The Pretender (Foo Fighters song)
"The Pretender" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It was the first single from the group's 2007 album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. It is one of Foo Fighters' most successful songs; peaking at number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (making it their third top-40 single), only "Learn to Fly" and "Best of You" beat its position on the Billboard Hot 100.
This article is about Foo Fighters song. For other songs, see Pretender (disambiguation) § Music."The Pretender"
August 21, 2007
March–June 2007
4:30
Personnel adapted from Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace liner notes[8]
Reception[edit]
This song was number 47 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[9] The song was a 2008 Grammy Award nominee for Best Rock Song and Record of the Year. It won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance the same year. This song was also number 94 on MTV Asia's list of Top 100 Hits of 2007.[10] The music video was nominated for a 2008 MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video, but lost to Linkin Park's "Shadow of the Day".[11]
This album was the fourth consecutive Foo Fighters album to have a song reach the top of the U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. "The Pretender" was the most densely played alternative rock song of 2007. It held the record for longest running number-one in the Modern Rock Tracks' history, beating a then-record of 16 weeks by Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Scar Tissue", Staind's "It's Been Awhile", and Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", with 18 weeks at number one, until Muse's "Madness" reigned for 19 weeks in 2012–13,[12] but that later got eclipsed by Portugal. The Man's "Feel It Still" in 2017 which spent 20 weeks at the number-one spot.[13] In late 2023, for the chart's 35th anniversary,[14] Billboard placed "The Pretender" at number seven on its ranking of the top 100 alternative hits in the chart's history.[15] It also spent six weeks at number one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It made the Triple J's Hottest 100 in Australia, placing in at number five.
Music video[edit]
The music video was directed by Sam Brown. It is presented in letterbox format and heavily employs pans, zooms, and tracking shots. It consists of the band performing the song in an airplane hangar with many strip lights on the ceiling. Behind the band is a large red screen, which is thick and solid. The band is then faced by what appears to be a riot police officer, who stands behind a black line in front of the band. As the song progresses, he is joined by more riot police officers who line up at the same black line. Panning left-to-right across this lineup, each police officer is seen to have a number on his chest, which are in order counting down, hinting at a buildup toward the approaching climax. As the quieter bridge begins, the video slows down and the officers charge the band. Just as the band begins the song's louder chorus, the screen suddenly explodes and a red liquid erupts from it, overwhelming the police officers, but affecting the band to a lesser extent. At the end of the video, Dave Grohl is shown slamming his guitar on the floor as he falls to his knees. The visual effects in the video were done by Mechnology Visual Effects in Burbank, California.
As of April 2024, the song has over 571 million views on YouTube, making it the band's most-viewed video on the platform.
Releases[edit]
The song was made available to download on May 10, 2011, for use in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both Basic rhythm, and PRO mode which takes advantage of the use of a real guitar / bass guitar, along with standard MIDI-compatible electronic drum kits in addition to vocals. [60][61]