Radioactive (Imagine Dragons song)
song by Imagine Dragons
"Radioactive" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons from their major-label debut EP Continued Silence and later on their debut studio album, Night Visions (2012), as the lead single. It was first sent to modern rock radio on October 29, 2012, and then released to contemporary hit radio on April 9, 2013. Musically, "Radioactive" is an electronic rock and alternative rock song with elements of dubstep.
The song received positive reviews from critics, who praised the production, lyrics, and vocals, calling it a highlight on the album. Due to heavy rotation on various commercials and trailers, the song became a sleeper hit, peaking at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and becoming the band's first top 10 single as well as being the third best selling song in the US in 2013. It remains the band’s highest charting single on the chart. It also broke the record for slowest ascension to the top 5 in chart history and held the record for most weeks spent on the Billboard Hot 100 at 87 weeks, a record for over seven years. The song has also reached number one in Sweden and in the top 20 in several countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, becoming Imagine Dragons' most successful single to date. It has since been certified Diamond (17× Platinum) in the US, making it one of the best selling singles ever.
"Radioactive" received two Grammy Awards nominations for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance, winning the latter.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Radioactive (Imagine Dragons song)” is song by Imagine Dragons. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Radioactive, Imagine and Dragons, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “song by Imagine Dragons” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7281218. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2012 and 2013.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Radioactive (Imagine Dragons song)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Radioactive (Imagine Dragons song) primary sources, Radioactive (Imagine Dragons song) archive and Radioactive research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Radioactive (Imagine Dragons song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.