"Numb" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the third single from their second studio album, Meteora (2003), and is the closing track on the album. One of Linkin Park's most well-known and critically acclaimed songs, "Numb" topped the BillboardAlternative Songs chart for 12 weeks.[10] The song spent six weeks at the top of the chart in 2003 and six weeks in 2004. The song also spent three weeks atop the BillboardHot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song was remixed as "Numb/Encore", a collaboration between the band and American rapper Jay-Z. It was a massive hit for both artists that was featured on the album Collision Course and earned them the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. "Numb" was ranked number 95 on Rhapsody's list of the "Top 100 Tracks of the Decade".[11]
On March 15, 2022, "Numb" became the second song by the band after "In the End" to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify.[12][13]
On October 9, 2023, "Numb" surpassed Guns N' Roses song "November Rain", for the fifth time, with 2.1 billion views on YouTube, being the most viewed rock song.
Music video
Directed by band member Joe Hahn, the indoor scenes of the music video are set in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic as are the outdoor scenes. The school interiors, the classroom, the corridor, and the outside playground are set in Johannes Kepler Grammar School (Gymnázium Jana Keplera) in Prague. The bridge scenes were all shot on Prague's famed Charles Bridge. The video was shot over June 2003,[14] even though vocalist Chester Bennington was suffering from severe abdominal and back pains at the time, so the band's performance was filmed afterwards in a matching cathedral in Los Angeles.[15][14] The final video was released within the release of the single early September 2003.[16]
The video follows the domestic and social problems faced during a day in the life of an unpopular outcast young female student (portrayed by Briana Evigan). The girl apparently spends much of her time drawing pictures, revealing that she probably has dreams of becoming an artist. She is largely shunned and ridiculed at school, considering that when she is told off by the chemistry lecturer for drawing in class almost everybody laughs at her and teases her, and when she trips on the stairs nobody stops to help her up and that when she tries to join a group of girls at a lunch table they immediately get up and leave. There are also self-inflicted cut marks on her arms, which spell out "NUMB". During the song's climax, she is shown in her room, as she ties up her hair with a paintbrush, and throws paint at a canvas in anger. At the end, she runs into the church that the band was playing in, almost as if she heard them, only to find that the band is not there anymore.
In November 2018, the music video for the song became the band's first video to reach over one billion views on their YouTube channel.[17] In March 2023, the video was remastered in 4K resolution. In June 2023, "Numb" became the first song by the band to surpass two billion views on YouTube and currently holds the title of the most viewed rock video on the platform.[18] As of November 2023, the music video for "Numb" has over 2.1 billion views and 13 million likes on the platform.[19]
Commercial performance
The track became one of Linkin Park's most critically acclaimed songs, as well as one of their most commercially successful, peaking at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on February 24, 2004, and spending 3 weeks on top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks and 12 weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks. "Numb" was the 33rd best-performing single on the Billboard Hot 100 during 2004 and it was listed at number 15 in the alternative songs decade-end chart. As of June 2014, the song has sold 2,036,000 copies in the US.[20] The song re-entered at #35 in July 2017 after the death of Chester Bennington, all together with "In the End" charting at number 37 and their new song "Heavy" peaking at number 45.
The song was also successful in Oceania, peaking at number 10 in Australia and number 13 in New Zealand. "Numb" is also their longest-running single in France, spending 23 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 19; it was also successful in Greece, topping the singles chart. However, it only ranked for one week in Italy and on the Belgian Singles Chart.[21]
In late 2023, for the 35th anniversary of Modern Rock Tracks (which by then had been renamed to Alternative Airplay), Billboard ranked "Numb" as the 59th-biggest hit in the chart's history.[22][23]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201730 into search. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201730 into search. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
