Pompeii (song)

For other songs, see Pompeii (disambiguation) § Songs.

"Pompeii"
Single by Bastille
from the album Bad Blood
B-side"Poet"
Released11 January 2013[1]
Recorded2012
Genre
Length3:34
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Dan Smith
Producer(s)
Bastille singles chronology
"Flaws"
(2012) 		"Pompeii"
(2013) 		"Laura Palmer"
(2013)
Music video
"Bastille - Pompeii (Official Music Video)" on YouTube

"Pompeii" is a song by British pop rock band Bastille. It is the fourth single from their debut studio album Bad Blood and was released on 11 January 2013. The song's title and lyrics refer to the Roman town of the same name that was destroyed and buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.[5]

"Pompeii" became the band's breakthrough hit, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and became the eleventh best-selling song that year and, until June 2014, was the country's most streamed single of all time.[6][7] It was also successful worldwide, reaching the top ten in fifteen countries, including the United States where it peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bastille's most successful single to date, until "Happier" reached number two on both the UK and US charts in October 2018 and February 2019 respectively.

The song was nominated for British Single of the Year at the 2014 BRIT Awards.[8] A mashup of the song with Rudimental and Ella Eyre's "Waiting All Night" was performed live by Rudimental, Eyre and Bastille at the aforementioned ceremony,[9] which reached number 21 in the UK.

It was also performed at the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Awards, where it was nominated for Alternative Rock Song of the Year.

  1. ^ "Bastille – Pompeii (EMI)" (in Italian). Radio Airplay SRL. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  2. ^ Nattress, Katrina (22 November 2019). "30 Alternative Rock Songs That Defined the 2010s". iHeartMedia. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  3. ^ Cush, Andy (14 February 2022). "Bastille: Give Me the Future Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  4. ^ Vain, Madison (8 September 2016). "Bastille's 'Wild World': EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  5. ^ "WATCH: What Is The Meaning of Bastille's Pompeii?". Radio X. Global. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  6. ^ "The Top 40 biggest singles of 2013 on the Official Chart". Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  7. ^ "The Top 10 most streamed songs and artists of all time revealed!". Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Brits 2014: Nominations in full". BBC News. Retrieved 9 January 2014
  9. ^ "Bastille and Rudimental perform 'Pompeii/Waiting All Night'". YouTube. 19 February 2014.