"Somebody to Love" is a song by American pop rock band OneRepublic as the first and only promotional single for the band's fifth studio album Human. The song, along with its writer JT Roach, were chosen as the winner of Episode 11 of Season 1 of the competition show Songland on which lead singer Ryan Tedder and lead guitarist Zach Filkins represented OneRepublic as the guest artist. The song was released on September 11, 2019, the same day as the episode's air date.
Background and composition "Somebody to Love" was originally written by JT Roach with additions from band members Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, and Zach Filkins, Songland judges Ester Dean and Shane McAnally, Kevin Fisher, Jintae Ko, and Andrew Wells. The lyrics were written after Roach saw an ex-girlfriend a new relationship. After Roach's first performance on Songland, he matched with McAnally for further development and production. Tedder and Filkins then chose the song over MADI's "Darkest Days", Tyler James Bellinger's "Giving You Up", and Brigetta's "Be Somebody". In a statement, Tedder described his reasoning for picking the song:
The song was played live for the first time at the band's concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on August 27 and 28, 2019.
Personnel
Musicians Ryan Tedder – lead vocals, programming, songwriting Zach Filkins – lead guitar, songwriting Drew Brown – bass guitar Brent Kutzle – bass guitar, programming, songwriting Eddie Fisher – drums
Additional musicians Daniel Adams – violin Brandon Collins – string arrangement David Davidson – violin Ester Dean – songwriting Andrew DeRoberts – programming, guitar, composition Kevin Fisher – songwriting Jintae Ko – composition, songwriting Shane McAnally – songwriting John Nathaniel – background vocals JT Roach – songwriting Tyler Spry – guitar Andrew Wells – composition, songwriting Steve Wilmot – programming
Production Tedder – production Kutzle – production DeRoberts – production McAnally – production Nathaniel – additional production, mixing Spry – additional production, engineering Rich Rich – engineering Carter Jahn – engineering Doug Sarrett – engineering Joe Zook – mixing
Charts + Chart performance for "Somebody to Love" Chart (2019) Peakposition New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) 16
References