Numb (Linkin Park song)

"Numb" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the third single from their second studio album, Meteora (2003), and is the closing track on the album. One of Linkin Park's most well-known and critically acclaimed songs, "Numb" topped the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 12 weeks in 2003 and 2004. The song also spent three weeks atop the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song was remixed as "Numb/Encore", a collaboration between the band and American rapper Jay-Z. It was a massive hit for both artists that was featured on the album Collision Course and earned them the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. "Numb" was ranked number 95 on Rhapsody's list of the "Top 100 Tracks of the Decade".

On March 15, 2022, "Numb" became the second song by the band after "In the End" to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify.

Music video
Directed by band member Joe Hahn, the "Numb" music video was filmed in June 2003 in Prague and features scenes in St. Vitus Cathedral, Johannes Kepler Grammar School (Gymnázium Jana Keplera), and the famed Charles Bridge. The band's performance section was filmed afterwards in Los Angeles, due to vocalist Chester Bennington suffering from severe abdominal and back pains at the time. The final video was released alongside the single in early September 2003.

The video's plot follows a day in the life of an outcast teenage girl, portrayed by Briana Evigan, interspersed with scenes of Linkin Park performing the song in a cathedral. The girl, an aspiring artist, is shunned and ridiculed by her parents, teachers, and peers. She is shown with self-inflicted cut marks on her arms that spell out "NUMB". At the song's climax, she throws paint at a canvas in anger, then runs into the cathedral only to find that the band have disappeared.

In November 2018, "Numb" became Linkin Park's first music video to reach over one billion views on their YouTube channel. In March 2023, the video was remastered in 4K resolution. In June 2023, "Numb" became the first song by the band to surpass two billion views on YouTube in June 2023, and currently holds the title of the most viewed rock video on YouTube. As of April 2024, the music video for "Numb" has over 2.2 billion views and 13 million likes on the platform.

Commercial performance
The track became one of Linkin Park's most critically acclaimed songs, as well as one of their most commercially successful. It peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on February 24, 2004, spending 3 weeks on top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and 12 weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Numb" was the 33rd best-performing single on the Billboard Hot 100 during 2004 and was listed at number 15 in the alternative songs decade-end chart. As of June 2014, the song had sold 2,036,000 copies in the US.

The song was also successful in Oceania, peaking at number 10 in Australia and number 13 in New Zealand. "Numb" is Linlongest-running single in France, spending 23 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 19; it was also successful in Greece, topping the singles chart. However, it only ranked for one week in Italy and on the Belgian Singles Chart.

The song re-entered the charts in July 2017 after the death of Chester Bennington, together with "In the End" and the band's new song "Heavy".

In late 2023, for the 35th anniversary of Modern Rock Tracks (since renamed Alternative Airplay), Billboard ranked "Numb" as the 59th-biggest hit in the chart's history.

In other media and covers

 * In 2017, an online meme mashing up "Numb" with the Seinfeld theme song was released.
 * Nicki Minaj remixed the song for her debut mixtape, retitled 'Encore '07'.
 * The Swedish metal band Dead by April released a cover of the song on YouTube after Chester Bennington's passing in 2017.
 * Machine Gun Kelly also covered the song on YouTube after Bennington's passing.
 * The song "Numb" was added as part of the "Linkin Park Music Pack" to the VR game Beat Saber in 2020, and the remix "Numb/Encore" was added as part of the "Linkin Park x Mike Shinoda Music Pack" in 2023.
 * The song is featured in the dance rhythm game Just Dance 2023 Edition.
 * Rebelion & Vertile released a hardstyle cover of the song in 2023.
 * In 2024, the song was added to the online video game Fortnite, through the Fortnite Festival game mode and as a purchasable jam track.

Personnel

 * Chester Bennington – lead vocals
 * Mike Shinoda – piano, backing vocals
 * Brad Delson – guitars
 * Rob Bourdon – drums
 * Dave "Phoenix" Farrell – bass guitar
 * Joe Hahn – turntables, samplers