Panic! at the Disco released their fifth studio album, Death of a Bachelor, on January 16, 2016. To promote the record, the band embarked on a co-headline tour with Weezer that summer and a United States tour the following year. On April 11, 2017, it was reported that vocalist Brendon Urie would be making his Broadway debut as one of the lead roles in Kinky Boots. Urie performed in the show for ten weeks from May until August 2017.
Following the success of Death of a Bachelor, Urie was given the rest of 2017 off by the band's record label, Fueled by Ramen. However, Urie felt compelled to continue writing music during his time off. The writing process began a month before Urie made his debut in Kinky Boots when he wrote the chorus of "High Hopes". Urie stated that writing the record took about four months total in the span of a year and a half.
Urie teased the band's then-unannounced sixth studio album sporadically throughout late 2017 and early 2018, typically through Instagram Live broadcasts. On March 8, 2018, the band began teasing the release of a lead single and a subsequent album with a two minute long video of Urie brushing his teeth beside an alarm clock reading "3:19" for the video's entirety, accompanied by an orchestral version of "King of the Clouds". The time on the clock led fans to believe that the band would be releasing new material on March 19. Over a week later, fans received packages sent from Urie's P.O. box containing a white bottle reading "Pray for the W!cked / 3:21 / Unholy Water", once more leading to speculation over a release date of March 21. On March 19, the band announced a surprise show at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, Ohio that night. The band unveiled their new touring bassist, Nicole Row, who would be replacing their former member and touring bassist, Dallon Weekes, following his departure on December 27, 2017. No new material was performed at the show.
The singles for the album were released in three Spotify combinations: Say Amen for Silver Linings, High Hopes on Saturday Night, and King of High Hopes.
Pray for the Wicked has received generally positive reviews from music critics. It holds an average score of 70 out of 100 on Metacritic based on nine reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13] In a positive review, The Independent said, "Panic! have never released the same album twice, but on Pray for the Wicked it feels as if they've finally managed to channel that frenetic, slightly chaotic attitude into a studio album that is at once eclectic and coherent."[17] In another positive review, NME commented on the influence of Brendon Urie being involved in Kinky Boots on the sound of the album, adding that "while it's fair to say he's always had a flair for theatrics, the experience has injected these tracks with unprecedented levels of sass and drama".[1]Newsday suggested that Urie's "Broadway stint brings him a creative burst and a theatrical bent".[22]
Commercial performance
Pray for the Wicked debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 180,000 album-equivalent units, of which 151,000 were pure album sales.[23] It is the band's second US number-one album.[23] The album also debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, making it the band's second Australian number-one album.[24] According to Billboard, Pray for the Wicked was the 10th best selling vinyl album of 2018 in the US with sales of 59,000, making a major contribution to the 15% rise of the format in that year.[25] The album was also certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States.
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 26.Týden 2018 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
