Among the many things I wish I hadn't done in the year 2004, hearing Hoobastank’s “The Reason” play every hour on the one rock-alternative station my Florence, SC FM band had to offer might rank in the minor leagues, but as a strong ascender (That was also the year I got expelled for the second time). Twenty years later, the Grammy-nominated second single and title track of the band’s sophomore effort still has this sort of relentlessly impressive traction. In addition to enjoying multiplatinum status, “The Reason” continues to be Hoobastank’s most commercially successful single, having recently reached one billion streams on Spotify.
Last April it was featured in the first episode of the Netflix comedy Beef, and last August its music video picked up another one-billion marker on YouTube—which means it’s possible that one eighth of the planet’s imperfect people has found solace and camaraderie in history's biggest apology power ballad. Alternately, its tremendous streaming success could be due to a still incredible number of folks playing the track on loop as they repeatedly screw things up with their significant others. Lots of reasons.
The band too is amazed. According to the band's official statement, vocalist Doug Robb is “astonished at how much life the song has had and continues to have,” adding that we have yet more exposure to expect, as “it has now been woven into a whole new generation’s music taste.” Guitarist Dan Estrin expressed gratitude to the world for the surreality of “watching grow into an out of control wild fire.”
Enjoy the classic video below, or just tune into your local rock station and wait for a bit to relive it all again.
