"Animal" is the lead single from Neon Trees

Neon Trees

Neon Trees is an American alternative rock band from Provo, Utah, with origins in Murrieta, California. The band received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the rock band The Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records and...

' debut album Habits

Habits (album)

Habits is the debut full-length album by rock group Neon Trees, released on March 16, 2010. The album's lead single, "Animal" was featured in several commercials, including those for Camp Vegas, and has reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Alternative Rock chart...

. It debuted at #100 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and has reached a current peak of #13 in its 22nd week on the chart. In Canada, the song debuted at number 95 on the Canadian Hot 100

Canadian Hot 100

The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...

 and has climbed to No. 29. The song has reached number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart after 32 weeks, making "Animal" their first number-one song on a Billboard chart. This also broke the record for the longest length of time for a song to get to the top of that list after entering. The song reached number two on the Billboard Rock Songs

Rock Songs

Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs...

 chart. In one of the music videos of the song, the band is destroying an art gallery. On May 22, 2011, the song won Top Alternative Song in the 2011 Billboard Music Awards

2011 Billboard Music Awards

The 2011 Billboard Music Awards were held May 22, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and hosted by Ken Jeong. The awards recognized the most popular artists and albums from 2010....

.

It was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America

Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

 in November 2010.

The song was released as a Downloadable content

Downloadable content

Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...

 for Rock Band in August 2010.

The background talent was casted through Background Inc. These actors/actresses included: Edgar Felix, Marina Byrko, and Kenn Shinabery.

Live performances

The song received increased coverage after it was played on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...

, Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight

Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight

Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight is an Australian television interview show on ABC1 hosted by comedian Adam Hills. The show features celebrity guests, comedy and live music....

, Lopez Tonight

Lopez Tonight

Lopez Tonight was an American late-night television talk show hosted by comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican American to host a late-night talk show on an English-language network in the United States. The...

, Conan, and Live with Regis & Kelly by the band. It was also featured on the TV shows Melrose Place

Melrose Place (2009 TV series)

Melrose Place is an American television series broadcast on The CW Television Network from September 8, 2009 to April 13, 2010. The fifth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise, it is an updated version of the 1990s Fox prime time drama of the same name, featuring a group of young adults...

 and Secrets of Aspen. The TV show Glees Dalton Academy Warblers performed a duet version in the episode "Sexy

Sexy (Glee)

"Sexy" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the 37th overall. It was written by Brad Falchuk, directed by Ryan Murphy, and premiered on Fox on March 8, 2011. This episode mainly revolves around the topics of sex and adolescent sexuality...

". It was sung by characters Blaine Anderson

Blaine Anderson

Blaine Anderson is a fictional character from the American musical comedy-drama television series Glee. Played by Darren Criss, Blaine was introduced in the sixth episode of the second season as the openly gay lead singer of the Dalton Academy Warblers, a rival show choir to New Directions, the...

, played by Darren Criss

Darren Criss

Darren Everett Criss is an American actor, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and a founding member and co-owner of the theater company StarKid Productions. He currently portrays Blaine Anderson, an openly gay high school student, on the FOX television series Glee...

 and Kurt Hummel

Kurt Hummel

Kurt Hummel is a fictional character and one of the male leads in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. Series creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan initially conceived of him as a fashionable gay countertenor who is routinely bullied at school...

, played by Chris Colfer

Chris Colfer

Christopher Paul "Chris" Colfer is an American actor and singer known for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the television series Glee, for which he won a 2011 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and was also nominated twice for an Emmy...

. The song was also recorded in Simlish for The Sims 3.

The song has also been covered live by Train

Train (band)

Train is an American pop rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1994. The band currently comprises a core trio of Patrick Monahan , Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood ....

 and Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...

.

Charts and certifications

"Animal" is the first song to be #1 on the Alternative Songs chart and to be in the top 20 of the Hot 100 since Linkin Park's

Linkin Park

Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...

 "New Divide

New Divide

"New Divide" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song is released as a single and was recorded specifically for Michael Bay's film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The song serves as the film's theme, and was released as a single on May 18, 2009...

" in June 2009.

Charts

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Chart (2010–11)	Peak position
US Rock Songs Rock Songs Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs...  (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... )	2

Release history

Country	Release date
United States
United Kingdom