Updated October 2026: this article has been expanded into a full guide to Counting Stars, covering who wrote and produced it, the album Native, its chart history, what the song is about, the video and similar songs. Music Reprise's original 2014 review is preserved in full further down the page.
Counting Stars is a 2013 single by the American band OneRepublic, from their third studio album, Native. Ryan Tedder wrote it on his own and produced it with Noel Zancanella, and it was released as a single on 14 June 2013 through Mosley Music Group and Interscope. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2014 and reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in October 2013, the band's first UK number one.
When our original review was written in early January 2014, the song was sitting at No. 3 in the US. It climbed one more place a few days later and stayed in the American top ten for 25 weeks in a row.
Who wrote and produced Counting Stars
Counting Stars is credited to Ryan Tedder alone as songwriter, with Tedder and Noel Zancanella as producers. It was recorded in August 2012 at Black Rock Studio on Santorini, in Greece, and at Patriot Studios in Denver, Colorado.
Tedder has said the idea arrived in the summer of 2012, while he was working in the Hamptons at a house Jay-Z and Beyoncé had rented, and that the chorus came to him almost immediately. He went on to finish the rest of Native over the following three months, and later named Counting Stars as one of his two favourite songs on the album.
Tedder has stayed one of pop's busiest writers and producers since. In 2026 he co-produced "Body to Body", the opening track of BTS's album Arirang, which we cover in our Body to Body review.
Musically it sits between folk pop and pop rock. It is in C sharp minor and rests on a loop of four chords that barely changes from start to finish, so the interest comes from the arrangement: a quiet opening with Tedder's voice and guitar, a stomping folk rhythm, and a chorus that opens out wide. The tempo also creeps up as the song goes on, which is part of why it feels like it is gathering speed.
The album: Native (2013)
Native was released on 22 March 2013 in Germany, Ireland and several other countries, and on 26 March in the US. It was OneRepublic's third studio album, after Dreaming Out Loud (2007) and Waking Up (2009), and it reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and No. 9 in the UK. Alongside Tedder and Zancanella, the producers included Jeff Bhasker, Benny Blanco, Emile Haynie, the band's Brent Kutzle, and the French duo Zdar and Boombass.
Native had a slow-burning release. Feel Again came out in August 2012 and reached No. 36 in the US, If I Lose Myself followed in January 2013, and Counting Stars arrived in June. The album was then reissued in 2014 with Love Runs Out, which gave the band another big hit, and I Lived was released as a single later that year.
Counting Stars chart history
- United States: debuted at No. 32 on the Hot 100 dated 6 July 2013 and peaked at No. 2 on the chart dated 18 January 2014, held off the top by Pitbull and Kesha's Timber. It spent 68 weeks on the Hot 100, 25 of them in a row in the top ten, and finished at No. 5 on Billboard's year-end Hot 100 for 2014. It ties Apologize as the band's highest-charting US single, and it topped Billboard's Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts.
- United Kingdom: entered at No. 43 in August 2013 and took about nine weeks to reach No. 1 in October. It spent two non-consecutive weeks at the top, trading places with Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball, and had sold more than a million copies in the UK by October 2014.
- Canada: reached No. 1 on the Canadian Hot 100 in its 34th week on the chart, in February 2014, the longest climb to the top in that chart's history at the time.
- Elsewhere: it went top ten in 20 countries and reached No. 1 in Finland, Israel, Poland and Slovakia as well as the UK.
- Counting Stars (2023 version): for the song's tenth anniversary in September 2023, OneRepublic released a reimagined version with a slower tempo and a new backing track.
Counting Stars (2023 Version)
What Counting Stars is about
The band has described the song as being about lying awake at night worrying about money and how the bills will get paid. The title is a twist on counting sheep: instead of drifting off, the narrator stares at the stars and keeps thinking.
That gives the song its push and pull. The verses weigh the security of money against the things that make life feel worth living, and the chorus leans towards the second, choosing meaning over a bigger pay cheque. A recurring idea is that the same things that wear you down are also what make you feel alive. It is a restless song rather than a sad one, which is why it works both as a late-night listen and, as our original review noted, a song people use to get up and go in the morning.
The Counting Stars music video
The video was directed by James Lees, filmed in New Orleans on 10 May 2013 and premiered on 31 May 2013. The band plays on a gloomy lower floor lit by bare hanging bulbs, while upstairs a congregation dances at a revival service. At the end the ceiling gives way and one of the dancers falls through into the band's room. An alligator also makes an appearance, crawling across the floor. The video passed one billion views on YouTube in late 2015 and has kept climbing well beyond that. It is embedded in the original review below.
