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Young Forever

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This article is about the Jay-Z song. For other uses, see Young Forever (disambiguation).
"Young Forever"
Single by Jay-Z featuring Mr Hudson
from the album The Blueprint 3
ReleasedJanuary 11, 2010
Recorded2008
GenreAlternative hip hop
Length4:13
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Kanye West
Jay-Z singles chronology
"I Wanna Rock (The Kings' G-Mix)"
(2010) 		"Young Forever"
(2009) 		"XXXO"
(2010)
Mr. Hudson singles chronology
"White Lies"
(2009) 		"Young Forever"
(2009) 		"Playing with Fire"
(2010)

"Young Forever" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z, released in early 2010 as the fifth single from his 2009 album The Blueprint 3 on the Roc Nation label. The song was produced by Kanye West. It is a rework of Alphaville's 1984 song "Forever Young": the original melody is retained, British singer Mr Hudson sings the original lyrics (primarily during the first verse and the chorus), and Jay-Z raps during the following verses in place of the original song's additional verses.

It was released as the third official single in the United Kingdom ("D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" was never officially released there). In that country, the song was originally scheduled to be released on the same day as Mr. Hudson's other collaboration with N-Dubz, "Playing with Fire", but the single was pushed back until January 25, 2010.

The song has been performed several times by Jay-Z accompanied by Beyoncé in place of Mr. Hudson, such as at the 2010 Coachella festival where Jay-Z was a headline act. Jay-Z brought out Beyoncé as a surprise guest and performed the closing song of the night. The couple also performed the song on New Year's Eve in 2010 at a concert at the Las Vegas Cosmopolitan Hotel.[1][2] The song has also been used as the encore for both of their joint On the Run (2014) and On the Run II (2018) all-stadium tours.

Background

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"Young Forever" was first released in the UK on January 11, 2010. It was later serviced to Rhythm/Crossover and Top 40/Mainstream radio stations in the United States on January 26 and February 23, 2010, respectively.[3][4] A solo version by Mr. Hudson was released as a bonus track on his 2009 album Straight No Chaser.

Chart performance

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After strong coverage on the radio throughout December 2009 and January 2010, "Young Forever" began to receive increasing digital downloads.

Following the release of the album, the song debuted at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 41 due to strong digital downloads the following week. Following its release as a single, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 97 and went on to peak at number 10, giving Jay-Z his 17th top ten single, reaching a new record previously shared with Ludacris as the rapper with the most Top 10 hits.[5]

In the United Kingdom, the single entered at number 27 on the UK Singles Chart. The next week, "Young Forever" climbed eight places to number 19. A few weeks later, the song peaked at number 10 on the chart.

In Ireland, the single entered at number 36 the Irish Singles Chart. A week later, "Young Forever" climbed five places in the chart to number 31. The single later climbed to its peak of #14.

The song was the world's 19th most digitally sold song of the first half of 2010 with over 1,606,000 units sold,[6] as of July 2010 it has sold 2,050,000 copies.[7]

"Young Forever" was certified platinum in May 2012 by the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana.[8] In 2014, following the performance of the song at the last two concerts in Paris on September 13 during the On the Run Tour, the song managed to debut on the French Singles Chart the following week at the position of 168.[9]

Music video

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The music video was released on December 22, 2009, on Jay-Z's official YouTube channel.[10] Directed by Anthony Mandler, the video is in black-and-white and shows various aspects of youth across America, intercut with scenes of Jay-Z and Mr. Hudson performing the song, sometimes in concert. Singer Rita Ora makes a cameo appearance in the video. Concert scenes were filmed at Alexandra Palace in London on November 4, 2009.[11] The video is produced by Andrew Listermann of Riveting Entertainment. The peewee football team featured in the video, E.O.M (Edward O'Malley) is a South Philadelphia spots organization.

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[33] Platinum 20,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[34] Gold 15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[35] Gold 400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[36] 3× Platinum 3,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "Jay-Z & Beyonce 'Forever Young' live at Coachella". YouTube. April 17, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2012.[dead YouTube link]
  2. ^ "Beyonce & Jay-Z Forever Young NYE 2011 Cosmopolitan Hotel Las Vegas". YouTube. January 1, 2011. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  3. ^ "Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!". FMQB. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  4. ^ "Top 40/M Future Releases | Mainstream Hit Songs Being Released and Their Release". Allaccess.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  5. ^ "Jay-Z Breaks Ludacris' Record With 17th Top 10 Single". The Urban Daily. May 7, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  6. ^ "Chart Watch Extra: Ranking The Year's Biggest Hits – Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. July 1, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  7. ^ "Chart Watch Extra: Gaga's Nice Round Number – Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. July 23, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  8. ^ "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Benvenuto!" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 14, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  9. ^ "Single Top 100 - 20/09/2014". Lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  10. ^ "Video: Jay-Z f/ Mr. Hudson – 'Young Forever'". Rap-Up.com. December 22, 2009. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  11. ^ "Jay-Z joined by Mr. Hudson at London Alexandra Palace show | News". Nme.Com. November 5, 2009. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  12. ^ "Jay-Z %2B Mr Hudson – Young Forever". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  13. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  14. ^ "Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  15. ^ "Jay-Z %2B Mr Hudson – Young Forever" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  16. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Jay-Z". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  17. ^ "Jay-Z %2B Mr Hudson – Young Forever". Top Digital Download. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  18. ^ "Jay-Z %2B Mr Hudson – Young Forever" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  19. ^ "Jay-Z %2B Mr Hudson – Young Forever". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  20. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  21. ^ "Jay-Z %2B Mr Hudson – Young Forever". Singles Top 100. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  22. ^ "Jay-Z %2B Mr Hudson – Young Forever". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  23. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  24. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  25. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  26. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  27. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  28. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  29. ^ "Charts Plus Year end 2009" (PDF). Charts Plus. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  30. ^ "Canadian Hot 100 – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  31. ^ "End of Year Singles Chart – 2010". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  32. ^ "Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  33. ^ "Italian single certifications – Jay-Z feat. Mr Hudson – Young Forever" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved January 31, 2020. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Young Forever" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  34. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Jay-Z feat. Mr Hudson – Young Forever". Radioscope. Retrieved January 20, 2025. Type Young Forever in the "Search:" field.
  35. ^ "British single certifications – Jay-Z ft Mr Hudson – Young Forever". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  36. ^ "American single certifications – Jay-Z – Young Forever (ft. Mr. Hudson)". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
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