"We Are Young" is a song by American band Fun, featuring American singer Janelle Monáe. The song was released on September 20, 2011, as the first single from Fun's second studio album Some Nights. Musically, "We Are Young" is a power ballad that incorporates the genres of indie pop, alternative rock, and power pop. The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, with many noting the song as a breakthrough for the indie genre and praising the song's catchiness. "We Are Young" has attained commercial success worldwide and is already one of the biggest hits of 2012.
The track initially only gained attention from online media, but was soon covered by the television show Glee. With the Glee version having success on the charts, the song was licensed for use in a Chevrolet Sonic commercial that aired during Super Bowl XLVI. The single soon propelled the band into mainstream success, topping the digital charts in February 2012 and becoming a crossover hit, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 through airplay on contemporary hit radio stations, topping the chart for six weeks straight. It is also the first song to log seven weeks of 300,000 or more in digital sales, a record that was previously held by Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" (2009). "We Are Young" has been certified five-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and is both Fun and Monáe's first charting single on the Hot 100, as well as their first number-one single. The song also topped the Hot 100 Airplay chart with 120 million impressions in seven weeks, becoming the first group since Destiny's Child's "Survivor" (2001) to do so.