The Lumineers’ “Ho Hey” charted

Ho Hey The Lumineers

Writer(s): Wesley Schultz, Jeremy Fraites (see lyrics here) Released: June 4, 2012 First Charted: April 21, 2012 Peak: 3 US, 2 RR, 18 AC, 18 A40, 18 AA, 12 MR, 8 UK, 2 CN, 3 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.89 UK, 7.69 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 388.6 video, 1038.34 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The late 2000s saw a mini-folk-rock revival led by groups like Fleet Foxes and Mumford & Sons, capped by the latter’s Album of the Year Grammy win for 2012’s Babel. It was then that the Lumineers came riding onto the scene with arguably the most successful song of the movement – “Ho Hey.” The song first emerged in December 2011 when it was used in a television episode for Hart of Dixie. It was released as a single the next February. SF It gained another push in June because of its appearance in the Bing “Discovering Hawaii” commercial. SF It was also used in promoting the Oscar-winning film Silver Linings Playbook and in the United Kingdom for a television advertising campaign for E.On energy. SF Not only did the song reach #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, but hit #1 on the alternative, adult pop, and adult alternative song charts. The song’s 62 weeks on the Hot 100 was of the longest chart runs ever. WK Outside of the U.S., the song was a top 10 hit in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, France Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. It hit #1 in Poland and Portugal. The band wrote the song as “a kiss-off to disinterested concert-goers,” punctuated by the famous “ho hey” shouts of the song to get attention. SF That gave the song a campfire sing-a-long vibe. Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio said “It’s darn refreshing to sit back and take in some genuine, straightforward music that comes from the heart.” WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Lumineers SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 2/28/2021; last updated 7/23/2023.