If I Die Young
Reception
Reception
---------

The Band Perry received at least one letter in response to the song. In its envelope, the members also found a necklace with a ring on it. The letter's author was a young girl who had recently lost her best friend to cancer. Mourning her friend's death, the girl was contemplating suicide. Driving from work one day, she heard "If I Die Young" on the radio. Hearing "so much life in the song", the girl changed her mind. In her letter to The Band Perry, she wrote about the necklace: "I'm sending this to you, because it's the most important thing I own. This song literally saved my life."

### Critical

Bobby Peacock of *Roughstock* spoke positively of the lyrics, saying that they were "very well\-developed with interesting little details." He felt that, although the topic is "a little sugarcoated", the vocal performance is a "pleasant listening experience".

In 2024, *[Rolling Stone](/wiki/Rolling_Stone "Rolling Stone")* ranked the song at \#162 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.

### Commercial

"If I Die Young" debuted at number 57 on the U.S. *Billboard* [Hot Country Songs](/wiki/Hot_Country_Songs "Hot Country Songs") chart for the week of May 29, 2010\. It also debuted at number 92 on the *Billboard* [Hot 100](/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100 "Billboard Hot 100") chart for the week of July 24, 2010\. In October 2010, it became the group's first top 10 single on the Hot Country Songs chart as well as their first top 20 on the Hot 100 chart. The song became their first number one hit on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of December 11, 2010\.

In early 2011, the song was [remixed](/wiki/Remix "Remix") by [Matt Ward](/wiki/Matt_Ward_%28record_producer%29 "Matt Ward (record producer)") and Dean Gillard for [pop](/wiki/Contemporary_hit_radio "Contemporary hit radio") radio. The remix debuted at number 36 on the U.S. *Billboard* [Pop Songs](/wiki/Mainstream_Top_40 "Mainstream Top 40") chart and number 29 on the U.S. *Billboard* [Adult Contemporary](/wiki/Adult_Contemporary_%28chart%29 "Adult Contemporary (chart)") chart for the week of June 11, 2011\. With the remix impacting pop radio, the song re\-entered the Hot 100 chart at number 46 for the week of June 25, 2011\. It has since reached a new peak of number 14\.

In May 2011, the song sold over 2 million copies, the eleventh country music song to do so, and only the fourth time that a band reached this plateau, following [Lady A](/wiki/Lady_A "Lady A"), [Zac Brown Band](/wiki/Zac_Brown_Band "Zac Brown Band") and [Rascal Flatts](/wiki/Rascal_Flatts "Rascal Flatts"). At the time, "If I Die Young" song was the highest\-selling single to miss the top ten, and as of August 24, 2015, "If I Die Young" surpassed 5 million downloads.

In July 2011, the song reached the top 15 of the [*Billboard* Hot 100](/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100 "Billboard Hot 100") chart in its thirty\-fifth chart week, making it the slowest climb into the top 15\. It broke the slowest climb record that was previously held by [Carrie Underwood](/wiki/Carrie_Underwood "Carrie Underwood")'s "[Before He Cheats](/wiki/Before_He_Cheats "Before He Cheats")", and [Taylor Swift](/wiki/Taylor_Swift "Taylor Swift")'s "[Teardrops on My Guitar](/wiki/Teardrops_on_My_Guitar "Teardrops on My Guitar")". Both songs took thirty\-three weeks to reach the top 15\. The song spent 53 weeks on *Billboard* Hot 100 chart and is their best\-selling single to date. It is also the only song with 53 or more weeks that ended its chart run in 2011\.


When did 'If I Die Young' become The Band Perry's first top 10 single on the Hot Country Songs chart?