Sunflower (Post Malone and Swae Lee song)

"Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)", more commonly known simply as "Sunflower", is a song performed by American recording artists Post Malone and Swae Lee for the soundtrack to the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The song was released as a single on October 18, 2018. It became Malone's third and Lee's first song as a soloist to top the Billboard Hot 100.

Background
Malone confirmed his involvement with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in October 2, 2018 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in which he announced that he wrote "Sunflower", which he also performs, and played a snippet of the song. On October 15, Swae Lee revealed that he would also perform the song as a featured artist, and released another snippet of the song. Lee said that he was "very excited" for people to listen the song. On October 18, "Sunflower" was released as a single. Spring Aspers, head of music and creative affairs at Sony Pictures, said that "Post and Swae have delivered a song that’s both heroic and emotional, which is exactly what a Spider-Man story needs. It’s anthemic, but also heartfelt — the perfect soundtrack for Miles to discover the Spider-Man inside himself". Swae Lee called Sunflower one of his favorites collaborations in 2018, which he stated it was "because it’s a movie placement [in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse]. The main character sings “Sunflower” and uses my vocals to calm him down in a certain situation -- like my music was therapeutic for him".

Music video
On October 18, 2018, a music video of the song was released. The video is composed of footage of the film and the song's lyrics. On January 9, 2019, another music video of the song was released, which is live action. The video contains an exclusive look at the recording session for the song. . Since its release, the music video has received over 600 million views on YouTube.

In popular culture

 * The song "Sunflower" is used in Movie Land Animation Studios' Animal Party.

Reception
“Sunflower” received acclaim from music critics. In Billboard, Gil Kaufman called it "a funky, dreamy ballad" after listening to a preview of the song. Israel Daramola from Spin called "Sunflower" a "glitchy, soulful record" that "will appeal to fans of the more melodic songs made by Post and Swae Lee, as they commit to full crooning throughout. It’s a short and sweet, hazy little pop song that makes sense for a kid’s film or possibly an MTV show about California teens". Patrick Doyle of Rolling Stone characterized the "hyper-catchy" song as "a diary of a rocky relationship, which walks the line between hip-hop and dream-pop". Sara Salmat of Bam! Smack! Pow!, called the song "a cute, upbeat, and feel-good song".

Chart performance
"Sunflower" debuted at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100. After spending three weeks in the top five, it reached number one on the chart issue dated January 19, 2019. It became Post Malone's third and Swae Lee's first song as a soloist to top the chart. "Sunflower" is the first song from a soundtrack to reach the top of the Hot 100 since Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling!" from the Trolls soundtrack (2016). Additionally, "Sunflower" is the highest-charting song from a Spider-Man franchise soundtrack, passing Chad Kroeger's "Hero", featuring Josey Scott, from Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man, which reached number three in 2002. "Sunflower" also marks the first Hot 100 number one by two co-billed male leads with no other accompanying acts since George Michael and Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (1992). "Sunflower" descended to number two on the Hot 100 the week after it led the chart due to "7 Rings" debut atop the chart, but remained within the top five for months, going so far as to return to the top two in April. It led the Rhythmic Songs chart for four weeks and eventually crossed over to pop radio.

Other versions

 * A remix of the song, featuring new lyrics performed by Nicky Jam and Prince Royce, was released on February 22, 2019, as a bonus track in a deluxe version of the soundtrack of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
 * American indie pop band Vampire Weekend covered "Sunflower" on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, in reference to their single of the same name from Father of the Bride (2019).