The Greatest (Sia song)

"The Greatest"
The artwork portrays the head and shoulders of a teenage girl wearing a black bobbed wig, with rainbow colours on her cheeks Single cover, featuring Maddie Ziegler
Single by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar
from the album This Is Acting
Released	6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)
Genre	Electropop
Length	3:30 (album version) 3:13 (radio edit)
Label	Monkey Puzzle RCA
Songwriter(s)	Sia Furler Greg Kurstin Kendrick Duckworth Blair MacKichan
Producer(s)	Greg Kurstin
Sia singles chronology
"Cheap Thrills" (2016) "The Greatest" (2016) "Never Give Up" (2016)
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Music video
"The Greatest" (Audio) ft. Kendrick Lamar) on YouTube
Music video
"The Greatest" on YouTube

"The Greatest" is a song recorded by Australian singer and songwriter Sia for the deluxe edition of her seventh studio album, This Is Acting (2016). Being made available for digital consumption as the record's third single on 6 September 2016 through Monkey Puzzle and RCA Records, "The Greatest" features a new part with the American rapper Kendrick Lamar. The electropop song was written by Sia, Greg Kurstin, and Lamar while production was only handled by Kurstin. The solo version was written only by the former two. The song was originally intended to be in a new album called We Are Your Children.

An accompanying music video for the single was filmed by Sia and Daniel Askill, and features American dancer Maddie Ziegler surrounded by 48 different young people. Although the singer has not provided an interpretation of the video's plot, numerous media outlets have perceived it as a tribute to the 49 victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. Commercially, "The Greatest" reached the top five in several countries and was awarded with certifications in different territories. The music video was nominated for a 2017 MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography.

Composition

Billboard editor Gil Kaufman described "The Greatest" as an "uplifting, poppy song with a subtle island vibe."

The song is written in the key of C minor with a cut common time tempo of 96 beats per minute. The vocals span from B♭₃ to E♭₅ in the song.

Critical reception

The Greatest was highly praised by music critics and its commemoration too. Jessica Goodman from Entertainment Weekly explained the chorus "massive and catchy." Once the critics had picked up on the song's connection with the Orlando nightclub shooting, Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic wrote:

Making pop about a specific tragedy is necessarily a tricky job. So it's no crime that some of the other mainstream original songs memorializing Orlando have been as rote as issue-oriented singles are often stereotyped as being. ... But "The Greatest" is very potent, a work of art, not charity. ... There's no break here from the rest of Sia's catalog about pain and release in everyday life: You hear a sad voice wailing about bucking up, very stark emotional peaks and valleys, and a danceable backing of explosive drums, toy-box melodies, and reggae grooves. Sia and Greg Kurstin may have written the song even before the massacre. But in the context of Orlando, the possible platitude of the chorus becomes gutting: "I'm free to be the greatest / I'm alive." She's pepping the listener up, but she's also defining the value of life, marking the human potential that's been lost.

The Orlando shooting commemoration was also praised by Bruno Russell from The Edge, who called the song's concept "inspirational" as "the message is clear: that we can make a difference and be 'The Greatest,' but we have to act now." Russell awarded a 5-star review for the song, praising her performance as having "somewhat of a narrative feel, especially from the childish nature of the instrumental backing, which emphasizes the vulnerability there to be exposed and challenged (though, at the same time, there is also a power within this from the more powerful chorus)." Russell also praised Lamar's rap in the single release of the track.

Chart performance

Upon the song's release, "The Greatest" debuted on several charts worldwide, including the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 52, UK Singles Chart at 49, and Australian Singles Chart at number 25, and achieved top ten debuts in France, New Zealand, Scotland, Finland, Norway, Hungary, Spain, and Sweden. In its second week on UK Singles Chart, the song climbed to number 5, making it Sia's ninth top ten single on that chart, and Kendrick's second. It later rose to number 2 in Australia, number 1 in Switzerland, and number 18 in the US. In its fourth week on the singles chart, "The Greatest" was certified Gold in both Australia and Canada.

Music video

The music video was directed by Sia and Daniel Askill and choreographed by Ryan Heffington. The director of photography was Mathieu Plainfosse. It was released on 5 September 2016 and has been viewed on YouTube more than 700 million times.

