Live Forever

Album: released as a single (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The first single from Band Perry's third album showcases the sibling threesome's zest for life. "Every time I hear the chorus of 'Live Forever,' I can't help but put my hands up in the air," said Reid Perry. "It's one of those songs that, after listening to it, makes you feel like you can conquer the world."
  • Written by the trio with Lady Gaga collaborator RedOne, Nashville producer Dan Huff and Canadian singer-songwriter Jenna Andrews, this country-rock anthem was made available on August 14, 2015.
  • The song's release coincided with an appearance on Good Morning America, during which Band Perry revealed the track was a very late addition to the album. "'Live Forever' was one of the last songs that we wrote for the new record that we've been working on for a couple years," Kimberly Perry said. "And when we penned this song, we were like, 'This is absolutely the first thing that all of you guys need to hear from the Band Perry.'"
  • Reid Perry told Taste of Country that the song, like many others on the record, was optimized for their live show. "Everything we do is all a means to get to the live end," he said. "Whenever we do songs we do think of how it's gonna play live."
  • Band Perry told the story of how this song came to be the album's lead single to Radio.com. "Well, 'Live Forever' is one of the 'kingpin' songs on the new album," Kimberly Perry recalled. "The whole spirit of the song feels like everything we were experiencing as we were making this album. It was a song that we wrote with RedOne, and a buddy of ours named Jenna Andrews. RedOne is known for all of the Lady Gaga songs, he did Nicki Minaj's 'Starships,' he's great at big, anthemic melody. He brought in that opening line at the chorus, and we were like, 'Oh, this is a song that we have to write today.' It was such a blast."

    Reid Perry added, "I felt like we had the core of the album already. But we were still looking for that first single. And when we recorded it and listened to the playback the three of us were like, 'We have it!' We actually called our label up, they're in Nashville, and said, 'You have to get on a plane and fly to L.A. right now.'"
  • The vibrant music video is drenched in bursts of yellow. Kimberly Perry explained why: "With this project we've had more fun than we've ever had in the studio," she said. "We finally took time off the road to just be able to dedicate to waking up every day and going to sleep every night for about six months just dreaming about the future of our music. And that was a really wonderful thing that we hadn't given ourselves the luxury to do before."

    "So, it felt really empowered and electrified woke up each day really excited to go into the studio and yellow is a color that exuded that for us in this new era," Perry added.
  • This was named as Team USA's official song for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Though the trio never imagined it being used this way, the message of the song makes it the perfect Olympics anthem. Kimberly Perry said on the Today program, "'Live Forever' is really about those moments that make you feel like you're going to live forever, and that really is the spirit of the Olympics. And we're just really honored to bring that song to these guys."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Maria Muldaur

Maria MuldaurSongwriter Interviews

The "Midnight At The Oasis" singer is an Old Time gal. She talks about her jug band beginnings and shares a Dylan story.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?

Kerry Livgren of Kansas

Kerry Livgren of KansasSongwriter Interviews

In this talk from the '80s, the Kansas frontman talks turning to God and writing "Dust In The Wind."

Shaun Morgan of Seether

Shaun Morgan of SeetherSongwriter Interviews

Shaun breaks down the Seether songs, including the one about his brother, the one about Ozzy, and the one that may or may not be about his ex-girlfriend Amy Lee.

Dave Mason

Dave MasonSongwriter Interviews

Dave reveals the inspiration for "Feelin' Alright" and explains how the first song he ever wrote became the biggest hit for his band Traffic.