In addition, the original “Empire State of Mind” seemed to resonate in pop culture years after its release, as Tove Lo name-dropped it in her single “Not on Drugs.” Bono loved “Empire State of Mind” - and the world seems to have loved it as well. On the other hand, its parent album, The Element of Freedom, was a bigger success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 55 weeks.īeyond that, “Empire State of Mind” was apparently popular enough to warrant a sequel song: “Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down.” The sequel song wasn’t a huge hit, merely reaching No.

In addition, its parent album, The Blueprint 3, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 30 weeks. NBA star Dwyane Wade has been mentioned by a few rappers, but he told The Undefeated that being name checked on JAY-Z and Alicia Keys hit Empire State of Mind was a truly stunning moment. This raises an interesting question: Did the public embrace “Empire State of Mind” as much as Bono did? The track reached No. After hearing the piano intro, Jay-Z decided to use Alicia Keys after Mary J Blige was initially earmarked to feature.

RELATED: 1 John Lennon Song Inspired Very Different Reactions from Bono and Bob Dylan How the world reacted to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ ‘Empire State of Mind’

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