"Let It Go" is a song by English singer-songwriter James Bay. It was released in Europe on 15 September 2014 through Republic Records as the first single from Bay's second extended play of the same name. It was included on Bay's debut studio album Chaos and the Calm (2014). The song was written by Bay with Paul Barry and produced by Jacquire King. The Let It Go EP was released prior on 3 May 2014.
The song was re-released in March 2015 after "Hold Back the River" and peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart in July 2015, beating its previous peak of 62 on 27 September 2014. In May 2015, "Let It Go" peaked at number 8 in Australia, whilst in New Zealand, the song debuted on 15 June 2015, at number 31, before climbing to number 24 the following week. A week after that, the song entered the top 10 of the chart, peaking at number 10. On 9 January 2016, the single debuted at number 98 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bay’s first song to chart in the US. The single would eventually reach a peak of number 16 on 23 July 2016. A remix by Jack Steadman was released in 2015.
Critical reception Gregory Robson of AbsolutePunk called "Let It Go" a "rising current of despondency, heartache and powerhouse vocals" and "the clearest example of who exactly Bay is, that is, supple instrumentation, gauzy textures and that ageless croon".
Charts
Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for "Let It Go" Chart (2014–2016) Peakposition France (SNEP) 55Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)18Netherlands (Global Top 40)39 Portugal (Official Chart AFP) 45
Year-end charts +2015 year-end chart performance for "Let It Go" Chart (2015) Position Australia (ARIA) 35 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 39 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 26 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 32 UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 41 US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard) 34
+2016 year-end chart performance for "Let It Go" Chart (2016) Position Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 75 Denmark (Tracklisten) 92 France (SNEP) 182 Netherlands (Global Top 40) 100 UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 99 US Billboard Hot 100 44 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) 22 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard) 15 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard) 39 US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard) 4
Decade-end charts +Decade-end chart performance for "Let It Go" Chart (2010–2019) Position UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 74
Certifications
Release history Region Date Format Label Catalogue no. Europe 3 May 2014 Download (EP) Republic — 15 September 2014 Download (single) 00602547187154 United States 18 April 2015 CD (EP) DNR22594-02
Notes
References