Songs like Counting Stars
If Counting Stars is your way into OneRepublic, these are the songs to play next, all from the band's official channel. Tedder also co-wrote and co-produced Maroon 5's Love Somebody with Zancanella around the same time, and you can hear the family resemblance.
- Apologize (Dreaming Out Loud, 2007): the band's breakthrough. Timbaland's remix, released as Timbaland featuring OneRepublic, reached No. 2 in the US and No. 3 in the UK; this is the band's own version.
OneRepublic - Apologize - Secrets (Waking Up, 2009): a cello-driven song with a slow build, much like the way Counting Stars grows from its opening. It reached No. 21 in the US.
OneRepublic - Secrets - Good Life (Waking Up, 2010): the band's sunniest hit, and a top ten single in the US at No. 8.
OneRepublic - Good Life - If I Lose Myself (Native, 2013): the other big Native single before Counting Stars took off, a No. 8 hit in the UK.
OneRepublic - If I Lose Myself - Love Runs Out (Native reissue, 2014): the closest thing to a sequel, with the same stomp and an even bigger chorus. It reached No. 15 in the US and No. 3 in the UK.
OneRepublic - Love Runs Out - I Lived (Native, 2014): an open-hearted anthem about living fully, which reached No. 32 in the US.
OneRepublic - I Lived - I Ain't Worried (Top Gun: Maverick, 2022): the whistled summer hit that took the band back into the US top ten at No. 6 and reached No. 3 in the UK. It borrows elements of Peter Bjorn and John's Young Folks.
OneRepublic - I Ain't Worried
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Counting Stars by OneRepublic?
Ryan Tedder, OneRepublic's lead singer, is the sole credited songwriter. He produced the track with Noel Zancanella.
What album is Counting Stars on?
It is on Native, OneRepublic's third studio album, released in March 2013. Counting Stars came out as a single in June 2013.
Did Counting Stars reach number one?
In the UK, yes: it spent two weeks at No. 1 in October 2013. In the US it peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2014, behind Pitbull and Kesha's Timber. It also reached No. 1 in Canada.
What is the meaning of Counting Stars?
According to the band, it is about lying awake stressed about money, and choosing to count stars instead of sheep. The song weighs financial security against living a life that feels meaningful, and comes down on the side of meaning.
Where was the Counting Stars video filmed?
In New Orleans, Louisiana, in May 2013. It was directed by James Lees.
Our Original Review (2014)
Music Reprise wrote this review in January 2014. It is preserved below as originally published.
OneRepublic’s Counting Stars is both a folk and a pop song that was written and produced by the band’s vocalist, Ryan Tedder. As of the moment, it is placed at the number 3 spot in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song has been in the chart for 28 weeks and 3rd place is the highest it has attained. It is one of their most successful songs alongside Apologize. In 20 countries around the world, it was able to reach the top ten.
The song begins with Ryan Tedder singing smooth, fluid vocals with guitar strums. It progresses into an upbeat track after the lead singer has caught your attention. Rhymes and beats are everywhere. In some ways, it sounds like a club or house music disguised as a rock song. This song could become a collaboration like Zedd and Tedder’s output, Lost at Sea. Going back, Counting Stars has not reached the third spot for no reason. It is involving and catchy, so much so that some listeners use this as a wake up song or a piece of music that makes you get up and go.
OneRepublic - Counting Stars (Official Music Video)The lyrics speak so much of the poetic songwriter. There is no question as to how Ryan Tedder won a songwriting contest sponsored by MTV. It talks about choosing to count stars rather than dollars; the singer would much rather count his blessings than the money he is making. In much simpler terms, he is not focused on financial or commercial success, but by attaining happiness. This rings true considering the status of OneRepublic as a band.
They did not get to the level that ultra-famous rock stars have achieved; they did not even resort to getting involved in scandals just to get attention. But, the thing is, Counting Stars just brought them back to the top. Tedder and his band mates did express clearly that they are not after radio play; which make the band and the situation as ironic as its lyrics where the vocalist says, everything that kills me makes me feel alive, everything that drowns me makes me wanna fly.
Tedder and Co may be laughing at themselves now. Just when you think you’re only playing music to express yourself, you’re counting stars and suddenly you’re flying towards them again!