Writers from several media outlets, including E! Online, Cosmopolitan, Variety, People magazine, concluded that the video was a tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. The video opens with a low drone and cuts between shots of an upset Maddie Ziegler painting rainbow colours on her cheeks. She frees 48 other young spirits trapped in a cage (49 being the number of people killed in the shooting); their freedom is short-lived, however. Later, a wall is seen filled with bullet holes as everyone falls to the ground, and tears stream down Ziegler's face. Kornhaber wrote:

Absent of any social context, it's all striking and beautiful and ineffably sad. With the knowledge that it was inspired by queer youths and friends gunned down in the act of coming together and enjoying themselves, it becomes almost unbearably poignant. Sia keeps singing about having stamina; Kendrick Lamar's verse, omitted from the video, is all about surviving adversity and haters. What’s so potent about the video—and so specifically awful about this massacre—is that its subjects do seem to have struggled and triumphed to find the freedom to flip out together, and they are still cut down. It's bookended by Ziegler crying: As is appropriate, there's no take-home moral to make what happened seem okay.

Live performances

On 7 September 2016, Sia, Ziegler and several other dancers performed "The Greatest" live for the first time at the 2016 Apple launch of the iPhone 7 at San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Sia and Ziegler performed the song during her performance at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival on 23 September 2016. The song is included on Sia's Nostalgic for the Present Tour.

Track listing

• Digital download

1. "The Greatest" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – 3:30

• Digital download

1. "The Greatest" – 3:30

• Digital download

1. "The Greatest" (KDA Remix) (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – 3:41

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2016–17)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)	2
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	4
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)	7
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)	1
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)	6
Canada AC (Billboard)	16
Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)	8
Canada Hot AC (Billboard)	10
Colombia (National-Report)	66
Croatia (HRT)	1
Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)	2
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)	2
Denmark (Tracklisten)	5
Euro Digital Songs (Billboard)	2
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)	4
France (SNEP)	3
Germany (Official German Charts)	3
Greece Digital Songs (Billboard)	2
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)	1
Hungary (Single Top 40)	2
Iceland (RÚV)	3
Ireland (IRMA)	3
Israel (Media Forest)	2
Italy (FIMI)	5
Japan (Japan Hot 100)	54
Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20)	6
Luxembourg Digital Songs (Billboard)	2
Mexico Airplay (Billboard)	1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)	4
Netherlands (Single Top 100)	8
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	5
Norway (VG-lista)	2
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)	2
5
Romania (Airplay 100)	1
Russia Airplay (Tophit)	28
Scotland (Official Charts Company)	4
Scotland (Official Charts Company) Solo version	51
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)	5
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)	2
Slovenia (SloTop50)	1
South Korea International (Gaon)	6
Spain (PROMUSICAE)	4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)	5
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	1
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	5
US Billboard Hot 100	18
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)	11
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)	34
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)	20
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)	10
US Rhythmic (Billboard)	27
Venezuela English (Record Report)	3

Year-end charts

Chart (2016)	Position
Australia (ARIA)	46
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	50
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)	61
Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia)	45
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)	62
Denmark (Tracklisten)	77
France (SNEP)	65
Germany (Official German Charts)	44
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)	98
Hungary (Single Top 40)	22
Italy (FIMI)	49
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)	30
Netherlands (Single Top 100)	70
Poland (ZPAV)	38
South Korean International Chart (Gaon)	87
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)	66
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	48
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	50
Chart (2017)	Position
Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia)	97
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)	72
France (SNEP)	172
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)	23
Hungary (Single Top 40)	66
Hungary (Stream Top 40)	89
Israel (Media Forest)	33
Italy (FIMI)	92
Romania (Airplay 100)	14
Slovenia (SloTop50)	48
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	72
US Adult Pop Songs (Billboard)	37

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)	2× Platinum	140,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)	Gold	15,000
Belgium (BEA)	Platinum	30,000
Canada (Music Canada)	4× Platinum	40,000
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)	Platinum	30,000
France (SNEP)	Diamond	400,000
Germany (BVMI)	Platinum	300,000
Italy (FIMI)	4× Platinum	120,000
Mexico (AMPROFON)	3× Platinum	180,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	Platinum	15,000
Poland (ZPAV)	4× Platinum	80,000
Portugal (AFP)	Gold	10,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)	Platinum	40,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)	Platinum	30,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	2× Platinum	1,200,000
United States (RIAA)	Gold	500,000
*sales figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone sales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Version	Label	Ref.
Worldwide	6 September 2016	Digital download	Duet	Monkey Puzzle Inertia RCA
Italy	16 September 2016	Contemporary hit radio		Sony
United States	27 September 2016			RCA
Italy	29 September 2016		Solo	Sony
United States	18 October 2016	Rhythmic contemporary	Duet	RCA
	24 October 2016	Hot adult contemporary
Various	23 December 2016	Digital download	KDA Remix	Monkey Puzzle Inertia RCA

See also

• List of Airplay 100 number ones of the 2010s

External links

• Sia - The Greatest (Audio) ft. Kendrick Lamar on YouTube
• Sia - The Greatest (Audio) on YouTube
• The Greatest at IMDb