Beautiful Day

"Beautiful Day"
Single by U2
from the album All That You Can't Leave Behind
B-side
  • "Summer Rain"
  • "Always"
Released9 October 2000 (2000-10-09)
Recorded2000
StudioHQ (Dublin, Ireland)
GenreRock
Length4:06
Label
Composer(s)U2
Lyricist(s)Bono
Producer(s)
U2 singles chronology
"Sweetest Thing"
(1998)
"Beautiful Day"
(2000)
"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"
(2001)
Music video
"Beautiful Day" on YouTube
Audio sample

"Beautiful Day" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the first track on their tenth studio album, All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000), and was released as the album's lead single on 9 October 2000. The song was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2's biggest hits to date.

Like many tracks from All That You Can't Leave Behind, "Beautiful Day" harkens back to the group's past sound. The tone of the Edge's guitar was a subject of debate among the band members, as they disagreed on whether he should use a sound similar to that from their early career in the 1980s. The band's lead vocalist Bono explained that the upbeat track is about losing everything but still finding joy in what one has.

The song received positive reviews, and it became the band's 14th number-one single in their native Ireland, fourth number-one in the United Kingdom, and their first number-one in the Netherlands. It also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Finland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Scotland and Spain and reached the top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. The song peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, the band's highest position since "Discothèque" in 1997.

In 2001, the song won three Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony. The group has played "Beautiful Day" at every one of their concerts since the song's live debut on the Elevation Tour in 2001.