ "Zedd feat. Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  18. ^ "Zedd Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  19. ^ "The Official Lebanese Top 20 - Zedd". The Official Lebanese Top 20. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  20. ^ a b "Zedd feat. Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  21. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  22. ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 33, 2015" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  23. ^ "Zedd Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  24. ^ "Zedd Chart History (Hot Dance/Electronic Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  25. ^ "Zedd Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  26. ^ "Zedd Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  27. ^ "Dance Club Songs – Year-End 2015". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 14, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  28. ^ "Hot Dance/Electronic Songs – Year-End 2015". Billboard. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  29. ^ "Italian single certifications – Zedd feat. Jon Bellion" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved August 23, 2016. Select "2016" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Zedd feat. Jon Bellion" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  30. ^ "Japanese single digital certifications – Zedd" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved May 20, 2021. Select 2018年5月 on the drop-down menu
  31. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Platynowe płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2016 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  32. ^ "American single certifications – ZEDD – BEAUTIFUL NOW (FEAT. JON BELLION)". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  33. ^ "Japanese single streaming certifications – Zedd feat. Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved January 25, 2021. Select 2020年12月 on the drop-down menu
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